Pisa: The Whole View

On our visit to Pisa, I was taken with the beauty of the entire site, not just the Torre (Tower). For those of you who haven't been, Pisa houses a Camposanto, Duomo, Battisteria (Baptistery), as well as the Torre. This shot was taken to highlight the role that all of these buildings take to make the site function as one (instead of many) and to bring attention to the sinking ground of the site which makes all of the buildings crooked.

Leaning Tower of Pisa

Although the city of Pisa only offers tourists one main attraction, a visit to the Campo dei Miracoli is well worth your time. Within this piazza, one finds the famous leaning bell tower of the nearby Cathedral. A rich history of facts and myths surround this architectural wonder. After the completion of the construction of the tower in 1173, the building began to slant towards the southeast due to an inadequate foundation and unstable substrate, which allowed the foundation to move freely. Then, during the middle of the 20th century, Mussolini requested a new concrete foundation be poured at the base of the increasingly slanting structure. As a result of this new installation, the building actually began to sink further into the ground, causing the tower to become less stable than its existence in previous years. In recent years, the leaning tower was covered from the view of onlookers while engineers slowed the movement of the tower without forfeiting the popular angled position. Once researchers discovered that the movement of the tower is caused by the expansion and contraction of the stonework under the heat of the sun, technicians stabilized the structure for tourists to enjoy the spectacular bell tower for future centuries. Nowadays, if you are willing to pay the 15 Euro fee, you can climb the slanted cylinder for a unique perspective of the city below.

-Patrick Lee

The Duomo in Pisa

The Duomo, located in the Piazza del Duomo (also known as the Campo dei Miracoli) in Pisa, stands in the middle of the square between the Leaning Tower and the Baptistery. It is a medieval cathedral dedicated to St. Mary. The cathedral was begun in 1064 by the architect Buscheto. The facade is made of grey marble and white stone with small amounts of colored marble. The large bronze doors at the front of the cathedral were made by Giambologna. The real entrance to the cathedral is from the rear through Bonanno Pisano's doors that were made in 1180. The interior features black and white marble with a gilded ceiling and a dome filled with frescoes. After the fire in 1595, most of cathedral had to be redecorated. Hanging from the ceiling of the nave is a large incense lamp. Galileo supposedly developed his theory about the movement of a pendulum by watching the lamp swing back and forth. The church contains the body of St. Ranieri (the patron saint of Pisa) as well as the tomb of the Roman Emperor, Henry VII. Like its neighbor the Leaning Tower, the Duomo is also at a slight tilt.

Amy Altman