Pisa is a city in Tuscany, lying several kilometers from the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. In the past, the powerful maritime republic is today known primarily for its most important monument of the Leaning Tower located at the local cathedral.
Due to its location near the mouth of the Arno River to the sea, Pisa was an important port from its beginnings. It was founded in antiquity by the Liguria, but its glory days fall between the 10th and 12th centuries. It was then that the most important monuments preserved to this day were built. In turn, in the fourteenth century in Pisa founded one of the oldest universities in Europe, at which he studied, among others Galileo.
During World War II, Pisa suffered greatly as a result of Allied air raids. For this reason, historical buildings in the Old Town are often adjacent to post-war tenement houses and public buildings. However, there are many Baroque and Renaissance churches and a real hidden and little-known pearl of the city, Piazza dei Cavallieri, behind which Giorgio Vasari was built. Around the square there are the Renaissance palaces of Carovan and Orologio and the church of Santo Stefano dai Cavalieri.
However, by far the most important and best known monument of Pisa is the Leaning Tower. In fact, it is the belfry of the Romanesque cathedral, which began to be erected in the second half of the 12th century. Already during the construction, the tower tilted because of the sandy ground and remains tilted from the vertical to this day.
Next to the Leaning Tower stands a cathedral built on a cross plan, whose facade is decorated with glass and majolica tiles and colored sandstone. On the axis of the cathedral stands the Baptistery built on a circular plan for several centuries, and nearby there is a beautiful, arcaded Camposanto cemetery.
All the most important monuments of Pisa are centered around Campo dei Miracoli or Field of Miracles, which is covered with evenly trimmed grass, serving tourists as a place of rest.
