Rome, May 31 (IANS): Italy's celebrated leaning Tower of Pisa has reopened to tourists three months after closing due to the coronavirus pandemic.

First to climb the more than 280 steps on Saturday were 10-year-old Matilde and her father Roberto, BBC quoted the Italian Ansa news agency as saying in a report.

Visitor numbers were being restricted to 15 at a time at the monument, which, along with surrounding attractions, normally draws five million annually.

Tourists have to wear face masks and an electronic device which sends out signals and sounds if anyone gets within a metre of anyone else.

The president of the board of directors responsible for the tower and surrounding monuments, Pierfrancesco Pacini, described it as a new start.

"Our budget will suffer heavy losses but we still wanted to send a signal of confidence and hope," the BBC quoted Pacini as saying.

The tower, whose construction began in 1173, is among several Italian tourists sites to open again, including Milan Cathedral.

Italy is enjoying a cautious relaxation of what were some of the strictest lockdown measures in the world.

As of Sunday, the number of COVID-19 cases in Italy stood at 232,664, with 33,340 deaths.