Big Ben vs Leaning Tower of Pisa: taller by how much?
Big Ben measures 96 m (315 ft) from the ground up, and the Leaning Tower of Pisa measures 56.7 m (186 ft) from the ground up. The Leaning Tower of Pisa would have to grow by 69% to match Big Ben, which is 1.69 times its height. Put the other way round, the Leaning Tower of Pisa covers 59% of Big Ben on the axis both are judged on. Big Ben and the Leaning Tower of Pisa are both written in tens of metres, and the 69% between them is the whole of the difference.
| Object | Real size | Axis measured | What the figure covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Big Ben | 96 m 315 ft |
Height | Elizabeth Tower |
| Leaning Tower of Pisa | 56.7 m 186 ft |
Height | Ground to highest point |
Both figures, Big Ben and Leaning Tower of Pisa, come from the Size It Up measurement set, one real-world size and one measured axis per object, last checked in September 2026; outline provenance is listed on the sources page.
Why this one is hard to judge by eye
Nothing this size arrives at the eye whole: Big Ben reaches you as a small angle from wherever you can stand back far enough to see it, and the brain fills the rest in from what it expects, which is how 39.3 m of difference goes unnoticed.
What each figure covers
Big Ben. The 96 m is Elizabeth Tower, the structure. Big Ben is the bell inside it, a distinction that quietly breaks half the comparisons published about it.
Leaning Tower of Pisa. The tower is measured on its high side. The low side is a couple of metres shorter, so the building genuinely has two heights and both of them are correct.
Big Ben and the Leaning Tower of Pisa are both quoted as a height, which is what makes the ratio above a like-for-like figure.
What else is about that size?
Measured the same way, Big Ben at 96 m sits within a quarter of King Kong at 102 m, Victoria Falls at 108 m and Giant Sequoia at 83.8 m. Leaning Tower of Pisa at 56.7 m has Arc de Triomphe at 50 m and Colosseum at 48.5 m for company, within a quarter. Swapping any of those in for Big Ben would move its ratio to the Leaning Tower of Pisa by less than 25%.