Leaning Tower of Nevyansk - The Purpose of Inclination

The Purpose of Inclination

One of the legends has it that the inclination of the tower was an idea of some talented architect. They say that the tower was purposely inclined to face southwest in the direction of Tula, Demidov’s birthplace. Supposedly, this is how Akinfiy wanted to demonstrate his affection for his former home. Another legend claims that right after the end of the construction of the edifice Akinfiy Demidov and the architect went on top of the tower. There, Demidov asked him whether he could build anything better than the Nevyansk Tower. The architect answered "yes", and Demidov ordered him thrown down from the top of the building (a rather similar legend is attached to the construction of the Prague Astronomical Clock). The next morning the locals supposedly noticed that the tower had leaned forward a bit and water had started trickling down the walls as if the tower were "crying". Interestingly enough, one can still see some water constantly dripping down the southwest wall of the tower to this day. However, there are a number of natural explanations for this phenomenon.

The restorers say that there is no evidence to even assume that the Nevyansk Tower was purposely built inclined. The current surveying data shows that the defect had to be obvious during the construction. It appears that drifting grounds were to blame for the inclination of the tower from the very beginning. Scientists believe that an uneven subsidence took place when the tower had already been partially built. Most likely, the construction workers stopped building the tower on seeing the defect, but later on they decided to go on with their work. This can be proven by the color of mortar between the bricks, the composition of which changed as the architects worked their way up. It is also visible how the workers started using specially trimmed bricks, with which they tried to even out the tower. It appears that the architects finally succeeded in straightening it out. Current measurements indicate that there is a 3-degree deviation of the base part from the axis, the middle part is already straightened, and the inclination of the tower equals only one degree. The top part of the tower is standing vertically. Local meteorologists say that one can make sure that the top of the tower is absolutely vertical without even using a theodolite by looking at the weather vane on the steeple. It shows the direction of the wind even when the wind is minimal. If the top of the tower were not vertical, the two-meter weather vane weighing 25 kg would always stand still in calm weather in the same position, and this never happens. This explanation ignores the possibility that the weather vane was mounted off-axis from the top of the tower, allowing the weather vane to be straight while the top of the tower is still inclined.