Description
The Jewish Cemetery of Pisa lies just outside the old walls, next to Piazza dei Miracoli, at the site of the old Porta del Leone. Since 1674 it has held the burials of the city's Jews and it is still in use: its tombs tell of centuries of history of the Pisan Jewish community.
The tombs show different tastes: from the classic trapezoidal shapes to the Empire style, from Neo-Gothic to Art Nouveau. Don't miss the gravestones of the early 1600s, brought here from the earlier cemetery. The age of the tombs lets you trace the artistic styles that followed one another over time.
Here rest Italian Jews and many who came from Spain and Portugal, who found refuge in Pisa. This variety of origins shows how rich the Jewish presence in Pisa was over the centuries. Some foreigners chose to be buried here precisely for the closeness to the great monuments of the square.
In 1618, as a result of the "Livornina", one of the grand-ducal measures to grow the population of Pisa and Livorno, a new cemetery had been created. But Ferdinando II wanted a pheasant farm on exactly that area, and in exchange granted the present plot: so, in 1674, this cemetery was born.
Jewish tombs in Pisa are much older, and public and private documents prove it. From the 13th century on there were at least four, perhaps five cemeteries between Porta Nuova and the Cittadella. Of the oldest, funerary inscriptions of the 13th century remain, carved on the medieval walls on both sides of Porta Nuova.
The others rose until the second half of the 16th century on lands of the important da Pisa family, bought for exactly this purpose.
Buried in the cemetery, among others, is Carlo Cammeo, who lived between 1897 and 1921.
The tombs show different tastes: from the classic trapezoidal shapes to the Empire style, from Neo-Gothic to Art Nouveau. Don't miss the gravestones of the early 1600s, brought here from the earlier cemetery. The age of the tombs lets you trace the artistic styles that followed one another over time.
Here rest Italian Jews and many who came from Spain and Portugal, who found refuge in Pisa. This variety of origins shows how rich the Jewish presence in Pisa was over the centuries. Some foreigners chose to be buried here precisely for the closeness to the great monuments of the square.
In 1618, as a result of the "Livornina", one of the grand-ducal measures to grow the population of Pisa and Livorno, a new cemetery had been created. But Ferdinando II wanted a pheasant farm on exactly that area, and in exchange granted the present plot: so, in 1674, this cemetery was born.
Jewish tombs in Pisa are much older, and public and private documents prove it. From the 13th century on there were at least four, perhaps five cemeteries between Porta Nuova and the Cittadella. Of the oldest, funerary inscriptions of the 13th century remain, carved on the medieval walls on both sides of Porta Nuova.
The others rose until the second half of the 16th century on lands of the important da Pisa family, bought for exactly this purpose.
Buried in the cemetery, among others, is Carlo Cammeo, who lived between 1897 and 1921.