Portofino Harbor Photo: Wikipedia |
No sooner
than we could say, “we are on our way to Pisa in Tuscany,” the state of Liguria
had more surprises for us in the form of endless tunnels, the longest one being
almost 6 miles long. I thought that we would re-emerge on the other side in
another country. By my count, and I could be wrong, given that I was slightly
concerned that the GPS did not recognize this new section of the Autostrada and
there were no other cars with us in the longest, quite tall and well-lit
tunnel, we crossed at least 36 tunnels between Rapallo, Liguria and Pisa,
Tuscany. The constant thump-thump of
lights inside the tunnel made me feel slightly dizzy as well and I had to close
my eyes a few times. I was glad that my wonderful husband is such a good
driver!
This tunnel
reminded me of another tunnel we crossed by train into Austria or Switzerland
years ago. It was so long that, by the time we emerged on the other side of the
mountain, the weather changed from 72 degrees F and sunshine, to blinding snow.
Pisa from the Leaning Tower Photo: Ileana |
We finally
arrived in Pisa, a seemingly non-descript town of almost 90,000 residents
called Pisani. Pisa, a former
maritime republic, is well known for its famous Leaning Tower, the bell tower
of the city’s cathedral, but Pisa has at least 20 more historic churches,
medieval palaces, and bridges across the River Arno.
Nobody knows
how Pisa got its name but it was founded by Pelops, the king of the Pisaeans, thirteen centuries before the
common era. As the only other port on the western coast besides Genoa and
Ostia, Pisa became a jumping point for Roman naval expeditions against
Ligurians, Gauls, and Carthaginians. Ancient Pisani are said to have invented the naval ram. Portus Pisanus became a Roman colony in
180 B.C. and a municipium in 89 B.C.,
fortified by Emperor Augustus.
In its long
history, Pisa received supremacy over the islands of Corsica and Sardinia from
Pope Urban II in 1092. Pisa took part in the First Crusade and Pisani were
instrumental in taking Jerusalem in 1099. As they advanced towards the Holy
Land, Pisani ships sacked some
Byzantine islands. The Pisani
crusaders were led by archbishop Daibert, the future patriarch of Jerusalem.
Pisani founded colonies in Antiochia, Acre,
Jaffa, Tripoli, Tyre, Latakia, and Accone and trading posts in Levant. When
compared to Venice, Pisa was a more prominent maritime republic in the 12th
century. After centuries of dominance, Pisa eventually lost its role of major
port in Tuscany to Livorno.
University
of Pisa, which was founded in 1343, is one of the oldest universities in Italy,
founded through an edict by Pope Clement VI. Lectures on law had been held in
Pisa since the 11th century. The oldest European academic botanical
garden, Orto Botanico di Pisa, was
founded here in 1544. In 1810, Scuola
Normale Superiore di Pisa was established by Napoleonic decree. Pisa is now
a light industrial and railway hub. The U.S. Army has a base between Pisa and
Livorno, Camp Darby.
I'm really anxious to climb this elusive Leaning Tower
Pisa is the
birthplace of Galileo Galilei, the physicist who uttered the famous words, “Eppur si muove” (And yet it moves) when
asked by the Catholic Church to recant his stance that the Earth moves around
the Sun. He recanted, but, by stating his famous phrase, he was in essence
saying, it does not matter what the church believed, these were the facts.
Among many famous
Pisani several stand out: tenor Andrea Bocelli, sculptor Andrea Pisano,
physicists and Nobel Prize winners Enrico Fermi and Carlo Rubbia, poet and
philosopher Giacomo Leopardi, physicist and inventor of the dynamo Antonio
Pacinotti, and mathematician Alessio Corti.
Sixteen
churches are dedicated to various saints, including the famous Baptistery with its
pitch perfect resonance construction. The
oldest appears to be San Paolo a Ripa d’Arno,
having been founded in 952. An 11thc century crypt is located in San Pietro in Vinculis (St. Peter in
Chains). The San Frediano church,
built in 1061, exhibits a crucifix from the 12th century.
St. Ranieri tomb Photo: Ileana
Located in the
Knights’ Square, Palazzo della Carovana has
a façade designed by Giorgio Vasari. The Santo
Stefano dei Cavalieri church in the same square is also designed by Vasari,
with a bust by Donatello and paintings by Vasari.
