ピサの斜塔にのぼる Climbing the Leaning Tower in Pisa

あの有名なピサの斜塔、ついにこの目で見ることができました！！門をくぐるとその塔がドドーンと目の前に・・・。あれ、意外と小さい？実は私、恥ずかしながらその塔が単独で建っていると思っていたのです。その広場には斜塔の前に大きなドームの洗礼堂、大聖堂が建っていたので思わず「想像より小さい？」と感じたわけです。近くに行くとドームよりはるかに高いし、明らかに傾いていました。

I finally achieved a long held dream! I saw the world-famous leaning tower in Pisa! As I passed through the entrance gate, I imagined the tower would soar to the sky in full view in front of us.... Well, actually it looked smaller than I had thought. That was because there were the big domed Baptistry and the Duomo in front of it. To tell the truth, I had imagined that the tower would stand alone in the square. As we came closer, I realised it was much higher than the Baptistry and obviously leaning.

ラッキーなことに２０年にも及ぶ安定・修復作業がつい数日前に完了したらしく、足場のない真っ白な斜塔を見ることができました。

チケットは３時間後に入れるものしかなかったけれど、せっかくなのでもちろん塔に上ることに。たくさんの人が一気に上ることはできないから仕方がないですよね。階段（約３００段）はとても狭くすれ違うのがやっと。一番上まで上がると、街が一望でき、大きな大聖堂、洗礼堂も眼下に見えました。傾きも感じられる感動の体験。ちなみに本来鐘楼として建てられたので、ちゃんと鐘もついていました。

The restoration work to stop the tower leaning more and more had continued for 20 years and had just finished several days before we visited. We were very lucky to see the polished white tower without any scaffolding.

We made the most of this special opportunity even though our ticket to climb up the tower necessitated a three hour wait. The delay was understandable because they can't allow too many people to climb it at once. The stairway, which has about 300 steps, was so narrow that two people could barely pass each other. The top gave a sweeping view of the area. The big Duomo and Baptistry were under our eyes. There were several bells in the tower as it was built as a campanile. It was a valuable experience - I could feel the tilt and enjoy the view.

あと３００年は土台がもつそうです。傾きは５．５度から４度に修復されたようです（もっと傾いているように感じますが）。傾きを完全に修復しなかったのは意図的？？ともあれ、きれいに磨かれた白い斜塔はこれからも人々をひきつけ、傾き続けることでしょう。

It is said that the new foundations will have to last for 300 years. The works reduced the inclination from 5.5 to 4 degrees, although it still feels a lot more. It might have been intentional that it wasn't fully straightened up. Perhaps it was thought better that the new-brushed white tower would keep leaning and attracting people.