The Leaning Tower in Torun

The Leaning Tower is a medieval city tower, which owes its name to its substantial vertical deviation (1.40 m). It was built in the XIV century as a vertical, 15 meter tower merged into the system of town walls and placed on four-wall foundations, but the wall from the side of the town was not fully erected. A gallery for the guards connecting the tower to the town walls ran through openings in side walls and the lack of the internal wall allowed for easier hoisting of ammunition. 

As early as in the Middle Ages a layer of sand slid from the ground on which the tower was erected, which caused the leaning of the tower until it settled on compacted soil. In XVIII century the tower ceased to play a defensive role. The back was built to its full height, the ceilings were leveled and the building became a prison for women. In XIX century it was rebuilt and functioned as a smithy and a gunsmith’s lodgings. In the second half of the XX century, it became solely an apartment building. Then the Gothic hip roof was replaced by a new shed roof. In 1960s the tower hosted several cultural societies and nowadays its interiors contain a pub and a souvenir shop. The tower is now one of the most characteristic sites in the Old Town.