WATCH: Firefighters rescue man from Leaning Tower of Pisa

PISA, Italy (KMID/KPEJ)- Italian firefighters rushed to the rescue of a tourist who became unwell on the Leaning Tower of Pisa on Wednesday.

Crews used a crane to hoist down the man on a stretcher from the tower’s sixth level, while hundreds of curious tourists looked on. Firefighters said the 45-year-old man, from Sri Lanka, had experienced a heart attack.

Tuscany’s most famous bell tower was completed in 1372 after taking 177 years to build. But from the day it was it was completed, it was already leaning and over the years it continued to lean further until a restructuring project in the 1990s stabilized it.

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To this day the tower provokes intrigue and wonder in tourists and Italians alike who ponder this odd and beautiful structure. An engineering feat that seems to defy gravity, the leaning tower of Pisa has a 4 degree inclination, and despite the hefty climb, it can draw around 1600 tourists a day in peak season.

The tower is actually considered to bring bad luck to students, with each level they reach adding an extra year before completing their degree.

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