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Pisa

Comune

Comune di Pisa

Historic centre of Pisa on river Arno

 Coat of arms

show
Location of Pisa

Pisa

Location of Pisa in Italy

Show map of Italy Show map of Tuscany Show all

Coordinates:  43°43′N 10°24′ECoordinates:  43°43′N 10°24′E

Country Italy
Region Tuscany
Province Pisa (PI)

Frazioni Calambrone, Coltano, Marina di Pisa, San Piero a

Grado, Tirrenia
 Government
 • Mayor Michele Conti

Area
[2]

 • Total 185 km2 (71 sq mi)

Elevation 4 m (13 ft)

Population
 (1 January 2015)[3]
 • Total 91,104[1]

Demonym(s) Pisano
Pisan (English)

Time zone UTC+1 (CET)

 • Summer UTC+2 (CEST)
(DST)

Postal code 56121–56128

ISTAT code 050026

Patron saint San Ranieri

Saint day 17 June

Website Official website

Pisa (/ˈpiːzə/ PEE-zə, Italian: [ˈpiːza] ( listen) or [ˈpiːsa]) is a city and comune in Tuscany,

central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the
capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning
tower (the bell tower of the city's cathedral), the city of over 91,104 residents (around
200,000 with the metropolitan area) contains more than 20 other historic churches,
several medieval palaces, and various bridges across the Arno. Much of the city's
architecture was financed from its history as one of the Italian maritime republics.
The city is also home of the University of Pisa, which has a history going back to the
12th century and also has the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, founded by Napoleon
in 1810, and its offshoot, the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, as the best-
sanctioned Superior Graduate Schools in Italy.[4]

Contents

 1History
o 1.1Ancient times
o 1.2Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages
o 1.311th century
 o 1.412th century
o 1.513th century
o 1.6Decline
 2Geography
o 2.1Climate
 3Government
 4Main sights
o 4.1Museums
o 4.2Educational institutions
o 4.3Churches
o 4.4Palaces, towers and villas
 5Notable people associated with Pisa
 6Transport
o 6.1Travel links
o 6.2Pisamover
o 6.3Buses
o 6.4Trains
o 6.5Cars
 7Sports
 8Festivals and cultural events
 9International relations
o 9.1Twin towns and sister cities
 10References
o 10.1Notes
o 10.2Bibliography
 11External links

History[edit]
See also: Timeline of Pisa
It has been suggested that this section be split out into another
article titled History of Pisa. (Discuss) (May 2017)
Historical affiliations
 Roman Republic 180–27 BC

 Roman Empire 27 BC–285 AD

 Western Roman Empire 285–476

 Kingdom of Odoacer 476–493
 Ostrogothic Kingdom 493–553
 Eastern Roman Empire 553–603
 Lombard Kingdom 603–773
 Carolingian Empire 774–812

 March of Tuscany 812–1000
 Republic of Pisa 1000–1406
 Republic of Florence 1406–1532

 Duchy of Florence 1532–1569
  Grand Duchy of Tuscany 1569–1801
 Kingdom of Etruria 1801–1807
 First French Empire 1807–1815
 Grand Duchy of Tuscany 1815–1859
 United Provinces of Central Italy 1859–1860
 Kingdom of Italy 1861–1946

 Italian Republic 1946–present

Ancient times[edit]
The origin of the name, Pisa, is a mystery. While the origin of the city had remained
unknown for centuries, the Pelasgi, the Greeks, the Etruscans, and the Ligurians had
variously been proposed as founders of the city (for example, a colony of the ancient
city of Pisa, Greece). Archaeological remains from the fifth century BC confirmed the
existence of a city at the sea, trading with Greeks and Gauls. The presence of an
Etruscan necropolis, discovered during excavations in the Arena Garibaldi in 1991,
confirmed its Etruscan origins.
Ancient Roman authors referred to Pisa as an old city. Strabo referred Pisa's origins to
the mythical Nestor, king of Pylos, after the fall of Troy. Virgil, in his Aeneid, states that
Pisa was already a great center by the times described; the settlers from
the Alpheus coast have been credited with the founding of the city in the 'Etruscan
lands'. The Virgilian commentator Servius wrote that the Teuti, or Pelops, the king of
the Pisaeans, founded the town 13 centuries before the start of the common era.
The maritime role of Pisa should have been already prominent if the ancient authorities
ascribed to it the invention of the naval ram. Pisa took advantage of being the only port
along the western coast between Genoa (then a small village) and Ostia. Pisa served
as a base for Roman naval expeditions against Ligurians, Gauls, and Carthaginians. In
180 BC, it became a Roman colony under Roman law, as Portus Pisanus. In 89
BC, Portus Pisanus became a municipium. Emperor Augustus fortified the colony into
an important port and changed the name as Colonia Iulia obsequens.
Pisa supposedly was founded on the shore, but due to the alluvial sediments from the
Arno and the Serchio, whose mouth lies about 11 km (7 mi) north of the Arno's, the
shore moved west. Strabo states that the city was 4.0 km (2.5 mi) away from the coast.
Currently, it is located 9.7 km (6 mi) from the coast. However, it was a maritime city,
with ships sailing up the Arno.[5] In the 90s AD, a baths complex was built in the city.
Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages[edit]
Hypothetical map of Pisa in the fifth century AD

