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Leeuwarden also has a leaning tower just like Pisa in Italy. The building work was started in 1529. Once the builders had reached a height of ten metres, the tower started to lean to one side. The master builder, Jacob van Aaken, decided to correct the lean by building straight upwards and this led to a kink in the structure. The tower continued to subside during the building process. Van Aaken died in 1531. Tradition has it that he died of sorrow. The city council wanted to have a large tall tower built at all costs, and so the construction work continued. In 1533, when the second gallery had been completed, the builders concluded that there was no point carrying on and the construction work was halted. In 1595, the nearby ancient St Vitus church was demolished. What remains is, therefore, a leaning and incomplete 40 metre high tower with 183 steps and which is open to the public in the summer.

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