Pisa Video Travel Guides

Italy


Great Videos and Photos of the Best Places and Things to see in Pisa Italy. For the independent traveller who is interested in seeing places while planning their next trip. Or for anyone who likes to be close to nature and see the quieter parts of the country or city

Pisa the Italian city with the leaning tower, but Pisa has much more to offer and all within a very small easily walkable area. Visit the Bapitsry, Campo Santo and the Duomo. Before relaxing and dinning by the River Arno.





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Leaning Tower

Almost side by side in the Piazza dei Miracoli Pisa's main attractions await the visitor. The Leaning Tower, Duomo, Baptistery and much more

Piazza dei Miracoli

Piazza dei Miracoli

Leaning Tower

The Piazza dei Miracoli the centre of Pisa's tourist trail has so many sites - including the Leaning Tower, Duomo, Baptistery all a must see.

Main Attractions
Leaning Tower
Duomo
Baptistery
Campo Santo

If you have the time, buy a combined ticket and see a number of the attractions at a lower unit cost.

Leaning Tower

Leaning Tower

Leaning Tower

The Bell tower (campanile) took about 177 years to build and was started in 1178. Almost immedialtely the tower started to lean due to unsuitable foundations. Due to wars raging between Pisa and Florence and Genoa, construction work was halted for almost a century. During this time the foundations had time to settle.

The tower was completed over the next few centuries - the seventh floor in the 1319 and the bell chamber in 1372.
When adding the additional floors, the floors were made higher on one side to help compensate for the tilt.

Over the course of the following centuries many efforts were made to stop or reverse the tilt. Between 1991 and 2001 a program of restoration was set about to help strenghten the tower.

If you dont have the opportunity to stay in Pisa, it can be visited by train ( 40 minutes ) from Florence. There is a regular train and bus service.

Duomo - Cathedral

Duomo - Cathedral

Leaning Tower

The construction of the Cathedral was started in 1064 - the style is Romanesque. The facade is of grey marble and white stone set with discs of colour stone. The main doors are huge and made of bronze.

Things to note
East End - on a high column rising from the gable is a replica of the Pisa Griffin, the largest Islamic metal sculpture known.
Doors
In the galleries above the doors statues of Madonna and Child and the Four evangelists can be seen (above the four rows of open galleries ).
Main Door
The main door replaces the original which was destroyed in fire in 1595.

The wikipedia article below describes the architecture.

Interior Duomo

Interior Duomo

Leaning Tower

The interior is faced with black and white marble and has a gilded ceiling and a frescoed dome. It was largely redecorated after a fire in 1595, which destroyed most of the medieval art works.

The mosaic of Christ in Majesty, in the apse, flanked by the Blessed Virgin and St. John the Evangelist, survived the fire of 1595.
The carved pulpit (1302–1310) was made by Giovanni Pisano and fortunately survived the fire, though was only rediscovered having been packed away and stored for over 400 years.
The bones of St. Ranieri, Pisa's patron saint, and the tomb of the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VII are in the church.

Baptistery

Baptistery

Leaning Tower

The round Romanesque building was begun in the mid 12th century.It is the largest baptistery in Italy. Its circumference measures 107.25 m. Including the statue of St. John the Baptist on top of the dome, it is a few centimetres higher than the Leaning Tower.

The baptistery is dedicated to St. John the Baptist.
On the lower lintel there are scenes depicting several episodes in the life of St. John the Baptist.
The upper lintel shows Christ between the Madonna and St John the Baptist, flanked by angels and the evangelists.

The interior is very large, but for all its size its layout is simple and lacks decoration or works of art.

Top of Leaning Tower

Top of Leaning Tower

Leaning Tower

High above the sreets in the leaning tower look down on Pisa and Piazza del Duomo.
On the way up you will past the towers 7 bells.

Bells
There are 7 bells in the tower, tuned to musical scale
Going clockwise the bells are

1 L'Assunta, cast in 1654 by Giovanni Pietro Orlandi, weight 3,620 kg
2 Il Crocifisso, cast in 1572 by Vincenzo Possenti, weight 2,462 kg
3 San Ranieri, cast in 1719–1721 by Giovanni Andrea Moreni, weight 1,448 kg
4 La Terza (1st small one), cast in 1473, weight 300 kg


5 La Pasquereccia or La Giustizia, cast in 1262 by Lotteringo, weight 1,014 kg
6 Il Vespruccio (2nd small one), cast in the 14th century and again in 1501 by Nicola di Jacopo, weight 1,000 kg
7 Dal Pozzo, cast in 1606 and again in 2004, weight 652 kg

Campo Santo

Campo Santo

Leaning Tower

The Campo Santo lies on the northern side of Piazza dei Miracoli. It is an old cemetry, built around the 12th century. When buying a ticket for the Bapistry, for an additional few euros, you can buy a 2 or 3 item ticket and enter the cemetry.

Apparently the soil in the cemetry was shipped from Golgotha in the 12th century during the crusades, hence the its name - holy field.
The buildings dated back to the following century, haven been built over the cemetry.

Currently there are 84 Roman scultures within the walls, though this is a small number compared with a few centuries ago.


Further Reading on Wikipedia : Piazza dei Miracoli

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River Arno

After touring the main sights, take a relaxing stroll along the banks of the River Arno.

River Arno

River Arno

River Arno

Discover the west side of the River Arno as it flows throught the centre of Pisa. The river rises in the Apennines, flows through Florence and Pisa and flows into the Tyrrhenian Sea at Marina di Pisa.

The river divides the city in two, the Leaning Tower and Duomo to the north and the railway station and commercial centre to the south.

River Arno ( East)

River Arno ( East)

River Arno

Explore the east side of the River Arno as it flows through Pisa.


Further Reading on Wikipedia : Arno

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Knight's Square

Relax in one of Pisa's most famous squares.

Piazza dei  Cavaleiri

Piazza dei Cavaleiri

Knight's Square

The Piazza dei Cavaleiri or Knights Square is one of the main squares in Pisa and within the university area of the city.

Around 1550, the square become the headquarters of the Order of the Knights of St. Stephen, today it is a centre of learning and part of the University of Pisa.


Further Reading on Wikipedia : Knights' Square (Pisa)

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Shopping

After visiting the Leaning Tower - try an Italian shopping experience on Via Garibaldi

Via Garibaldi

Via Garibaldi

Shopping

Explore the shopping areas along Corso Italia. Check out some Italian fashion designs or enjoy lunch in a Pisa Pizzeria.

Apart from the leaning tower the following are worth visiting.
Knights' Square (Piazza dei Cavalieri)
In the squarem The Church of Santo Stefano dei Cavalieri, by Vasari.
Church of San Frediano, built by 1061

A full list is include in the wikipedia article below


Further Reading on Wikipedia : Pisa Main sights


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