During the last years of the Western Roman Empire, Pisa did not decline as much as
the other cities of Italy, probably due to the complexity of its river system and its
consequent ease of defence. In the seventh century, Pisa helped Pope Gregory I by
supplying numerous ships in his military expedition against the Byzantines of Ravenna:
Pisa was the sole Byzantine centre of Tuscia to fall peacefully in Lombard hands,
through assimilation with the neighbouring region where their trading interests were
prevalent. Pisa began in this way its rise to the role of main port of the Upper Tyrrhenian
Sea and became the main trading centre between Tuscany and Corsica, Sardinia, and
the southern coasts of France and Spain.
After Charlemagne had defeated the Lombards under the command
of Desiderius in 774, Pisa went through a crisis, but soon recovered. Politically, it
became part of the duchy of Lucca. In 860, Pisa was captured by vikings led by Björn
Ironside. In 930, Pisa became the county centre (status it maintained until the arrival
of Otto I) within the mark of Tuscia. Lucca was the capital but Pisa was the most
important city, as in the middle of 10th century Liutprand of Cremona, bishop
of Cremona, called Pisa Tusciae provinciae caput ("capital of the province of Tuscia"),
and a century later, the marquis of Tuscia was commonly referred to as "marquis of
Pisa". In 1003, Pisa was the protagonist of the first communal war in Italy, against
Lucca. From the naval point of view, since the 9th century, the emergence of
the Saracen pirates urged the city to expand its fleet; in the following years, this fleet
gave the town an opportunity for more expansion. In 828, Pisan ships assaulted the
coast of North Africa. In 871, they took part in the defence of Salerno from the
Saracens. In 970, they gave also strong support to Otto I's expedition, defeating a
Byzantine fleet in front of Calabrese coasts.
11th century[edit]
Main article: Republic of Pisa
Hypothetical map of Pisa in the 11th century AD

The power of Pisa as a maritime nation began to grow and reached its apex in the 11th
century, when it acquired traditional fame as one of the four main historical maritime
republics of Italy (Repubbliche Marinare).
At that time, the city was a very important commercial centre and controlled a
significant Mediterranean merchant fleet and navy. It expanded its powers in 1005
through the sack of Reggio Calabria in the south of Italy. Pisa was in continuous conflict
with some 'Saracens' - a medieval term to refer to Arab Muslims - who had their bases
in Corsica, for control of the Mediterranean. In 1017, Sardinian Giudicati were militarily
supported by Pisa, in alliance with Genoa, to defeat the Saracen King Mugahid, who
had settled a logistic base in the north of Sardinia the year before. This victory gave
Pisa supremacy in the Tyrrhenian Sea. When the Pisans subsequently ousted the
Genoese from Sardinia, a new conflict and rivalry was born between these mighty
marine republics. Between 1030 and 1035, Pisa went on to defeat several rival towns in
Sicily and conquer Carthage in North Africa. In 1051–1052, the admiral Jacopo Ciurini
conquered Corsica, provoking more resentment from the Genoese. In 1063, Admiral
Giovanni Orlandi, coming to the aid of the Norman Roger I, took Palermo from the
Saracen pirates. The gold treasure taken from the Saracens in Palermo allowed the
Pisans to start the building of their cathedral and the other monuments which constitute
the famous Piazza del Duomo.
In 1060, Pisa had to engage in their first battle with Genoa. The Pisan victory helped to
consolidate its position in the Mediterranean. Pope Gregory VII recognised in 1077 the
new "Laws and customs of the sea" instituted by the Pisans, and emperor Henry
IV granted them the right to name their own consuls, advised by a council of elders.
This was simply a confirmation of the present situation, because in those years, the
marquis had already been excluded from power. In 1092, Pope Urban II awarded Pisa
the supremacy over Corsica and Sardinia, and at the same time raising the town to the
rank of archbishopric.
Pisa sacked the Tunisian city of Mahdia in 1088. Four years later, Pisan and Genoese
ships helped Alfonso VI of Castilla to push El Cid out of Valencia. A Pisan fleet of 120
ships also took part in the First Crusade, and the Pisans were instrumental in the taking
of Jerusalem in 1099. On their way to the Holy Land, the ships did not miss the
occasion to sack some Byzantine islands; the Pisan crusaders were led by their
archbishop Daibert, the future patriarch of Jerusalem. Pisa and the other Repubbliche
Marinare took advantage of the crusade to establish trading posts and colonies in the
Eastern coastal cities of the Levant. In particular, the Pisans founded colonies
in Antiochia, Acre, Jaffa, Tripoli, Tyre, Latakia, and Accone. They also had other
possessions in Jerusalem and Caesarea, plus smaller colonies (with lesser autonomy)
in Cairo, Alexandria, and of course Constantinople, where the Byzantine
Emperor Alexius I Comnenus granted them special mooring and trading rights. In all
these cities, the Pisans were granted privileges and immunity from taxation, but had to
contribute to the defence in case of attack. In the 12th century, the Pisan quarter in the
eastern part of Constantinople had grown to 1,000 people. For some years of that
century, Pisa was the most prominent merchant and military ally of the Byzantine
Empire, overcoming Venice itself.
12th century[edit]
In 1113, Pisa and Pope Paschal II set up, together with the count of Barcelona and
other contingents from Provence and Italy (Genoese excluded), a war to free the
Balearic Islands from the Moors; the queen and the king of Majorca were brought in
chains to Tuscany. Though the Almoravides soon reconquered the island, the booty
taken helped the Pisans in their magnificent programme of buildings, especially
the cathedral, and Pisa gained a role of pre-eminence in the Western Mediterranean.
In the following years, the mighty Pisan fleet, led by archbishop Pietro Moriconi, drove
away the Saracens after ferocious combats. Though short-lived, this success of Pisa in
Spain increased the rivalry with Genoa. Pisa's trade with
the Languedoc and Provence (Noli, Savona, Fréjus, and Montpellier) were an obstacle
to the Genoese interests in cities such as Hyères, Fos, Antibes, and Marseille.
The war began in 1119 when the Genoese attacked several galleys on their way to the
motherland, and lasted until 1133. The two cities fought each other on land and at sea,
but hostilities were limited to raids and pirate-like assaults.
In June 1135, Bernard of Clairvaux took a leading part in the Council of Pisa, asserting
the claims of Pope Innocent II against those of Pope Anacletus II, who had been elected
pope in 1130 with Norman support, but was not recognised outside Rome. Innocent II
resolved the conflict with Genoa, establishing the sphere of influence of Pisa and
Genoa. Pisa could then, unhindered by Genoa, participate in the conflict of Innocent II
against king Roger II of Sicily. Amalfi, one of the maritime republics (though already
declining under Norman rule), was conquered on August 6, 1136; the Pisans destroyed
the ships in the port, assaulted the castles in the surrounding areas, and drove back an
army sent by Roger from Aversa. This victory brought Pisa to the peak of its power and
to a standing equal to Venice. Two years later, its soldiers sacked Salerno.
New city walls, erected in 1156 by Consul Cocco Griffi