St. Sixtus church, consecrated in 1133,
contained the most important notary deeds of the town of Pisa and hosted the
Council of Elders. It is the best preserved early Romanesque constructions in
town.
Carved pulpit of the Cathedral in Pisa Photo: Wikipedia
Other famous
churches are San Nicola (1097) and San Michele in Borgo (990). The Leaning
Tower of Pisa is not the only leaning tower in town. On the southern end of Via
Santa Maria there is another leaning tower and then another mid-way through the
Piagge promenade. The Borgo Stretto
is a medieval neighborhood with strolling arcades and the Lungarno, avenues along the River Arno. The Medici Palace bought by the Medici in 1400 and the Palazzo Agostini are fascinating places
to visit.
Pisa Campo Santo Photo: Wikipedia
If one is interested
in original sculptures by Nicola Pisano, Giovanni Pisano, and treasures of the
cathedral, Museo dell’Opera del Duomo
is a must stop. The San Mateo National Museum displays sculptures and paintings
of 12th-15th centuries with masterpieces by Giovanni and
Andrea Pisano, Nino Pisano, and Masaccio.
Dave is really brave
The Cathedral and Baptistery from the Leaning Tower Photo: Ileana
Pisa City
Hall is located in Palazzo Gambacorti,
a 14th century Gothic building with frescoes depicting Pisa’s
victories at sea.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa Photo: Wikipedia
Nothing
matches the majestic but leaning bell tower of the Duomo (the Cathedral) in the Piazza
del Duomo, north of the old town center, better known since the 20th
century as Piazza dei Miracoli
(Square of Miracles). In the same piazza
there is a Baptistery where the
resonance of the building rivals any opera house in the world, and Campo Santo (the Sacred Cemetery). The entire complex is maintained since 1063 by
the Opera (fabbrica ecclesiae). The medieval walls that surround the four
edifices are maintained by the city.
Pisa's Cathedral façade Photo: Wikipedia |
The Duomo is a Romanesque medieval
masterpiece dedicated to Santa Maria Assunta (St. Mary of Assumption) whose construction
started in 1064 by architect Buscheto. Byzantine style mosaics decorate the
interior. It is safe to say that even the cathedral is leaning but not as much
as the bell tower and it is not obvious to the naked eye, given its lesser
height and larger surface.
Baptistery Photo: Wikipedia |
Rainaldo built the façade of grey marble
and white stone with discs of colored marble. Some of the stone blocks have
been taken from other sites as indicated by Roman numerals and partial Latin
inscriptions which were upside down. The façade on the left also contains the
tomb of architect Buscheto.
The massive bronze doors were made by
Giambologna to replace those burned in a 1595 fire. Worshippers never used this
façade door to enter; instead they used the Porta
di San Ranieri (St. Ranieri’s Door) located in front of the Leaning Tower. A
beautifully carved pulpit (1302-1310) by Giovanni Pisano, a highly intricate
medieval sculpture, survived the devastating fire.
Galileo's incense lamp Photo: Wikipedia |
Relics which were brought back from the Crusades can be found in the Cathedral such as the alleged remains of St. Abibo, St. Gamaliel, and St. Nicodemus, and a vase said to be one of the jars of Cana from the wedding when Jesus turned water into wine.
Pisa’s patron saint and the saint of
travelers, St. Ranieri, is buried in
this church and his preserved body is on display in a golden coffin on the
altar, guarded by three men in security uniforms.
Politics intervened and the tomb of the
Holy Roman Emperor Henry VII, carved in 1315 by Tino da Camaino, was moved many
times over the centuries from its original location behind the main altar. The
Holy Roman Empire was not holy, not an empire, and certainly not Roman. The
sarcophagus is still in the Cathedral but the statues were placed in the Museum
of the Opera del Duomo.
Pisa Griffin Wikipedia |
One element rarely seen and out of place
on a church stood out, “high on a column rising from the gable,” a modern
replica of Pisa Griffin, the largest Islamic metal sculpture known. The
original is located in the Cathedral Museum. Pisa Griffin is an 11th
century bronze zoomorphic sculpture of a mythical beast, more than three feet tall,
“probably created in the 11th century in Al-Andaluz (Islamic Spain).”
