Piazza dei moracoli Pisa Travel Guide
Surely one of the more well-known town in the world, thanks at the proverbial "Torre pendente", Pisa has a tormented story, ancient traditions and wonderful monuments; Miracles' Square is a monumental complex with beautiful examples of italian architecture.
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The origins of Pisa are still mysterious. The classic authors, from Plinio at Rutilio Namaziano, put in report this name with that of the greek homonymous town located in the Elide and support that its foundation was work of greek and precisely of the king Pelope, or of Epeo builder of the horse of Troy, or of the companies of Nestore, fugitives exactly from Troy. This theory was connected with an achea colonization in Etruria and in Lazio (XIII-XII century B.C.) in the summary of the micenee relations with Italy.
Another tradition, that make up principally at Catone and at Servio, connects the origins of Pisa at the Focesi or at the Teuti (teutanes) and later on at the etruscans.Piazza dei miracoli
A third (that goes from Polibio at Livio) supports that the aboriginal nucleus of Pisa was founded from liguri. The presence of liguri installations is testifided from various discoveries effected in the environs of Pisa and specially long the west base of Monte Pisano. Commercial contacts of the Focesi with the tirrenico coast result numeorus and important.
The arrival of Etruschi in the Val of Arno and in particular in the marsh of Bientina, is also attested from the classic writers and can be corfirmed from the archaeologic reperts and from the place-names to start from the middle of the V century B.C.; at the Etruschi would go back the name Pisa, whose meaning would be that of "seals", or rather mouth of the river to the sea.
Since from the antiquity the position of the town was determinant. The port was situated in a intermediate zone between the present time resorts of Livorno and Calambrone. The coast was a lot morebackwarder of now, untill at almost the middle of the actual distance of Pisa from sea. The sea is introduced deeply in the hinterland, through an incessant series of lagoons and of bogs, almost in the environs of the aboriginal urban installation.
The line of separation between the saltness waters and the marsh and fluvial waters had to be very uncertain and susceptible of costant modifications. This explains the tradition of the landing of San Pietro in the locality of the present San Piero to Grado, situated few kilometres from the town, and expounds also the formation of a lot mediaeval names that recall at the bogs, like at the example Guazzolongo and Padulozzeri. Though was not still established with precision the exact point in which the Ozzeri flowed in the Arno, the diligents are concordant in the retain that the confluence of the two courses of water was of essential importance for the shape (a form of rectangle or of square) of the ancient civic centre. The same configuration apperas also in the "Carta di Bonanno" and in the "Pianta di Pisa al tempo di gentilesimo", undoubtedly too tardy for the description of the mediaeval Pisa, seeing that worded in back period at the XIV century, but certainly significative under more appearances.
The archeologic evidences for the roman age and for the high middle ages have than provided further confirmations of such situation.
It is not a case that the more ancient news on the mediaeval town are those relative at its fleet. In 397 A.C. the governor of Africa Gildone, revolted to Rome, found boats in the pisan port, where more called Stilicone, that steered the revolt against the rebel. During the gothic-byzantine war the pisan have provided assistances at Teodorico and, more late in 603, at Longobardi, always in antibyzantine function. Is Pope Gregorio Magno that, menaced from king Agilulfo, remembers the 'dromones' with whose sailed the pisan and that he had uselessly found to brake in their naval operations at damage of byzantine.
The town then, that had suffered of the oppressive effects of the gothic-byzantine war, was able nevertheless, shortly decenniums later, to arm an its fleet and perhaps it was glad of a sure politic autonomy.
Il Battistero di PisaBetween the X and the XI century the maritime activities acquire always an greater importance and are characterized the position of the town in the comparison with other centres of the hinterland. The nucleus of the citizens of the town-port acquires a own physiognomy that differentiates itself from the surroungings, more rigidly submitted at the great feudals, like the marquis of Tuscany. At head of the town comes so putting an private association always more powerful, that will constitute the aboriginal nucleus of the common being born.
In the XI is characterized of daring exploites of the pisan, achieved at first at the side of the genoese (like in the expedition of Sardinia of 1016), of the normens and of Bonifacio marquis of Tuscany; later at work of the only strength of Pisa. Are expeditions that do not only attest the vitality and the strength of the pisan fleets, but indicate also the importance of the antisaracena action departs from Pisa whole with othe marine towns.
The two greater precending expeditions at the first crusade are the conquest of the Sardinia (1015-1016) and the expedition agaisnt Tunisi (1087). The one and the other concured the start of new and more profitable commercial changes, too rekindling the antagonism with genoese that in the business had exactly its first cause.
In 1091-1092 the Pope Urbano II, in sign of recognition of the merits achived from the pisan in the struggle against the infidels, allowed at the Church of Pisa the archiepiscopal dignity and the supremacy on the bishops of Sardinia and Corsica. In these same years was laid the foundations of the cathedral and some of the most important sacred buildings. The archbishop Daiberto interfered at the council of Clermont (1094), that proclaimed the first crusade, at as the pisan have had participated through sea with the fleet and by land through quotas of troops.