In the following years, Pisa was one of the staunchest supporters of

the Ghibelline party. This was much appreciated by Frederick I. He issued in 1162 and
1165 two important documents, with these grants: Apart from the jurisdiction over the
Pisan countryside, the Pisans were granted freedom of trade in the whole empire, the
coast from Civitavecchia to Portovenere, a half
of Palermo, Messina, Salerno and Naples, the whole of Gaeta, Mazara, and Trapani,
and a street with houses for its merchants in every city of the Kingdom of Sicily. Some
of these grants were later confirmed by Henry VI, Otto IV, and Frederick II. They
marked the apex of Pisa's power, but also spurred the resentment of cities such
as Lucca, Massa, Volterra, and Florence, which saw their aim to expand towards the
sea thwarted. The clash with Lucca also concerned the possession of the castle
of Montignoso and mainly the control of the Via Francigena, the main trade route
between Rome and France. Last but not least, such a sudden and large increase of
power by Pisa could only lead to another war with Genoa.
Genoa had acquired a largely dominant position in the markets of southern France. The
war began presumably in 1165 on the Rhône, when an attack on a convoy, directed to
some Pisan trade centres on the river, by the Genoese and their ally, the count
of Toulouse, failed. Pisa, though, was allied to Provence. The war continued until 1175
without significant victories. Another point of attrition was Sicily, where both the cities
had privileges granted by Henry VI. In 1192, Pisa managed to conquer Messina. This
episode was followed by a series of battles culminating in the Genoese conquest
of Syracuse in 1204. Later, the trading posts in Sicily were lost when the new Pope
Innocent III, though removing the excommunication cast over Pisa by his
predecessor Celestine III, allied himself with the Guelph League of Tuscany, led by
Florence. Soon, he stipulated a pact with Genoa, too, further weakening the Pisan
presence in southern Italy.
To counter the Genoese predominance in the southern Tyrrhenian Sea, Pisa
strengthened its relationship with their Spanish and French traditional bases
(Marseille, Narbonne, Barcelona, etc.) and tried to defy the Venetian rule of the Adriatic
Sea. In 1180, the two cities agreed to a nonaggression treaty in the Tyrrhenian and the
Adriatic, but the death of Emperor Manuel Comnenus in Constantinople changed the
situation. Soon, attacks on Venetian convoys were made. Pisa signed trade and political
pacts with Ancona, Pula, Zara, Split, and Brindisi; in 1195, a Pisan fleet reached Pola to
defend its independence from Venice, but the Serenissima managed soon to reconquer
the rebel sea town.
 View of the  Piazza dei Miracoli

