area operatoriMonuments
Pisa has earned the reputation as one of the cities of art par excellence thanks to the fascinating monuments contained within the city's walls. A symbol of the city is Piazza dei Miracoli, a masterpiece of Pisan Romanesque style and one of the most remarkable of these countless gems. The overwhelming size and the incredible harmony of the famous four elements of Pisa is fascinating to see. In defiance of its size, the famous Leaning Tower rises gracefully from the square to fit perfectly into a setting that exudes delicacy and vitality.
Piazza dei Cavalieri sets a scene that cannot fail to impress by perfectly sliding the Vasarian school of Renaissance style into the medieval fabric of the city.
Of the many sites of monumental beauty outside of the walls of Pisa are Piazza dei Priori in Volterra, where time seems to have come to a halt in the Medieval Age, and the elegant complex of the Certosa di Calci that looms impressively between the green hills of the Valgraziosa.
An open space outside of the ancient walls was selected as the site for the Pisan cathedral. Building work began under the watchful eye of Buscheto following the victorious expedition to Palermo in 1063. The Cathedral, devoted to Santa Maria Assunta, was designed so that the entire architectural structure of the religious building centred around the large dome.
In 1153 Diotisalvi, architect of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, began construction on the baptistry of Pisa. An inscription between two pillars inside the building states that the monument was rebuilt in 1278.
Based on a design by Giovanni di Simone, the first stone of the imposing Camposanto monumentale (sacred burial ground) was laid in 1277 and construction was completed in 1464. A marvellous series of frescoes by noted artists cover the interior perimeter walls, beginning with the Triumph of Death, attributed to Buonamico Buffalmacco, and continuing with works by Spinello Aretino, Antonio Veneziano, Andrea da Firenze, Taddeo Gaddi, Piero di Puccio and Benozzo Gozzoli.
The foundation stone of the Bell Tower was laid during the festival of the Assumption on 9 August 1173. The Bell Tower bears no signature, despite the presence of signatures on all of the other monuments in the square; this is a peculiar feature that has sparked debates for centuries regarding the first creator and decade of the Bell Tower's construction.
The Pisa Charterhouse was founded in the 15th century thanks to the legacy of an Armenian merchant. It is a monumental Baroque style complex consisting of a large internal courtyard, used for day to day activities and as a place of meeting with the outside world, and also a series of buildings surrounding the courtyard that contain the cells, orchards and the reserved areas, as is fitting to the Carthusian living regulations. Of note amongst these is the prior's apartment, the library, the historical archive and the pharmacy. The Charterhouse was the residence of the Carthusian monks until the 1970s and is today open to the public.
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