NATION : Tower of Pisa Closes for Repair
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PISA, Italy — The Leaning Tower of Pisa will be closed to tourists for three months from Jan. 7 to allow restoration, the city’s mayor said today.
Mayor Giacomo Granchi decided to close the 800-year-old tower, which sinks about 0.04 inches a year and is nearly 16.5 feet off the perpendicular, after experts said it was a threat to the public.
About 4 million people visit this city in western Italy every year, mainly to see the 14,000-ton bell tower. Nearly a million pay about $3 to climb the 294 steps to the top.
Public Works Minister Giovanni Prandini last September approved a recommendation that the white marble tower be closed to shore up its foundation, but Pisa officials maintained that nothing had changed to justify the costly closure.
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