One year later, the two cities signed a peace treaty, which resulted in favourable
conditions for Pisa, but in 1199, the Pisans violated it by blockading the port of
Brindisi in Apulia. In the following naval battle, they were defeated by the Venetians.
The war that followed ended in 1206 with a treaty in which Pisa gave up all its hopes to
expand in the Adriatic, though it maintained the trading posts it had established in the
area. From that point on, the two cities were united against the rising power of Genoa
and sometimes collaborated to increase the trading benefits in Constantinople.
13th century[edit]
In 1209 in Lerici, two councils for a final resolution of the rivalry with Genoa were held. A
20-year peace treaty was signed, but when in 1220, the emperor Frederick II confirmed
his supremacy over the Tyrrhenian coast from Civitavecchia to Portovenere, the
Genoese and Tuscan resentment against Pisa grew again. In the following years, Pisa
clashed with Lucca in Garfagnana and was defeated by the Florentines at Castel del
Bosco. The strong Ghibelline position of Pisa brought this town diametrically against the
Pope, who was in a strong dispute with the Empire, and indeed the pope tried to deprive
the town of its dominions in northern Sardinia.
In 1238, Pope Gregory IX formed an alliance between Genoa and Venice against the
empire, and consequently against Pisa, too. One year later, he excommunicated
Frederick II and called for an anti-Empire council to be held in Rome in 1241. On May 3,
1241, a combined fleet of Pisan and Sicilian ships, led by the emperor's son Enzo,
attacked a Genoese convoy carrying prelates from northern Italy and France, next to
the isle of Giglio (Battle of Giglio), in front of Tuscany; the Genoese lost 25 ships, while
about a thousand sailors, two cardinals, and one bishop were taken prisoner. After this
outstanding victory, the council in Rome failed, but Pisa was excommunicated. This
extreme measure was only removed in 1257. Anyway, the Tuscan city tried to take
advantage of the favourable situation to conquer the Corsican city of Aleria and even lay
siege to Genoa itself in 1243.
The Ligurian republic of Genoa, however, recovered fast from this blow and won
back Lerici, conquered by the Pisans some years earlier, in 1256.
The great expansion in the Mediterranean and the prominence of the merchant class
urged a modification in the city's institutes. The system with consuls was abandoned,
and in 1230, the new city rulers named a capitano del popolo ("people's chieftain") as
civil and military leader. In spite of these reforms, the conquered lands and the city itself
were harassed by the rivalry between the two families of Della
Gherardesca and Visconti. In 1237 the archbishop and the Emperor Frederick II
intervened to reconcile the two rivals, but the strains did not cease. In 1254, the people
rebelled and imposed 12 Anziani del Popolo ("People's Elders") as their political
representatives in the commune. They also supplemented the legislative councils,
formed of noblemen, with new People's Councils, composed by the main guilds and by
the chiefs of the People's Companies. These had the power to ratify the laws of the
Major General Council and the Senate.
Decline[edit]

Idealized depiction of Pisa from the 1493 Nuremberg Chronicle.

The decline is said to have begun on August 6, 1284, when the numerically superior
fleet of Pisa, under the command of Albertino Morosini, was defeated by the brilliant
tactics of the Genoese fleet, under the command of Benedetto Zaccaria and Oberto
Doria, in the dramatic naval Battle of Meloria. This defeat ended the maritime power of
Pisa and the town never fully recovered; in 1290, the Genoese destroyed forever the
Porto Pisano (Pisa's port), and covered the land with salt. The region around Pisa did
not permit the city to recover from the loss of thousands of sailors from the Meloria,
while Liguria guaranteed enough sailors to Genoa. Goods, however, continued to be
traded, albeit in reduced quantity, but the end came when the Arno started to change
course, preventing the galleys from reaching the city's port up the river. The nearby area
also likely became infested with malaria. The true end came in 1324, when Sardinia
was entirely lost in favour of the Aragonese.
Always Ghibelline, Pisa tried to build up its power in the course of the 14th century, and
even managed to defeat Florence in the Battle of Montecatini (1315), under the
command of Uguccione della Faggiuola. Eventually, however, after a long siege, Pisa
was occupied by Florentines in 1405.[6] Florentines corrupted the capitano del
popolo ("people's chieftain"), Giovanni Gambacorta, who opened by night the city gate
of San Marco. Pisa was never conquered by an army. In 1409, Pisa was the seat of
a council trying to set the question of the Great Schism. In the 15th century, access to
the sea became more difficult, as the port was silting up and was cut off from the sea.
When in 1494, Charles VIII of France invaded the Italian states to claim the Kingdom of
Naples,[6] Pisa reclaimed its independence as the Second Pisan Republic.

