Description
The Cathedral of Pisa, officially the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, is the masterpiece of Pisan Romanesque and the heart of Piazza dei Miracoli, next to the Tower. White and gray marble, a facade of loggias, five aisles inside: it is the wealth of a maritime republic at the height of its power.
Outside, the facade has four tiers of stacked loggias and inlays of colored marble; at the top is the Madonna and Child by Andrea Pisano, and at the corners the four Evangelists by Giovanni Pisano. The three portals have bronze doors remade after the fire of 1595 in Giambologna's workshop.
At the back is the Door of San Ranieri, cast by Bonanno Pisano around 1180, with twenty-four panels of New Testament stories. It is the only door that escaped the fire, and for centuries it was the Pisans' entrance: the nobles came from Via Santa Maria, which ends right there.
Inside, the Cathedral has a coffered gilded ceiling with the Medici coat of arms and an unusual elliptical dome, painted in encaustic by Orazio Riminaldi, who died of the plague before finishing it. In the apse, the mosaic with the face of St. John is by Cimabue, 1302: his last work, and the only one documented with certainty.
The pulpit by Giovanni Pisano, from 1302-1310, is considered the masterpiece of Italian Gothic sculpture. In place of columns it has sculpted Virtues, and the panels are slightly curved, a novelty. In the right transept is the tomb of Henry VII, the emperor who died besieging Florence in vain.
Construction began in 1064, with a tenth of the spoils from the Palermo expedition. The architect Buscheto blended classical, Byzantine, Lombard and above all Islamic styles, a mirror of the Pisan merchants at home in the Mediterranean. The church was consecrated in 1118.
On the night between October 24 and 25, 1595, a fire destroyed much of the decoration. The pulpit survived, but it was taken apart during the restorations and put back together only in 1926, in another spot and with the pieces in a different order from the original.
Don't miss
• Giovanni Pisano's pulpit.
• The Door of San Ranieri.
• Cimabue's mosaic.
• Riminaldi's dome.
• The tomb of Henry VII.
Did you know?
• The chandelier in the middle of the nave is called "Galileo's": legend says he worked out the laws of the pendulum watching it swing. But the original, smaller one is in the Camposanto.
• On a marble slab on the north side there are the "devil's claw marks": they are said to change in number every time someone counts them.
• On March 25, the Pisan New Year, at solar noon a ray of sun lights up a marble egg next to the pulpit.
Outside, the facade has four tiers of stacked loggias and inlays of colored marble; at the top is the Madonna and Child by Andrea Pisano, and at the corners the four Evangelists by Giovanni Pisano. The three portals have bronze doors remade after the fire of 1595 in Giambologna's workshop.
At the back is the Door of San Ranieri, cast by Bonanno Pisano around 1180, with twenty-four panels of New Testament stories. It is the only door that escaped the fire, and for centuries it was the Pisans' entrance: the nobles came from Via Santa Maria, which ends right there.
Inside, the Cathedral has a coffered gilded ceiling with the Medici coat of arms and an unusual elliptical dome, painted in encaustic by Orazio Riminaldi, who died of the plague before finishing it. In the apse, the mosaic with the face of St. John is by Cimabue, 1302: his last work, and the only one documented with certainty.
The pulpit by Giovanni Pisano, from 1302-1310, is considered the masterpiece of Italian Gothic sculpture. In place of columns it has sculpted Virtues, and the panels are slightly curved, a novelty. In the right transept is the tomb of Henry VII, the emperor who died besieging Florence in vain.
Construction began in 1064, with a tenth of the spoils from the Palermo expedition. The architect Buscheto blended classical, Byzantine, Lombard and above all Islamic styles, a mirror of the Pisan merchants at home in the Mediterranean. The church was consecrated in 1118.
On the night between October 24 and 25, 1595, a fire destroyed much of the decoration. The pulpit survived, but it was taken apart during the restorations and put back together only in 1926, in another spot and with the pieces in a different order from the original.
Don't miss
• Giovanni Pisano's pulpit.
• The Door of San Ranieri.
• Cimabue's mosaic.
• Riminaldi's dome.
• The tomb of Henry VII.
Did you know?
• The chandelier in the middle of the nave is called "Galileo's": legend says he worked out the laws of the pendulum watching it swing. But the original, smaller one is in the Camposanto.
• On a marble slab on the north side there are the "devil's claw marks": they are said to change in number every time someone counts them.
• On March 25, the Pisan New Year, at solar noon a ray of sun lights up a marble egg next to the pulpit.