with its beoutifulfoqode feoiuringon intriguingdetoil: eorly 17th-centuryinscriptions by studentssinging the proisesof the Bc condidotesrunning for UniversityRector. th, TheSon Motleo Nofionol Museuma on the LungornoMediceo lni housesimportont collections of medievolPison pointings ond CI sculptures,wood corvingsond illuminotedmonuscripts. Jhe Renoissonce-stylePiozzo dei Covolieriis open for visiis The PolozzoReole NotionolMuseums. formerlv o summer Ps I justo few minutesfrom the Tower.A symbolof the Medici residence of the Eir ruleover the city,it wos commissioned by CosimoI in honour Medici fomily, Gt of the Orderof Knightsof St.Stephen ond wos designedby disploys period Vqsori.lt housesthe mostimportont buildings ond churchesof furnishings ond porticulor (olso Grond DucolPiso, in the PolqzzodeiCovolieri' topestries os well colled Polozzodello os o collection Corovono) with its of orms from the il mojesticfoqode. Gioco del Ponte. The very identity It olso houses o of medievol Piso is plostercost gollery I echoed throughout ond o collection ;l its historic centre, of pointings by ieeming with o AntonioCeci. densenetwork olleys. Other churchesworth o visitore Sonlo Sepolcro6on the The street of Borgo LungornoGolilei, built on on octogonolplon inspiredby the Slretlo2once united model lhe of Churchof the HolySepulchre in Jerusolem,'l230,ond two bridges thot the peculiorChurch of SonloMorio dello SpinoT, built in o ollowed possoge remorkobleexomple of Gothicort in Europe. on the wotenvoys Theorigin of the nomecon be trocedbock to thefoct thot (todoy o Auser Serchio),to the north of the city, ond Arno to "spino"(thorn) from the crownworn by Christot hiscrucifixion, the souih.This is where the Churchof SonMichele in Borgo3is wos preservedhere. Another must-see church is the Chiesoof locoted,on exompleof the rich potrimonyof Pisonchurches, SonPoolo o Ripod'Arno8, olso by the riverside. )3 c3 ci != Ut i- .1.^ DONB c to cl @ si 'o*@ gr l-- to( tv6 @ 1n Tu vu@r'd ,*b @ Hr 2 vta'' tn 5e '. Ct e CAMPO ,,t SCUO|-A 1r &8' JO or or Pi( Aea @ Gue|@i Ar Bor'- \€ ;;a o. 8""", sc /." Th € o". nc q< 5 o Battistr i B-s Yia t! lhr Via Cesare ^t"'igo ot, g V""pr""i z't . ( s ga$@P& , ,if,,ooo "P Lr( .c"c ^/n its I inl o"roo o@u,r*@ v Out of town but equolly impressiveis ihe Romonesque e Bosilicoof Son Pieroo Grodoe,where, occording to legend, tne opostlePeter londed in 44AD. The monumentol three-oisle o interioris impressive;the outsidefeotures three opsesof one TheLungorni end ond o fourthopse in ploce of the foqode of the other. lllustriousnomes from the llolionscience trodition con cloim piso's AncienlMorilimeRepublic hos o greotdeol to offerbeside )r Pso os their birth city, includingmothemoticion Leonordo I the renownedTower ond is well worth o few doys' stoy,ju: e F;bonocci,physicist Antonio Pocinotti, ond the world-fomous enoughtime to tokein ollof itsgems. The city grew ond developedi I GolileoGolilei, fother of modernscience. ond oroundthe inletsof the Arno,which lend the viewof the Lungon d Evidence of Golileo's oresence in Pisoccn be found in ond lhe mojesticgrond ducol buildings,Romonesque ond Gothi d numerousspots oround the style churchesond the overlookingMedievol ond Renoissonc tlt city, in o kind of itinerory fortificotions.The ollureof the Lungornir2hos feotured in worksb n thot recolls imoortont such outhorsos Byron,Shelley, Montesquieu, Leopordi, Corducc e moments of his life. lt D'Annunzioond Foscolo. t. setsoff from the Leoning TheLungorni ore especiollyspectoculor of nightwith the lightsfror c Tower.where the scientist the lompsond buildingsreflecting on the woter of the river.On th Y corried out ihe free foll eveningof June l6th, in celebrotionof the potronsoint, the outline n motion exoeriment,ond of the buildingsond bridgesore decorotedwith thousondsof light ry the Cothedrol, where o thisis the mogicolotmosphere of the luminoro(illuminotions). lomo led him to discover TheGioco del Ponle(Gom e the isochronismof the of the Bridge)is olso held on th e oendulum.to then reoch Lungorni.This fomous historic< c the housewhere he wos commemorotion entoils c bornon 15Februory 1564. long costume porode, ofte Thenext portsof coll on which the two town districtsc c the trocksof Golileiore the Tromontonoond Mezzogiorn 1 Museum of Colculofion chollengeeoch otherto o te: i Inslrumenlsro,which houses of strengthwhere they try t s:verol of his instruments,including the geometic ond militory pusho heovycort on roilsint cJrnposs, ond the Domus Goliloeonott, which conserves two the opposingfield. c-rtogrophed letters. The potron festivol, hel Todoy the city of Piso still holds its ploce os o centre of os port of the Giugno Pison :xcellence in the field of reseorch thonks to its prestigious evenis. drows to o close wit University(founded