As we
entered one of the wall gates, after having walked through a maze of narrow
streets from the parking lot, suddenly the gleaming white Tower of Pisa (Torre Pendente di Pisa) came into
view. After one’s senses are overwhelmed
by its size, the first reaction is amazement that it is still standing and how.
The construction
of the white marble 8-story campanile
(bell tower) began on August 9, 1173 and it actually stood upright for over
five years, however, just after the completion of the third floor in 1178, it
began to lean. The foundation was “inadequate and the ground too soft on one
side to properly support the structure’s weight.” Apparently the foundation was only three
meters deep and was set in weak, unstable subsoil.
Lead counterweights 1998 Photo: Wikipedia
It is
estimated that the tower weighs 14,500 metric tons. The tilt increased over
time until partially corrected in 1990-2001. This correction was done with tons
of lead which were buried in the ground. During several visits, I witnessed the
steel cables holding the tower and the very large lead counterweights. Before restoration, the tower leaned 5.5
degrees but now leans 3.97 degrees, meaning that the top of the tower is “displaced
horizontally 3.9 m (12 ft. 10 in) from the center” with a total height of 183
feet and 3 inches.
Assunta Bell Photo: Wikipedia
Nobody is
really sure who designed this beautiful bell tower. Evidence pointed in the
direction of Guglielmo and Bonanno Pisano because a piece of bronze cast with
his name was found at the foot of the tower in 1820. Recent studies seem to
point to Diotisalvi as the original architect based on the time period of
construction and his other works, however, he usually signed his masterpieces
and there is no signature in the bell tower.
Leaning Tower staircase Photo: Wikipedia
When the
Allies discovered during WWII that the German troops were using the bell tower
as an observation post, it is said that a U.S. Army sergeant, sent to confirm
the location of German soldiers, was so impressed by the beauty of the tower
that an artillery strike was not ordered to destroy such magnificence.
There is a
plaque commemorating Galileo Galilei’s dropping “two cannon balls of different
masses from the tower to demonstrate that their speed of descent was independent
of their mass.” According to various
sources, Vincenzo Viviani, Galileo’s secretary, wrote about this experiment in Racconto istorico della vita di Galileo,
book published in 1717, long after Viviani’s death.
Leaning Tower Entrance Photo: Wikipedia
After the
metal detector wand check, as soon as we entered the tower, the leaning floor made
it impossible to stand upright without great difficulty. We climbed with extreme
care the narrow and slippery marble steps, uneven and worn out by the passage
of time. I was out of breath and had to stop several times. As we got closer to
the top, my sense of balance began to be affected by the pressure in my inner
ear. I counted 296 steps to the top but experts say that the seventh floor has
two fewer steps on the north-facing staircase, with a total of 294.
External Loggia of the Leaning Tower
“Because the
Civic Tower of Pavia suddenly collapsed in 1989, the Leaning Tower was closed
to the public and a serious salvage effort was underway. Bells were removed to
make it lighter and cables were cinched around the third level and anchored
hundreds of meters away. Apartments were vacated for safety. Seventy metric tons of dirt were removed and
replaced with lead counterweights.” Once the salvage operation ended, engineers
declared the tower stable for at least 200 years.
Aerial View of Pisa from the Leaning Tower Photo: Wikipedia |
We walked
around the wire balcony and took pictures of the area while buffeted by strong
winds. And there were more steps to the higher level where the bells were. Once
we got there, I became dizzier and was unsteady on my feet as if I was drunk. I
held on to my husband for dear life and hugged the wall; even when I closed my
eyes I felt that I was going to pass out and topple over the flimsy barrier. I
took more pictures and we decided to climb down in the nick of time. As we reached solid and level ground, a heavy
downpour followed the light raindrops we felt while descending. As the rain
came down harder and harder, it got suddenly very cold.
We were more
than happy to find our car parked somewhere through the maze of Pisa streets.
We drove to the nearest gas station and filled the rental BMW with middle grade
Diesel for $6 a gallon. We had a quarter of a tank and it still cost 55 euros
to fill it; that was $67 dollars for three-fourths of a tank of Diesel. There
were higher grades of bio-Diesel but we did not bother.