Churches challenge Leaning Tower of Pisa

Church in Suurhusen (left), Tower of Pisa (Right)After nine centuries of undisputed fame as the world's most lopsided building, the Leaning Tower of Pisa is facing challenges to its title from two crooked church towers.

The former East German town of Bad Frankenhausen says that the bell tower of its 14th century protestant church of Our Dear Ladies leans even more than its better-known rival in Pisa.

The 184-feet stone edifice has been succumbing to gravity's pull for centuries because of its foundations in porous chalk, to the point where it is now 4.5 degrees off centre, a figure that town officials claim easily beats Pisa's 3.97 degrees.

Guinness World Records - or its German edition, anyway - has backed their case, and all that now stands in their way is the as-yet-unverified bid of another church tower in nearby Suurhusen, which claims to lean 5.07 degrees.

Source: Telegraph
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