Tuscany Travel Guide

Campo dei Miracoli, Pisa
Pisa's "Field of Miracles" is one of the most gorgeous squares in Italy, its green carpet of grass the setting for the Psion-Romanesque gemstones of the Duomo, Baptistery, Campo Santo and Campanile - that Italian icon better known as the Leaning Tower. The east end of the square is anchored by the old bishop's palace, now home to the Duomo museum. Souvenir stalls cling like barnacles to the long south side of the square; a doorway between two of them opens into the Museo delle Sinopie, housing the giant preparatory sketches on plaster for the lost Campo Santo frescoes.

Pisa Sight:

LeaningTower
This belltower in the Pisan-Romanesque style was begunin 1173 and starter leaning when builders were only on the third level: the weight was too much for the alluvial sub-soil. By 1990, the tower was 4.5m(15ft) out of vertical, and it was closed until 2001 for engineers to reverse the tilt. Entrance is accompanied (30people admitted every hall hour).

Baptistery
Italy's largest Baptistery right s started life as a Romanesque piece (1153) but has a Gothic dome. The acoustically perfect interior houses a great Gothic pulpit. Duomo's San Ranieri Doors The architect Buscheto sculpted the only remaining Romanesque bronze doors of Pisa's cathedral in 1180 He populated them with minimalist biblical.

Baptistery Pulpit
Niccola Pisano's Gothic masterpiece (1255-60; above) depicts religious scenes based on pagan relief decorating Campo Santo sarcophagi. Duomo Pulpit Niccola Pisano's son, Giovanni. Carved this in 1302-11 The Gothic naturalism of its tumultuous New Testament scenes probably reflects the influence of Giotto, who was a contemporary of the artist in Padua.

Duomo Fatçade
A Pisan-Romanesque triumph (above) of blind arcades, stacked open arcades and coloured marble decorations Mannerist artist Giambologna cast the bronze doors to replace those destroyed by fire in 1595. Campo Santo This former cemetery, containing recycled ancient Romans sarcophagi, once boasted frescoes to rival those in the Sistine Chapel. They were largely destroyed in World War ll, but a few sections are preserved in a back room.

Museo dell'Opera del Duomo
This rich collection includesan11th-century Islamic bronze hippogriff (half horse, half griffin, above) - Crusade booty that once topped the cathedral dome. Good Leaning Tower views, too. Museo delle Sinopie In trying to salvage the Campo Santo frescoes, restorers discovered earlier preparatory sketches. These offer a unique insight into the creative proces of these medieval artists.


Other Pisan Sights

Museo San Matteo
Often-overlooked collection of 13th-century Crucifixions and such notable works as Simone Martini's Virgin and Child with Saints (1321, above), Nino Pisano's Madonna del Latte and Donatello's bust of San Rossore. Masaccio, Fra Angelico, Gozzoli, Lorenzo di Credi and Ghirlandaio are also represented.

Santa Maria della Spina
A pinnacled jewel of Gothic architecture (right) built in 1230-1323 by Nino and Giovanni Pisano to house a thorn said to be from Christ's crown, brought back by a Pisan Crusader.

Piazza dei Cavalieri
The probable site of the ancient forum is ringed by Giorgio Vasari's sgrafitto façade on the Palazzo dei Cavalieri (15621. the baroque Santo Stefano and the Palazzo dell'Orologio. It was in the latter's tower that Count Ugolino immortalized by Dante and Shelley - was locked away to starve with his sons in 1288, accused of treason.

le Navi Antiche di Pisa
Ten Roman ships, dating from 100 BC to AD 400 and probably sunk by flash floods or storms, were discovered in 1998 during work on San Rossore station (which was the harbour area before the Arno silted up). The ships' cargo and everyday accoutrements are displayed in the Medici Arsenale as they are excavated, and will eventually be joined by the ships themselves.

Piazza Vettovaglie
Market This attractive arcaded piazza stands at the centre of Pisa's colourful, lively outdoor food market. Santa Caterina Behind the 1330 Gothic facade hides Nino Pisano's Annunciation and his tomb of Simone Saltarelli (1342), as well as Francesco Triani's Apotheosis of St Thomas Aquinas (1350) San Paolo a Ripe d'Arno A venerable church (AD 805) with a 13th-century façade (Left) and the Romanesque chapel of Sant’Agata set in the grassy park behind.

Tenuta di San Rossore
Coastal wildlife reserve, with boar. Deer and waterfowl the poet Shelley's body was washed ashore here in 1822 after his supposed murder by pirates.

Certosa di Calci
This Carthusian monastery of 1366. 12 km (8 miles) east of town is stuffed with Baroque frescoed chapels and cloisters.

San Nicola
The 1.000 year-old church (right) has a belltower staircase that inspired Donato Bramante's Vatican steps