Pisa

Pisa is a 89,745 inhabitants city by Arno river, just before it reaches the Ligurian Sea, in Tuscany, Italy. It's also the capital city of the province of Pisa and its most inhabited city, being an important railway junction and universitarian city thanks to University of Pisa. The complex at Piazza dei Miracoli was placed in UNESCO World Heritage list in 1987.

How do I arrive to Pisa?

  Pisa is an important city that connects Tuscany with other Italian regions and with the world, so there are many ways to arrive here. 

• Plane: there are many low-cost flights to Pisa International Airport from other Italian cities and other European cities. There are many ways to arrive Pisa from the airport: train PisaMover (aprox. 8 minutes), buses every 10-20 minutes (aprox. 10 minutes) or simply go walking.
• Train: there are frequent trains to Viareggio (aprox. 15 minutes), Livorno (aprox. 15 minutes), Lucca (aprox. 30 minutes), Florence (aprox. 1 hour 15 minutes) or Grosseto (aprox. 2 hours).
• Bus: there are many buses from Pisa to nearby cities like Volterra (aprox. 2 hours) or Livorno (aprox. 1 hour).
• Car: if you rented a car from Pisa you can reach Livorno, Lucca and Viareggio in 30 minutes, Massa and Carrara in 40 minutes, Pistoia in 50 minutes, Prato in 1 hour, Volterra in 1 hour 10 minutes, Florence in 1 hour 20 minutes (just like to San Gimignano) and 1 hour 50 minutes to Grosseto. From places outside Tuscany you can also arrive to La Spezia (aprox. 1 hour) in the region of Liguria.

History

 According to a legend Pisa was founded by Greek inmigrants coming from a place called Pisa (by Alfeios river in the Peloponnese peninsula) after the Trojan War. There are no archaeological remains from those years so it's believed it was founded by the Ligures, being occupied afterwards by the Etruscans and the Romans. By the 9th century it was an important port and, with its ally Genoa, expelled the Muslims from Corsica and Sardinia. Pisa earned a lot of money during the First Crusade and became one of the four maritime republics (with Genoa, Venice and Amalfi). Pisa's glory days began to end after the loss in the battle of Meloria (1284) with Genoa, being sold to Florence in 1406 (just regaining independence between 1494 and 1506). Galileo Galilei was born here in 1564 and since then it became link to science and university (Pisa's one is considered one of the best in Italy). Nowadays it's still a seat of archbishopric, light industrial center and a railway hub. 
 

What can I visit in Pisa?

The city is very nice to walk in and has some very wonderful places like Piazza dei Miracoli, Piazza Cairoli or the market at Piazza delle Vettovaglie.

These are Pisa's main attractions:

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  Leaning tower of Pisa

  Leaning Tower of Pisa (9-20 from Apr to Oct; 10-17 from Nov to Mar; 18€): one of the most famous touristic attractions in Tuscany and in Italy. Built to be the bell tower of the duomo di Pisa, this tower leans 3.9 degrees, is 56 m high and it took 200 years to be built. It was already leaning by its inaguration (1372) because its ground is quite weak and the inclination kept increasing till the 1990s, when it was restored. The tower's fragility makes it only available to be visited by 40 people at the same time and it lasts 30 minutes.
• Pisa Cathedral (9-20 from Apr to Oct; 10-12:45 and 14-17 from Nov to Mar; free): Romanesque style duomo whose construction started in 1064, taken as role model for several Romanesque churches in Tuscany. Its construction began with the booty taken in a battle against the Sarrancens near Palermo. The cathedral, both outter and inner parts, are spectacular; particulary its façade (with 68 columns), the wooden ceiling with gold, its bronze doors by Giambologna School or the extraordinary octogonal pulpit by Giovanni Pisano. Its elliptic cupola was added un 1380 and is the first of its kind in Europe.

  

  Façade of Duomo di Pisa

• Museo dell'Opera del Duomo (8-20 from Apr to Oct; 9-19 from Nov to Mar; 5€/ free  adults/ kids under 11): museum that hosts the works of arts that used to be in the duomo and the baptistery. Some of its masterpieces are Madonna and Child and Madonanna del colloquio by Giovanni Pisano. It has a garden with nice views of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. There are combined tickets for all the monuments in Campo dei Miracoli but the Leaning Tower (9€/ 8€/ 7€/ 5€  4 monuments/ 3 monuments/ 2 monuments/ 1 monument).
• Baptistery of St. Giovanni (8-20 from Apr to Oct; 10-17 from Nov to Mar; 5€/ free  adults/ kids under 11): unusual baptistery with a cupola over another one. Its construction began in 1152 but it was modified by Nicola and Giovanni Pisano in the 13th century. One of the most outstanding pieces is the pulpit by Nicola Pisano. According to the legend here was where Galileo Galilei studied the pendulums. In the upper part, every 30 minutes, there's a showing of the good acoustics of the place.
  