The ancient marinare tradition of the Pisan Republic revives since 1956, every 4 years in the Historic Regatta that sees the boats of the four ancient republics (Pisa, Venice, Genoa and Amalfi) challenge itself on the Arno; the competition is preceded from a magnificent procession of supernumeraries that takes from end to end of the lungarni the blond beauty of Chinzica de' Sigismondi on her white filly, the pride of the duke of Amalfi in his custom of gold, the majesty of the genoese Guglielmo Embriaco, called head of Maglio, let alone the too serene regality of the doge of Venice and of Caterina Cornaro, queen of Cipro.
The regatta is developed in reality every year, but at turn in one of the four towns: the edition of 2005, in which occurs the fiftieth anniversary of the manifestation, will be developed to Amalfi (province of Salerno) june 5; Pisa will accomodate the edition of 2006. Integrant part of this show are the lungarni, Giacomo Leopardi wrote the sister: "The lungarno of Pisa is a show so nice, so wide, so magnificent, so cheerful, so pleasant that charms: I have not seen nothing of such neither to Florence, nor to Milan, nor to Rome: and truly I do not know if in all Europe there are much views of this kind.

Pisa TowerBut the towns offers more beauties: the Baptistery that raises in fron of at the facade the Cathedral is dedicated at San Giovanni Battista. The building is at perfectly circular plan, with a diameter of 107 metres; entirely covered of marble observes the classic schemes of the romanesque-pisan architecure. The works of construction began in 1152 to finish at the end of the XIV century. Different architects succeeeded at the guide of the works of construction, without ever distort the spirit of the work that maintains a perfect harmony with the rest of the square. Always appeared on the same square, called "dei Miracoli", there is the Camposanto Monumentale: a legend tells like at first of the Thirteenth century the archbishop Ubaldo Lanfranchi has carried, at his return from the crusades, a load of earth of Palestine, so that the pisan could find sepulture in that same earth that had received the remains of Christ. This earth was closed in a rectangular enclosure at manner of grand cloister than enlarged and terminated only in 1500: the Camposanto is long 1300 metres and is appeared on the square with 43 blind arches.
The entire front is covered in white marble. The inside is established from four galleries that are appeared on the central discovered part through big arcades at all round; here there are still the tombs of famous pisan near at sarcophaguses of more remote epoch. The greater attention must however be gave at the frescosì and at the sinopia that often, damaged from the time and from the war, was transfered in adjacency areas more safety or in the citizen museums.
At right of the Camposanto raises the Cathedral or Dome: absolute masterpiece of the romanesque-pisan architecture, the Cathedral, dedicated at Maria Assunta, was built to start from 1064 and consecrated from Papa Gelasio II in 1118. Subsequently was altered the plan of the building that assumed the present form at latin cross and was added the facade so that the works was finished only at the end of the XIII century. The cathedral is a enormous building, measure 100 metres of length for 72 metres of breadth, entirely recovered of marble.The three bronze portals were assistant in '600.
The panorama of the square is completed from the well-knownest "Torre pendente", nothing but the tower of Cathedral's bells. The construction of the tower began in 1173 and prosecuted for about 200 years. High about 56 metres, made prettiness from the succeed of arches, the tower of Pisa represents one of the highest peaks of the romanesque-pisan architecture. Today we know with certainty that the slope, its particularity, that has contributed to make it so famous, was not designed from the beginning, but caused from the progressive sinking of the ground. It is not sure the name of the planner of the belfry of the Cathedral, even if are often quoted Bonano Pisano or Gerardo di Gerardo like possible authors of the aboriginal plans.

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