Bonus certificate of Pisa, issued 19 July 1875

The new freedom did not last long; 15 years of battles and sieges by the Florentine
troops led by Antonio da Filicaja, Averardo Salviati and Niccolò Capponi were made, but
they never managed to conquer the city. Vitellozzo Vitelli with his brother Paolo were
the only ones who actually managed to break the strong defences of Pisa and make a
breach in the Stampace bastion in the southern west part of the walls, but he did not
enter the city. For that, they were suspected of treachery and Paolo was put to death.
However, the resources of Pisa were getting low, and at the end, the city was sold to
the Visconti family from Milan and eventually to Florence again. Its role of major port of
Tuscany went to Livorno. Pisa acquired a mainly cultural role spurred by the presence
of the University of Pisa, created in 1343, and later reinforced by the Scuola Normale
Superiore di Pisa (1810) and Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies (1987).
Pisa was the birthplace of the important early physicist Galileo Galilei. It is still the seat
of an archbishopric. Besides its educational institutions, it has become a light industrial
centre and a railway hub. It suffered repeated destruction during World War II.
Since the early 1950s, the US Army has maintained Camp Darby just outside Pisa,
which is used by many US military personnel as a base for vacations in the area. [7][8]

Geography[edit]
Climate[edit]
Pisa experiences a Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification Csa). The city
is characterized by cool-mild winters and hot summers. This transitional climate keeps
Pisa from enjoying a summer devoid of rain, typical of central and southern Italy, as the
summer (the driest season) experiences occasional rain showers. Rainfall peaks in the
autumn.
hideClimate d
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr
17.6 21.0 24.0 27.9
Record high °C (°F)
(63.7) (69.8) (75.2) (82.2)
11.4 12.6 15.2 17.8
Average high °C (°F)
(52.5) (54.7) (59.4) (64.0)
6.8 7.6 9.8 12.5
Daily mean °C (°F)
(44.2) (45.7) (49.6) (54.5)
2.2 2.5 4.4 7.2
Average low °C (°F)
(36.0) (36.5) (39.9) (45.0)
−13.8 −8.4 −8.2 −3.2
Record low °C (°F)
(7.2) (16.9) (17.2) (26.2)
63.4 57.5 59.8 89.1
Average precipitation mm (inches)
(2.50) (2.26) (2.35) (3.51)
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) 8.1 7.2 7.6 9.7
Average relative humidity (%) 75 71 70 72
Mean monthly sunshine hours 105.4 121.5 151.9 192.0
Source 1: Servizio Meteorologico (temper

Source 2: Servizio Meteorologico (relati

Government[edit]
See also: List of mayors of Pisa

Main sights[edit]
The Leaning Tower of Pisa.

The Monumental Campo Santo in the Piazza del Duomo

Façade of Santa Maria della Spina.

St. Francis' Church

Palazzo della Carovana or dei Cavalieri.

Cittadella vecchia.

Convent, Pisa, Italy, 1895. Brooklyn Museum Archives, Goodyear Archival Collection (S03_06_01_001 image
291).

Lungarno di Pisa.

While the bell tower of the cathedral, known as "the leaning Tower of Pisa", is the most
famous image of the city, it is one of many works of art and architecture in the
city's Piazza del Duomo, also known, since the 20th century, as Piazza dei
Miracoli (Square of Miracles), to the north of the old town center. The Piazza del
Duomo also houses the Duomo (the Cathedral), the Baptistry and the Campo
Santo (the monumental cemetery). The medieval complex includes the above-
mentioned four sacred buildings, the hospital and few palaces. All the complex is kept
by the Opera (fabrica ecclesiae) della Primaziale Pisana, an old non profit foundation
that operates since the building of the Cathedral (1063) to the maintenance of the
sacred buildings. The area is framed by medieval walls kept by municipality
administration.
Other sights include:

 Knights' Square (Piazza dei Cavalieri), where the Palazzo

della Carovana, with its impressive façade designed
by Giorgio Vasari may be seen. Sited on the square
 Santo Stefano dei Cavalieri, church sited on Piazza dei
Cavalieri, and also designed by Vasari. It had originally a
single nave; two more were added in the 17th century. It
houses a bust by Donatello, and paintings by
Vasari, Jacopo Ligozzi, Alessandro Fei, and Pontormo. It
also contains spoils from the many naval battles between
the Cavalieri (Knights of St. Stephan) and the Turks
between the 16th and 18th centuries, including the Turkish
battle pennant hoisted from Ali Pacha's flagship at the
1571 Battle of Lepanto.
 St. Sixtus. This small church, consecrated in 1133, is also
close to the Piazza dei Cavalieri. It was used as a seat of
the most important notarial deeds of the town, also hosting
the Council of Elders. It is today one of the best preserved
early Romanesque buildings in town.
 St. Francis. The church of San Francesco may have been
designed by Giovanni di Simone, built after 1276. In 1343
new chapels were added and the church was elevated. It
has a single nave and a notable belfry, as well as a 15th-
century cloister. It houses works by Jacopo da
Empoli, Taddeo Gaddi and Santi di Tito. In the
Gherardesca Chapel are buried Ugolino della
Gherardesca and his sons.
 San Frediano. This church, built by 1061, has
a basilica interior with three aisles, with a crucifix from the
12th century. Paintings from the 16th century were added
during a restoration, including works by Ventura
Salimbeni, Domenico Passignano, Aurelio Lomi, and Rutilio
Manetti.
 San Nicola. This medieval church built by 1097, was
enlarged between 1297 and 1313 by the Augustinians,
perhaps by the design of Giovanni Pisano. The octagonal
belfry is from the second half of the 13th century. The
paintings include the Madonna with Child by Francesco
 Traini (14th century) and St. Nicholas Saving Pisa from the
Plague (15th century). Noteworthy are also the wood
sculptures by Giovanni and Nino Pisano, and
the Annunciation by Francesco di Valdambrino.
 Santa Maria della Spina. A small white marble church
alongside the Arno, is attributed to Lupo di Francesco
(1230), is another excellent Gothic building.
 San Paolo a Ripa d'Arno. The church was founded around
952 and enlarged in the mid-12th century along lines
similar to those of the cathedral. It is annexed to
the Romanesque Chapel of St. Agatha, with an unusual
pyramidal cusp or peak.
San Pietro in Vinculis. Known as San Pierino, it is an 11th-century church with a crypt
and a cosmatesque mosaic on the floor of the main nave.