in 1343),the Scuolo Normole Superiorein the Regotlo of Son Roniel -.,e Piozo dei Covolieri,the Scuolo SuperioreSonl'Anno ond -"e o boot roce which is o legocy of the prestigioustrodition of Piso', Notionol ReseorchCouncil (CNR). MoritimeReoublic. This trodition con olso be troced to the mor ,B recentlyestoblished (1 956) Regotto of lhe AncienlMorilime Republicr : F Beyondthe lower... onother Piso fhere ison enil'recity to discoverbeyond the Towerond here 14thcentury ond underwentsubstontiol extension works in the l6t I ore justo few suggesfions.Ihis ofher sideof Pisolreofs visiiors cenlury.Renovoted ond monoged by the PisoFondozione Coss, -c interestingoffrocfions, on olternotiveto fhe clossicsighlseeing di Rispormio,todoy it :! the Piozzodei Mirocoli. is o centre of cullurol promotion, feoturing lorge exhibitionspoces Sitesof qrl qnd hislory occommodoiing the Piso'sortistic evolution continues to ihis doy, reveolingitself in ort collection of the :cofionsthot ore dedicoted to contemoororvort thot enriches Fondozione. -'re city, blending well wiih the very eoiliestsettings. The murol The Ancient Ships Tutlomondor3 by the Excovolion Silet6 is ;mericon ortist Keith locoted o shortdislonce Horing, the lorgest outside of the wolls of ,.vork ever produced the medievolcify,in the i^ Europe, con be directionof the seo.This :een on the woll of the ison octuol siteof excovotion.reseorch ond restorotion. Convenl of Sl. Anthony. \vhile Lo Porto dello Scpienzo by the greot Greenoreqs crtisl Pietro Coscello TheOrto BotonicorT,botonicol gorden, of the Universityof Pis, cnd the fountoin ot wos creoted in 1544,moking it the oldest universitybotonic< Plozzodello Stozione by gordenin the world. Arnoldo Pomodoro ore rvonderful exomples of It wosn'tolwoys in itspresent locotion, however: it wos founde, s:ulpturolort. oi the ArsenoleMediceo, Medici shipyord, on the rightbonks c rre GrophicsMuseumra, in the PolozzoLonfronchi on lhe Lungorni the riverArno. rousesthe collectionsof the Deoortmentof Prints Drowinos ond of The Giordino is -re universityof Piso Arl HistoryDeporlment Scotlors onother reloxinooreen zone in the cit centreihot interloceshistory ond noture.The gorden PolozzoBlu1s, formerly Polozzo Giuli Dell'Agnello, on the Lungorno wos creoted by GiovonniColuri of the beginning Gombocortiis one of the city'smost impressive buildings, thonks to of the 19thcentury for the Scotlofomily, who hod iisthree floors ond the elegont 16thcentury style foqode. lts history is ocquired the fortressfrom PietroLeopoldo di Loreno irtertwinedwith thot of the citv:it wos builtin the secondholf of ihe in 1798. LINICA The Piozzodel Duomo in Pisois universoll' Here visitorscon odmire oll the monumen' Pic.zzodei Mirocoli religiouslife ond which the poet Gobrier, due to their beouty ond originolity:the C Monumentoleond the LeoninoTower. The HeritogeSife in 1987. The Piozzois o oedestrionoreo ond is c its definitiveoppeoronce in the l9th centr Alessqndro Gherordesco, who oversow th Theleoning of the Tower,the mostfomous siltsoil on which itsfoundotions were loid,ju in the 1990sreduced the leoning by orounr ogoin opened to the public,olbeit with mor, The nucleusof the Piozo is the Cothedrol to Sonto Morio Assunto.Building begon c in 1063.The Boptistry,dedicoted to Sf.Jof foqode of the Cothedrol,replocing o pre' the north of the Cothedrol. lts interioris or thot only coversthe internolround of pillors lorgestboptistry in both ltolyond the world Composonlo At the northern edge of the Piazza is the Camposanto. Legend has it that it was built around a layer of earth brought to Pisa by sea from the Holy Land after the Second Crusades in the 12th century. It is a rectangular cloister structure in florid gothic style. During the SecondWorld War an artillery round landed on the lead roof causing the perimeter walls to melt and sag, along with their marvellous frescoes.,including the Triumph of Death. Restoration works commenced immediately after the war and are still underway today. When the frescoes peeled away from the wall preliminary drawings of the frescoes were uncovered and can be seen today on display in the Museo delle Sinopie. Museodelle Sinopie A roof fire at the Camposanto Monumentale in July 1944 brought about the dilemma of how best to conservethe frescoesof the Camposantoand their sinopie (preliminary drawings), brought to light once again in 1947 by the first "tearings" ofthe overlying paintings. The current museum structure is on the south side of Piazza dei Miracoli. opposite the Camposanto,and was set up between 1976 and 1979 in a Cqthedrql specially restored pavilion of the early hospital, Ospedale di Santa An open spaceoutside ofthe ancienl Chiara. The museum is spread over a metallic structure comprising the Pisan Cathedral. Works