  

  Camposanto

• Camposanto (8-20 from Apr to Oct; 10-17 from Nov to Mar; 5€/ free  adults/ kids under 11): beautiful white graveyard where some of the most important Pisan people are buried. Its frecoes were damaged during WW2 but some of them could be saved such as Il Trionfo della Morte, done in the 14th century and attributed to Buonamico Buffalmacco. It's said that here there's som ground from the Calvary (Jerusalem) brought during the Crusades.
• Sinopie Museum (8-20 from Apr to Oct; 10-17 from Nov to Mar; 5€/ free  adults/ kids under 11): museum that shows some impressing sinopia (rough initial layer of plaster for the underdrawing for a fresco) paiting in the camposanto between the 14th and 15th centuries. It's also focused in frescoes, showing in detail how they are done.
• Pisa Botanical Garden (8:30-20 from Apr to Sep; 8:30-17 from Oct to Mar; 4€/ 2€  adults/ reduced): first universitary botanical garden in the world, founded by Luca Ghini (it's part of the University of Pisa). It has flora from all over the 5 continents and nearby there's a small museum about botanic.
• Carovana Palace: 16th century palazzo designed by Renaissance artist and architect Giorgio Vasari, characteristic for its elaborate façade. Nowadays it's the main building of the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa.
• Palazzo dell'Orologio: 14th century palace that has replaced the Torre della Fame. This tower is where, according to Dante's Divina Commedia, the Conte Ugolino della Gherardesca was imprisoned and left to die of hunger with his sons. 
• St. Stefano dei Cavalieri Church: church built by Giorgio Vasari in 1565 under Cosimo I de Medici. Its façade was desgined by Giovanni de Medici (illegitimate son of Cosimo I) and it has many trophy banners captured during the fight against Saracen piracy.
  
• St. Michelle in Borgo Church: church first built in the 10th century over a temple dedicated to Mars. Its façade is from the 14th century with three order of typically Pisane Gothic loggias.
• St. Matteo National Museum (8:30-19:30 Tue-Sat, 8:30-13:30 Sun; 5€/ 2€  adults/ reduced): museum, placed in a former Benedictine convent from the 13th century, with Medieval works of arts from the Tuscan School by artists like Lippo Memmi, Taddeo Gaddi, Gentile da Fabriano or Ghirlandaio. Some of the masterpieces of the museum are Polittico di Santa Caterina d'Alessandria by Simone Martini, Madonna col bambino by Fra Angelico and San Paolo by Masaccio. There's a combined ticket for St. Matteo National Museum and Royal Palace National Museum (8€/ 4€  adults/ reduced).
• Blu Palace (10-19 Tue-Fri and 10-20 Sat-Sun; 3€/ 2€  adults/ reduced): 14th palazzo with a wonderful blue façade by the river. Its inside is decorated with 19th century furniture and decoration and it holds an exposition with Pisan works of arts between the 14th and 20th centuries.
• Royal Palace National Museum (9-14 Mon, Wed-Sat; 5€/ 2€  adults/ reduced): palazzo built in the 16th century by Francesco I de Medici. The museum hosts a collection of art that the rich since the Medici to the 20th century used to have. Some of the most interesting things in the museum are the weapons by Gioco del Ponte, paintings attributed to Raffaello (like Il Miracolo dei due impiccati) or some of the works by Italo Griselli.
• Museum of Ancient Ships of Pisa (14:30-18:30 Wed, 10:30-18:30 Fri and 10:30-20:30 Sat-Sun from Jul to Sep; 14:30-18:30 Wed, 10:30-18:30 Fri-Sun from Oct to Jun; 10€/ 8€/ 5€/ free  adults/ retiree and students/ people under 18/ kids under 6): museum located in the former Medici Arsenals that exhibits ancient ships and artifacts from Roman times. Materials like wooden were preserved because of the special conditions of the site, having been compared to a maritime version of Pompeii.
• Museum of Computing Instruments (9-17 Mon-Fri; 2.50€): small museum that hosts artifacts from the history of computers. It includes Italy's oldest computer from end of the 1950s and a collection of mechanical calculators from the early 1900s.

  

  Arno river and St. Maria della Spina Church

• St. Maria della Spina Church: 13th century small church that used to keep one of the thorns of Christ's crown of thorns. It was modified in the 14th century by the school of Giovanni Pisano.
• Santo Sepolcro Church: 12th century Romanesque octagonal church with conical spire by Diotisalvi, inspired in the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, conquered by the crusaders in 1099.
• Graphics Museum (9-20; 9€/ 7€/ free  adults/ reduced/ students): museum located in Lanfranchi Palace with works of arts of Italian artists from the 19th and 20th centuries like Sebastiano Timpanaro, Carlo Ludovico Ragghianti or Giulio Carlo Argan.
• Giardino Scotto: fortress built first period of Florentine rule (15th century) that was damaged during WW2 and converted to a public park . In summer here take place events like open air cinema or music shows.
• Tuttomondo (7-23): colourful and beautiful mural created in 1989 by American artist Keith Haring.

Piaggio Museum

Not far from Pisa, 25 km southeast, it can be found the town of Pontedera (28,692 inhabitants). This place is famous for being the headquarters of the company Piaggio, the produces the worldwide famous motorbike Vespa, one of the most iconic means of transport in Italy and one of the most picturesque and traditional ones. For lovers of this motorbikes it can be visited Piaggio Museum (10-18 Tue-Fri, 10-13 and 14-18 Sat-Sun; free), museum that shows the history and evolution of the company, learning about the process of manufacturing of Vespa too. The town has also a cathedral, Pontedera Duomo, that was built in Neoclassical style during the 19th century.

Where can I eat in Pisa?

 Pisa has a wide offer to eat Italian food for different budgets. In case your budget is reduced you can enjoy tasty food for not much in L'Ostellino (Piazza Felice Cavallotti 1) or Pizzeria Il Montino (Via Monto 1). The city has a wide culinary offers for higher prices like Osteria Bernardo (Piazza San Paolo all'Orto 1) or Osteria 050 (Via San Francesco 36).
There are also very recommended places to have a drink out such as the cafe Sottobosco (Piazza San Paolo all'Orto 3), cafe Salza (Borgo Stretto 46) or bar Bazeel (Lungarno Pacinotti 1).

Posted in: Europe,Italy,Tuscany