HiPEAC 2010: Touristical Information about Pisa
Pisa
Pisa has about 100.000 inhabitants, and is one of the most important art towns in Tuscany. The historic centre of Pisa is roughly in the shape of a quadrilateral surrounded by 12th-century walls, with sides measuring 1,5 km. The Arno crosses the city from east to west, cutting it into two parts named Tramontana (north) and Mezzogiorno (south). Situated on the southern edge of the city centre is Pisa central station (Pisa Centrale), a major junction in the Italian railway system. Pisa’s Galileo Galilei International Airport, located one and a few kilometres further south, has a railway terminal of its own (Pisa Aeroporto) providing direct access to Pisa Centrale and the rest of the regional and national network. The old city is easily reached from the airport (20 min) and the central station (10 min) by bus or taxi. The tourist area par excellence – the Field of Miracles, with the famous Leaning Tower – is situated at the northwestern end of the old city. Hotels and other accommodation facilities are mostly concentrated in the areas adjoining the central station and the Field of Miracles.
More About Piazza dei Miracoli and the Leaning tower: http://www.opapisa.it/en/home-page.html
The main tourist office is just outside Porta Santa Maria on the west end of Campo dei Miracoli at Via C. Cammeo 2 (tel. 050-560-464 or 050-830-253; www.pisa.turismo.toscana.it; open daily May-Oct 9am-7:30pm, until 5:30pm Nov-Apr). A small office is to the left as you exit the train station (tel. 050-42-291). Either can hand out maps and pamphlets. "Custodians of the Duomo" usually hang around the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo desk and can be asked for information. The administrative APT office is at Via Pietro Nenni 24 (tel. 050-929-777; fax 050-929-764). A helpful private tourism consortium shares office space with the Via C. Cammelo tourist office (tel. 050-830-253; fax 050-830-243; www.pisae.it); among other services, it will book rooms for free.
For further tourist information, please visit
History of Pisa
Probably founded by Etruscans, Pisa was a strategic city for the Roman Empire. The city was an important harbour in the early middle ages, and its militar and commercial influence on the mediterranean posed Pisa among the other italian Maritime Republics (the other three were Genoa, Venice and Amalfi), which fought each other for control of the Mediterranean Sea. After several glorious centuries, Pisa started to decline in power and wealth in the 13th century. The conflicts with another Maritime Republic, Genoa, resulted in a very bad defeat in the battle of the Meloria (1268), which signaled the beginning of the loss of influence as a maritime power. In the same period, the conflicts with the Guelph cities in Tuscany began, along with serious internal struggles for the control of the city.
During the 14th century, Pisa continued to suffer battles and revolts. The date that all Pisans remember is the October 9th 1406, when the hated Florentine army entered the city and Pisa was placed under the rule of Florence where it remained until the creation of the Italian state in 1861. The history of Pisa is directly connected with that of its university and schools. The university of Pisa was founded in the 14th century, while the famous Scuola Normale Superiore was founded by Napoleon in 1820. Other important centers of technologic excellence which make Pisa one of the main Italian cities of culture are the “Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies” and one important area of the italian National Reseach Council.
Art in Pisa
The Leaning Tower(1372) is the symbol of Pisa, visited every day by thousands of people. It is the freestanding bell tower of the cathedral of Pisa. It is situated behind the Cathedral and it is the third structure by time in Pisa's Piazza del Duomo (Cathedral Square). Conceived of not only as a bell tower, but also as a belvedere for the square below it rises 58.36 m above the level of the foundation, just under 56 m over the level of the countryside, and its inclination, measured at the base, is over 4 m. The average subsidence of the base is 2.25 m, while the progressio of the overhang, despite all attempts so far made to bring it to a halt, is about 1.2 mm per year.
The Duomo is heart of the “Piazza dei Miracoli”. It is a medieval cathedral, entitled to Santa Maria Assunta (St. Mary of the Assumption) whose building begun in 1063. Its is a five-naved cathedral with a three-naved transept. The Baptistery is dedicated to St. John the Baptist, and stands opposite the west end of the Duomo. It was built in Romanesque style by the architect Diotisalvi and construction completed in 1363. This group of buildings so scenographically set in the piazza del Duomo of Pisa leaves the visitor with a fairy-tale impression, due first and foremost to the striking contrast of the white marble with the green lawn and blue sky.
The Piazza dei cavalieri (Knigth’s Square) is the second main square of the city, and was the political centre in medieval Pisa. The main building on the square is “Palazzo della Carovana”, the palace of the Knights of St. Stephen, and formerly the Palace of the Elders. It was modernised in Renaissance style by Giorgio Vasari. In front of the palace stands the large statue of Cosimo I de Medici by Pietro Francavilla, who also designed the Palace of the Priors in 1603.
Nowadays the Palazzo della Carovana houses the main building of the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, and many buildings in the square belong to it.
In the other corner of the square stands the Palazzo dell'Orologio (Clock Palace). When this palace was built it incorporated the famous “Torre della Fame” when in 1289 the count Ugolino della Gherardesca was imprisoned and died of hunger toghether with his sons and nephews. This terrible page of history is recalled by Dante Alighieri in his Divina Commedia (Inferno, XXXIII).