Pisa city council has approved
the installation of a 50-metre-high Ferris wheel five minutes'
walk from the Leaning Tower, Corriere della Sera reported
Sunday.
The council issued a tender for private companies to install
and run the wheel "on a three-month trial" this summer, after
which it might be moved, it said.
The project has also been OK'd by the local cultural heritage
superintendency.
"We can't keep getting by with the Leaning Tower alone," said
heritage councillor Salvatore Sanzo.
"We must think of something different and a giant wheel could
make the difference".
Heritage and conservation body Italia Nostra said the project
should be regarded "with caution" as a modern wheel would be out
of place in the medieval and Renaissance city.
"The Prater wheel has been there for centuries," said Italia
Nostra Tuscany chief Mariarita Signorini, "and London cannot be
compared to Pisa in terms of size".
The London Eye, she observed, was part of a major city that
"has a very modern soul with skyscrapers and other large
buildings".
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