 Borgo Stretto. This medieval borgo or neighborhood

contains strolling arcades and the Lungarno, the avenues
along the river Arno. It includes the Gothic-Romanesque
church of San Michele in Borgo (990). There are at least
two other leaning towers in the city, one at the southern
end of central Via Santa Maria, the other halfway through
the Piagge riverside promenade.
 Medici Palace. The palace was once a possession of the
Appiano family, who ruled Pisa in 1392–1398. In 1400 the
Medici acquired it, and Lorenzo de' Medici sojourned here.
 Orto botanico di Pisa. The botanical garden of the
University of Pisa is Europe's oldest university botanical
garden.
 Palazzo Reale. The ("Royal Palace"), once belonged to
the Caetani patrician family. Here Galileo Galilei showed
to Grand Duke of Tuscany the planets he had discovered
with his telescope. The edifice was erected in 1559
by Baccio Bandinelli for Cosimo I de Medici, and was later
enlarged including other palaces. The palace is now a
museum.
 Palazzo Gambacorti. This palace is a 14th-century Gothic
building, and now houses the offices of the municipality.
The interior shows frescoes boasting Pisa's sea victories.
 Palazzo Agostini. The palace is a Gothic building also
known as Palazzo dell'Ussero, with its 15th-century façade
and remains of the ancient city walls dating back to before
1155. The name of the building comes from the coffee
rooms of Caffè dell'Ussero, historic meeting place founded
on September 1, 1775.
  Mural Tuttomondo. A modern mural, the last public work
by Keith Haring, on the rear wall of the convent of the
Church of Sant'Antonio, painted in June 1989.
Museums[edit]

 Museo dell'Opera del Duomo: exhibiting among others the

original sculptures of Nicola Pisano and Giovanni
Pisano and the treasures of the cathedral.
 Museo delle Sinopie: showing the sinopias from the
camposanto, the monumental cemetery. These are red
ocher underdrawings for frescoes, made with reddish,
greenish or brownish earth colour with water.
 Museo Nazionale di San Matteo: exhibiting sculptures and
paintings from the 12th to 15th centuries, among them the
masterworks of Giovanni and Andrea Pisano, the Master of
San Martino, Simone Martini, Nino Pisano and Masaccio.
 Museo Nazionale di Palazzo Reale: exhibiting the
belongings of the families that lived in the palace: paintings,
statues, armors, etc.
 Museo Nazionale degli Strumenti per il Calcolo: exhibiting a
collection of instruments used in science, between whose a
pneumatic machine of Van Musschenbroek and a compass
probably belonged to Galileo Galilei.
 Museo di storia naturale dell'Università di Pisa  (Natural
History Museum of the University of Pisa), located in
the Certosa di Calci, outside the city. It houses one of the
largest cetacean skeletons collection in Europe.
 Palazzo Blu: temporary exhibitions and cultural activities
center, located in the Lungarno, in the heart of the old
town, the palace is easy recognizable because it is the only
blue building.
 Cantiere delle Navi di Pisa - The Pisa's Ancient Ships
Archaeological Area: A museum of 10,650 square meters -
3,500 archaeological excavation, 1,700 laboratories and
one restoration center -, that visitors can visit with a guided
tour.[11]
Educational institutions[edit]
Pisa hosts the University of Pisa, especially renowned in the fields
of Physics, Mathematics, Engineering and Computer Science. The Scuola Superiore
Sant'Anna and the Scuola Normale Superiore, the Italian academic élite institutions are
noted mostly for research and the education of graduate students.
Construction of a new leaning tower of glass and steel 57 meters tall, containing offices
and apartments was scheduled to start in summer 2004 and take 4 years. It was
designed by Dante Oscar Benini and raised criticism.

