A Short History of the Middle Ages Fourth Edition

Pisa Cathedral Campanile (12th–14th cent.): :this dramatic view of the belfry, or “leaning tower” of the
Pisan cathedral complex (see Plate 5.5 on p. 184), emphasizes its sculptural depth. its six “layers,” all of
which may be seen here, are composed of marble-paneled romanesque arcades and colonnades that jut out
from a central cylinder. Begun in 1173, it began to sink almost immediately. work stopped for about a
hundred years, picking up again in the late thirteenth century. even when it was begun, its cylindrical style
was old, modeled on the sorts of bell towers that ravenna boasted. (A photograph of one of these, the
ravenna Cathedral campanile, is shown on p. 37.) (image courtesy of riccardo Cristiani.)