A journey by mauryr

from day 08/12/2005 to 08/12/2005

A Tour in Pisa, Italy:

During our summer holidays, while we were traveling towards Calabria, we stopped in pisa for a quick peek at the famous leaning tower...

The first thing that struck me when I reached the town is how actually small the town really is. I was expecting a much bigger place, maybe not as big as Milan, but an actual "city"... instead, Pisa is just a little bigger than a village...

Anyways, also thanks to its size, it's very easy to find the area with the tower, which is after all the one and only thing to see in this place. After parking the car not too far from there (there's a few side roads where you can park for a small fee), you can visit the whole main square in about thirty minutes. It's also possible to visit the museum nearby, Museo dell'Opera del Duomo(Pisa), but we decided to skip it

A funny thing: there's tens of people who take a picture with the tower as a memory, and most of them, thanks to the infinite originality of the human kind, takes theirs pretending to be holding the tower up. We, stubborn and atypical as we are, decided not to do it...~

Here's some picture of the tower and the church for your viewing pleasure!

Guinness World Records - Is the leaning tower of Pisa the most leaning tower in the world?

Not anymore!

In June 2010, the Guinness Book of World Records certified Capital Gate as the “World’s furthest leaning man-made tower.” The new record shows that the Capital Gate tower has been built to lean 18 degrees westwards; more than four times that of the world famous Leaning Tower of Pisa. Investigation and evaluation, which was made by a Guinness appointed awards committee, started in January 2010, when the exterior was completed.

Pisa - Tuscany, Italy

Pisa is a city in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the right bank of the mouth of the River Arno on the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its Leaning Tower (the bell tower of the city's cathedral). The city is also home of the University of Pisa, which has a history going back to the 12th century.

♦ Square of Miracles/Cathedral Square - Pisa (Piazza dei Miracoli/Piazza del Duomo-Pisa)

The Piazza del Duomo ("Cathedral Square") is a wide, walled area at the heart of the city of Pisa, Tuscany, Italy, recognized as one of the main centers for medieval art in the world. Partly paved and partly grassed, it is dominated by four great religious edifices: the Duomo, the Leaning Tower (the cathedral's campanile), the Baptistry and the Camposanto.

It is otherwise known as Piazza dei Miracoli ("Square of Miracles"). This name was created by the Italian writer and poet Gabriele d'Annunzio who, in his novel Forse che si forse che no (1910) described the square in this way:

L’Ardea roteò nel cielo di Cristo, sul prato dei Miracoli.

which means: "The Ardea rotated over the sky of Christ, over the meadow of Miracles."

In 1987 the whole square was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Baptistry of St. John, Duomo of Pisa, Leaning Tower of Pisa-Square of Miracles/Square of the Cathedral of Pisa-Pisa ; Battistero di San Giovanni, Duomo di Santa Maria Assunta, Torre pendente di Pisa - Piazza dei Miracoli; Piazza del Duomo - Pisa

Leaning Tower of Pisa, Duomo of Pisa-Square of Miracles/Square of the Cathedral of Pisa-Pisa; Torre pendente di Pisa, Duomo di Santa Maria Assunta - Piazza dei Miracoli; Piazza del Duomo - Pisa

» The Fountain with Angels on the Square of Miracles/Cathedral Square - Pisa (Fontana dei putti-Piazza dei Miracoli/Piazza del Duomo-Pisa)

♦ The Baptistry of St. John-Square of Miracles/Cathedral Square - Pisa (Piazza dei Miracoli/Piazza del Duomo-Pisa)

The Baptistry of St. John (Italian: Battistero di San Giovanni) is a religious building in Pisa, Italy. It started construction in 1152, in replacement of an older baptistry, and completed in 1363. It's the second building, in the chronological order, in the Piazza dei Miracoli, near the Cathedral and the famous Leaning Tower.

The structure is 54.86 m high, with a circumference of 107.24 m, and is the largest baptistry in Italy. The Baptistry has an example of the transition from the Romanesque style to the Gothic style: the lower registers are in the Romanesque style, with rounded arches, while the upper registers are in the Gothic style, with pointed arches. The Baptistry is constructed of marble, plentiful and often used in Italian architecture.

The Baptistry of St. John-Square of Miracles/Square of the Cathedral of Pisa-Pisa; Battistero di San Giovanni - Piazza dei Miracoli; Piazza del Duomo - Pisa

♦ Duomo of Pisa-Square of Miracles/Cathedral Square - Pisa (Duomo di Santa Maria Assunta-Piazza dei Miracoli/Piazza del Duomo-Pisa)

The heart of the Piazza del Duomo is, obviously, the Duomo, the medieval cathedral, entitled to Santa Maria Assunta (St. Mary of the Assumption). This is a five-naved cathedral with a three-naved transept. The church is known also as the Primatial, the archbishop of Pisa being a Primate since 1092.

Duomo of Pisa-Square of Miracles/Square of the Cathedral of Pisa-Pisa ; Duomo di Santa Maria Assunta - Piazza dei Miracoli; Piazza del Duomo - Pisa

» Interior views of the Duomo of Pisa

Interior view of the Duomo of Pisa-Square of Miracles/Square of the Cathedral of Pisa-Pisa ; L'interno del Duomo di Santa Maria Assunta - Piazza dei Miracoli; Piazza del Duomo - Pisa

♦ Leaning Tower of Pisa-Square of Miracles/Cathedral Square - Pisa (Torre pendente di Pisa-Piazza dei Miracoli/Piazza del Duomo-Pisa)

The Leaning Tower of Pisa (Italian: Torre pendente di Pisa) or simply the Tower of Pisa (La Torre di Pisa) is the campanile, or freestanding bell tower, of the cathedral of the Italian city of Pisa. It is situated behind the Cathedral and is the third oldest structure in Pisa's Cathedral Square (Piazza del Duomo) after the Cathedral and the Baptistry.

Although intended to stand vertically, the tower began leaning to the southeast soon after the onset of construction in 1173 due to a poorly laid foundation and loose substrate that has allowed the foundation to shift direction. The tower currently leans to the southwest.

Leaning Tower of Pisa-Square of Miracles/Square of the Cathedral of Pisa-Pisa; Torre pendente di Pisa - Piazza dei Miracoli; Piazza del Duomo - Pisa

♦ World Heritage site UNESCO - Tuscany, Italy(Patrimonio dell'Umanità - Toscana, Italia)

A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place (such as a forest, mountain, lake, desert, monument, building, complex, or city) that is listed by UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance. The list is maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 state parties which are elected by their General Assembly for a four-year term.

Tuscany (Italian: Toscana) is a region in Central Italy. The regional capital is Florence.

Tuscany is known for its beautiful landscapes, its rich artistic legacy and vast influence on high culture. Tuscany is widely regarded as the true birthplace of the Italian Renaissance, and has been home to some of the most influential people in the history of arts and science, such as Petrarch, Dante, Botticelli, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo Galilei, Amerigo Vespucci and Puccini. Due to this, the region has several museums (such as the Uffizi, the Pitti Palace and the Chianciano Museum of Art). Tuscany has a unique culinary tradition, and is famous for its wines (most famous of which are Chianti, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Morellino di Scansano and Brunello di Montalcino).

(1). 1982 Historic centre of Florence(Centro storico di Firenze)

(2). 1987 Square of the Cathedral of Pisa(Piazza del Duomo, Pisa)

(3). 1990 Historical centre of San Gimignano(Centro storico di San Gimignano)

(4). 1995 Historical centre of Siena(Centro storico di Siena)

(5). 1996 Historical centre of Pienza(Centro storico della città di Pienza)

(6). 2004 Val d'Orcia