 The Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa was founded in

1810, by Napoleonic decree, as a branch of the École
Normale Supérieure of Paris. Recognized as a "national
university" in 1862, one year after Italian unification, and
named during that period as "Normal School of the
Kingdom of Italy" (Superior Graduate Schools in Italy i.e.
Scuola Superiore Universitaria).
Located at: Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa – Piazza dei Cavalieri, 7 – 56126 Pisa
(Italia)

 The Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies of

Pisa or Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna is a special-statute
public university located in Pisa, Italy, emerging
from Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa and operating in
the field of applied sciences, (Superior Graduate Schools in
Italy i.e. Scuola Superiore Universitaria)
Located at: Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, P.zza Martiri della Libertà, 33 – 56127 – Pisa
(Italia)

 The University of Pisa or Università di Pisa, is one of the

oldest universities in Italy. It was formally founded on
September 3, 1343 by an edict of Pope Clement VI,
although there had been lectures on law in Pisa since the
11th century. The University has Europe's oldest academic
botanical garden i.e. Orto botanico di Pisa, founded 1544.
Located at: Università di Pisa – Lungarno Pacinotti, 43 – 56126 Pisa (Italia)
Churches[edit]

 Baptistry
 San Francesco
 San Frediano
 San Giorgio ai Tedeschi
 San Michele in Borgo
 San Nicola
 San Paolo a Ripa d'Arno
 San Paolo all'Orto
 San Piero a Grado
 San Pietro in Vinculis
 San Sisto
  San Zeno
 Santa Caterina
 Santa Cristina
 Santa Maria della Spina
 Santo Sepolcro
Palaces, towers and villas[edit]

 Palazzo del Collegio Puteano

 Palazzo della Carovana
 Palazzo delle Vedove
 Torre dei Gualandi
 Villa di Corliano
 Leaning Tower of Pisa

Notable people associated with Pisa[edit]

For people born in Pisa, see People from the Province of Pisa; among notable non-
natives long resident in the city:

 Giuliano Amato, politician, former Premier and Minister of

Interior Affairs
 Silvano Arieti, psychiatrist
 Gaetano Bardini, tenor
 Sergio Bertoni, footballer
 Andrea Bocelli, tenor
 Giosuè Carducci, poet and Nobel Prize winner
 Massimo Carmassi, architect
 Giorgio Chiellini, footballer
 Carlo Azeglio Ciampi and Giovanni Gronchi, politicians,
former Presidents of the Republic of Italy
 Maria Luisa Cicci, poet
 Alessio Corti, mathematician
 Rustichello da Pisa, writer
 Enrico Fermi and Carlo Rubbia, physicists and Nobel Prize
winners
 Leonardo Fibonacci, mathematician
 Galileo Galilei, physicist
 Giovanni Gentile, philosopher and politician
 Orazio Gentileschi, painter
 Count Ugolino della Gherardesca, noble (see also Dante
Alighieri)
 Camila Giorgi, tennis player
  Giacomo Leopardi, poet and philosopher
 Marco Malvaldi, mystery novelist
 Leo Ortolani, comic writer
 Antonio Pacinotti, physicist, inventor of the dynamo
 Andrea Pisano, sculptor
 Afro Poli, baritone
 Bruno Pontecorvo, physicist
 Gillo Pontecorvo, filmmaker
 Antonio Tabucchi, writer

Transport[edit]
Travel links[edit]
Pisa is a one-hour drive from Florence (86 kilometres (53 mi)). One can also get a train
directly to Florence from a Central rail station in Pisa (Pisa Centrale). Local buses
connect the city of Pisa with all the neighboring cities (come to Pontedera, then take a
bus for Volterra, San Miniato, etc.). Taxis come when requested from Pisa International
Airport and Central Station.
Pisamover[edit]
Pisa has an international airport known as Pisa International Airport located in San
Giusto neighborhood in Pisa. The airport has a people mover system, called Pisamover,
opened in March 2017[12], that connects Airport and Pisa central railway station, that is
2 km (1.2 mi) away. It's based on a driverless "horizontal funicular" that travels the
distance in 5 minutes, with a 5-minute frequency, having an intermediate stop at parking
station San Giusto & Aurelia.
Buses[edit]
Urban lines CPT (Compagnia Pisana Trasporti): [13]

 Red LAM: Cisanello Hospital - Central Station – Duomo –

Parking Pietrasantina
 Green LAM: San Giusto - Central Station - Pratale
 Navetta E: Lungarno Pacinotti – Park Brennero – La
Fontina
 Navetta NightLAM: Cisanello–Lungarni (night line)
 Navetta NightLAM: Pietrasantina–Lungarni (night line)
 Navetta Torre: Park Pietrasantina – Largo Cocco Griffi
(Duomo)
 Navetta Cisanello Hospital: Park Bocchette – Cisanello
(Hospital)
 Bus n°2: San Giusto – Central Station – Porta a Lucca
 Bus n°4: Central Station – I Passi
 Bus n°5: Putignano – Central Station – C.E.P.
 
