Leaning Tower of Nevyansk

The Leaning Tower of Nevyansk (Russian: Невья́нская ба́шня) is a tower in the town of Nevyansk in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, built in the 18th century. Its construction was funded by Peter the Great’s associate and a famous Russian manufacturer Akinfiy Demidov (son of the rich Russian industrialist Nikita Demidov).

The height of the tower is 57.5 meters (189 ft) from the ground and the base is 9.5 meters (31 ft) square. According to recent measurements, the deviation of the top part of the tower from a right angle is currently 2.20 meters (7 ft 3 in). There is still no evidence to this day as to when exactly the Nevyansk Tower was constructed. Russian historians believe that it was built between 1721 and 1745. Also, there is no information about the architect of this unique edifice. The Weather Channel has stated that it was built circa 1732.

Historians are still debating about the exact purpose of the Nevyansk Tower. Some say that Demidov used it as a "bank safe", others believe it was either a watchtower, or a belltower, or a prison, or even a laboratory for conducting chemical experiments and producing counterfeit money. Some historians think that the tower was supposed to embody the might of the Demidov family and serve as some sort of an architectural symbol of their dynasty.

During the restoration works in the tower, archaeologists were able to determine the purpose of some of the rooms. It appears that the first floor of the tower was used for conducting some sort of "secret work" with the help of shackled serfs. According to discovered documents, the second floor may have been Demidov’s "office", where he kept his archives and other papers. The third floor housed a kind of laboratory, equipped with a furnace. A soot sample taken from the flue showed traces of silver and gold in it, but scientists say that the story about Demidov minting coins is probably a myth. Most likely, the tower was used for smelting the top layers of ore-bearing deposits, which often contain silver or gold. Floors four to six have stairwells only. The seventh and the eight floors house a unique clock with bell music made by an English master Richard Phelps in 1730. The story has it that Demidov bought the clock for 5,000 rubles, which was an astronomical amount for that time (for comparison, the construction of the Nevyansk Tower itself cost 4,207 rubles). The clock has three dials, ten music bells weighing about four tons, and one alarm bell. The last ninth floor was probably used as an observation post.

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