The World’s Most Incredible Leaning Towers

Everybody knows the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy, which tourists flock to in order to experience its 3.97 degree tilt for themselves. And although this building gets all the attention, there are plenty more towers and buildings around the world that are also leaning. Many of these are even leaning quite a bit more than Pisa’s signature tower. All are perfect for cheesy tourist photographs, which will likely involve the subject propping them up. Let find out The World’s Most Incredible Leaning Towers below.

The World’s Most Incredible Leaning Towers

The Leaning Tower of Suurhusen

Once officially recognized by the Guinness World Records as the most leaning manmade building in the world now a record held by the Capital Gate Tower in Abu Dhabi, see below, the bell tower of the Suurhusen church, which was consecrated back in the 14th century, is indeed not standing very upright. Though it sports a sturdy height of 90 feet, it has an overhang of 8 feet that leans at an angle of 5.19 degrees. The reason behind the tilt has to do with the structure sitting on wet marshland, which, when drained, caused the tower to slant.

San Martino Vescovo Church

In northern Italy, the leaning bell tower of the San Martino Vescovo church stands, or tilts, on the island of Burano in the Venetian Lagoon, a mere 40 minutes vaporetto ride from Venice. The island is famous for its brightly colored houses and handmade lace, but it also has a seriously leaning tower.
The church is old enough to warrant a bit of sagging, as it dates to roughly the mid 1500s, its bell tower has been in place since 1703. The tower stands 174 feet high and is leaning some 6 feet. Whether because of the kilter or not, the golden angel that once adorned the top fell off in a storm in 1867 and was replaced by a not so spectacular but safer iron cross.

Suyumbike Tower

Part of the UNESCO World Heritage listed Kazan Kremlin, the Suyumbike tower also called Khan’s Mosque is a turreted tower whoe exact history seems to be somewhat vague with nobody quite knowing when it was built. It does, however, have a suitably tragic legend attached to it which states that Ivan the Terrible erected the tower within six days back in around 1552 to impress a potential, if unwilling bride. She chose to jump off the tower to her death rather than marrying her city’s raider. Standing 184 feet tall but leaning some 6.5 feet off kilter, the tower was righted somewhat in 1990 but still looks like it’s drunk.

The Two Towers

A symbol of the northern Italian city of Bologna, these two towers are not originally bell towers, clock towers, or even lookout posts. No, it seems that they were constructed between 1109 and 1119 by two competing families, trying to prove which one was more powerful. The shorter tower, named Garisenda after the Garisenda family, is 157 feet tall but was lowered at some stage for fear of it toppling over. The Asinelli tower, yes, named after the Asinelli family, is 319 feet tall, though, reportedly, it was not that tall initially but was later raised. Both families are winners here because while one tower is taller, the other leans further. Visitors can scale the Asinelli tower’s 498 steps for grand views across the city and Italian countryside.

Oude Kerk

The Oude Kerk, the old church in Delft, the Dutch city famous for its blue and white earthenware, dates back to 1246. Its 246 foot high leaning tower was added in 1350 and started tipping soon after completion when it became obvious that the steeple was too heavy for the soft ground by the canal it was built next to. The roughly 6.5 foot tilt has prompted locals to nickname the tower Scheve Jan. Apart from the leaning tower, visitors come to also visit the grave of famous painter Johannes Vermeer inside the church.

Capital Gate Tower

The world record of Farthest Leaning Building was once held by the Leaning Tower of Suurhusen, but in 2010, this modern skyscraper took the top spot. Unlike most of the other structures on this list, it was designed to lean, which sort of happened for various reasons. This quite organic looking building reaches a height of 520 feet and leans at an impressive 18 degrees. And in this case, there is no need to worry about it toppling, as, reportedly, it is stabilized by the world’s first pre cambered core, which includes a huge amount of concrete reinforced with steel, as well as 490 piles drilled nearly 100 feet into the earth.