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The Leaning Tower of Pisa is so famous that the idea of actually traveling to see it might leave some tourists feeling jaded. However, we were impressed with the tower and the adjacent site and were glad we went. All of the mess created in recent years to stabilize the tower and keep it upright has been cleaned up. It is truly a remarkable sight.
Coming from Lucca by train, it is only a short walk from the closest station in Pisa. The buildings we’d come for seemed oversized even in the distance compared with normal structures:
We entered through the Piazza Manin gate:
Walking into the “Field of Miracles” (a name, no doubt, devised by the Pisa Tourist Board), we face the Baptistry, the Duomo and the Bell Tower --- in that order. Off to the left is a wall of the Camposanto Cemetery:
The Baptistry of St. John, completed in 1363, is purposely covered with two different types of roofing materials for corrosion reasons: on the seaward side are clay tiles and on the opposite lead plates:
The precarious overhang of the roof decoration on the Cemetery wall was a bit worrying:
Taking almost 200 years to construct, the Duomo is a medieval masterpiece:
Fascinated as we are by rooftops, it was impossible to miss the “ladder to the stars” on the dome’s back side. Unfortunately, though it would make for an exhilarating climb, the cupola is not open for public tours:
The Duomo’s nave is immense and capped by a gilded, coffered ceiling installed after a fire in 1595:
The image of Christ above the altar is painted in Eastern Orthodox style. The reason for this unusual style, we were told, was that when the Duomo was built Pisa’s trading partners were Byzantine:
Just outside, the tower now so famous for its lean was created as the bell tower for the Duomo:
With imminent collapse of the tower postponed, tourists having good balance can once again scramble to the top:
A last look at the Leaning Tower from the opposite side. Today, the tower leans a little more than 13 feet off center. This is about 20 inches less than it was before soil was extracted from beneath the high side.
After viewing Pisa’s most celebrated sights, we strolled off to see its lesser wonders. Refueling stops here and there were mandatory:
Reaching the Arno River and finding no Ponte Vecchio here --- that’s upstream in Florence --- we turned and retraced our steps:
Near the prestigious University of Pisa, we entered the plain and simple San Sisto Church and were surprised to find inside this unusual crucifix. It has a strong resemblance to the Volto Santo or “Holy Face” Crucifix we had seen in Lucca’s Cathedral. Ancient tradition attributes the making of the Volto Santo to Nicodemus, a confidant and friend of Jesus, who used the image from Veronica’s veil as his model for Jesus’ face.
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