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A few years later, in 1838, events caused a brusque acceleration of the oscillating movement of the Tower, leading to the need for resolute conservation operations. In this date, in fact, on the basis of exigencies of historical and aesthetic nature, it was decided to free the base of the Tower from the blanket of earth with which it had been covered for centuries. This operation, which led the Tower to lose the equilibrium which it had acquired, also included the dismantling of the buildings and structures nearby and, above all, the drying of the stagnant waters which perennially encircled the entrance. Subsequent measurements recorded an increase in the inclination of about 20 centimetres, while in the 267 years between the surveys of Giorgio Vasari in 1550 and Cresy and Taylor in 1817, the inclination had increased by a mere 5 centimetres.
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Western Europe
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