Jeannie's Travel Addiction

October 8, 2016

Pisa, Italy  is,  by far,  best known  for  their  Leaning Tower of Pisa.   Over a million tourists visit the  tower  every year.  Though the Leaning Tower is  the most well known, there is also a Cathedral, a Baptistery and a Monumental Cemetery  that  sit together in  the  ” Campo dei Miracoli”  –    The Field of Miracles.

Interestingly tidbits –   the Cathedral and the Baptistery are  also sinking  and the foundation of the cemetery is made up of 53 shiploads of earth that was brought from the Hill of  Calvery  in Jerusalem.

The Romanesque  Pisa  Tower  originally was  196 feet tall.   Today it is 187 feet on one side, 183 feet on the other side.  It was built from 1173  – 1372 and has 294 steps to the top.   On the train from Milan to Pisa, I sat with a English couple who said I should be sure to climb the tower.  Then they added  how   climbing  around and around  up  the  leaning tower also gave them a queasy, vertigo feeling.   I decided I could thoroughly enjoy the tower from the ground.

The Baptistery was  built from  1152 -1363.  Galileo was baptized  here in 1565.

The Baptismal and pulpit in the Baptistery.

The pulpit was carved in  1255-1260 by Nicola Pisano.

The Cathedral / St. Mary of the Assumption

was built from  1063 – 1064 and  then expanded through the  centuries.

Cathedral  central nave

Cathedral pulpit is 15 feet tall and was carved by  Giovanni Pisano in the early 1300’s.

Yes, that is a skull looking at you.  Previously attached to the Aspostle Bartholomew.

Tomb of the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VII.   2013 was the 600th anniversary of his death and Henry’s sarcophagus was opened and studied. Besides cremated bones and his skull, a crown, sceptre, a globe and a long silk shroud  was found.

Glass lined tomb of San Ranieri  in the Cathedral. He was the patron saint of Pisa and its travelers.

Carving in the floor – maybe a grave marker?

Thanks for reading and ……

(borrowed from the internet)