Bus n°6: Central Station – C.E.P. – Barbaricina

Bus n°8: Coltano – Vittorio Emanuele II square

Bus n°12: Viale Gramsci – Ospedaletto (Expò) – Bus
Deapot CPT
 Bus n°13: Cisanello Hospital – Piagge – Central Station –
Pisanova
 Bus n°14: Cisanello Hospital – Pisanova – Central Station
– Piagge
 Bus n°16: Viale Gramsci – Ospedaletto – Industrial Zone
(some for Località Montacchiello)
 Bus n°21: Airport – Central Station – C.E.P.–Duomo – I
Passi (evening line)
 Bus n°22: Central Station – Piagge–Pisanova–Cisanello–
Pratale (evening line)
Suburban lines CPT to/from Pisa:[13]

 Line n°10: Pisa–Tirrenia–Livorno (deviation for La Vettola-

San Piero a Grado)
 Line n°50: Pisa–Collesalvetti–Fauglia–Crespina
 Line n°51: Collesalvetti–Lorenzana–Orciano
 Line n°70: Pisa–Gello–Pontasserchio
 Line n°71: Pisa – Sant'Andrea in Palazzi – Pontasserchio –
San Martino Ulmiano: Pisa
 Line n°80: Pisa–Migliarino–Vecchiano–Filettole
 Line n°81: Pisa–Pontasserchio–Vecchiano
 Line n°110: Pisa–Asciano–Agnano
 Line n°120: Pisa–Calci–Montemagno
 Line n°140: Pisa–Vicopisano–Pontedera
 Line n°150: Pisa–Musigliano–Pettori
 Line n°160: Pisa–Navacchio–Calci – Tre Colli
 Line n°190: Pisa–Cascina–Pontedera
 Line n°875: Pisa – Arena Metato
Trains[edit]
The city is served by two railway stations available for passengers: Pisa
Centrale and Pisa San Rossore.
Pisa Centrale is the main railway station and is located along the Tyrrhenic railway line.
It connects Pisa directly with several other important Italian cities such
as Rome, Florence, Genoa, Turin, Naples, Livorno, and Grosseto.
Pisa San Rossore links the city with Lucca (20 minutes from Pisa) and Viareggio and is
also reachable from Pisa Centrale. It is a minor railway station located near the Leaning
Tower zone.
There was another station called Pisa Aeroporto situated next to the Airport with
services to Pisa Centrale and Florence. It has been closed on 15 December 2013 for
the realization of a people mover.
Cars[edit]
Pisa has two exits on the A11 Florence-Pisa road and on the A12 Genoa-Livorno road,
Pisa Nord and Pisa Centro-aeroporto.
Pisa Centro leads visitors to the city centre.
Parking: Pratale (San Jacopo), Pietrasantina (Via Pietrasantina), Piazza Carrara,
Lungarni.

Sports[edit]
This section needs expansion. You
can help by adding to it. (June 2008)

A.C. Pisa 1909 play at the Arena Garibaldi – Stadio Romeo Anconetani, as seen from the Leaning Tower

Football is the main sport in Pisa; the local team, A.C. Pisa, currently[14] plays in the Lega
Pro (the third highest football division in Italy), and has had a top flight history
throughout the 1980s and the 1990s, featuring several world-class players such
as Diego Simeone, Christian Vieri and Dunga during this time. The club play at
the Arena Garibaldi – Stadio Romeo Anconetani, opened in 1919 and with a capacity of
25,000.
Shooting was one of the first sports to have their own association in Pisa. The Società
del Tiro a Segno di Pisa was founded on July 9, 1862. In 1885, they acquired their own
training field. The shooting range was almost completely destroyed during World War II.
In Pisa there was a festival and game fr:Gioco del Ponte (Game of the Bridge) which
was celebrated (in some form) in Pisa from perhaps the 1200s down to 1807. From the
end of the 1400s the game took the form of a mock battle fought upon Pisa's central
bridge (Ponte di Mezzo). The participants wore quilted armor and the only offensive
weapon allowed was the targone, a shield-shaped, stout board with precisely specified
dimensions. Hitting below the belt was not allowed. Two opposing teams started at
opposite ends of the bridge. The object of the two opposing teams was to penetrate,
drive back, and disperse the opponents' ranks and to thereby drive them backwards off
the bridge. The struggle was limited to forty-five minutes. Victory or defeat was
immensely important to the team players and their partisans, but sometimes the game
was fought to a draw and both sides celebrated. [15] In 1927 the tradition was revived by
college students as an elaborate costume parade. In 1935 Vittorio Emanuele III with the
royal family witnessed the first revival of a modern version of the game, which has been
pursued in the 20th and 21st centuries with some interruptions and varying degrees of
enthusiasm by Pisans and their civic institutions.

Festivals and cultural events[edit]

 Capodanno pisano (folklore, March 25)
 Gioco del Ponte (folklore)
 Luminara di San Ranieri (folklore June 16)
 Maritime republics regatta (Folklore)
 Premio Nazionale Letterario Pisa
 Pisa Book Festival
 Metarock (Rock music festival)
 Internet Festival
 San Ranieri regatta (Folklore)
 Turn Off Festival (House music festival)
 Nessiáh (Jewish cultural Festival, November)

International relations[edit]
See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Italy
Twin towns and sister cities[edit]
Pisa is twinned with:[16]
  Corumbá, Corumbá
  Acre, Israel
  Kolding, Denmark, since 2007[16]
  Santiago de Compostela, since 2010[16]
  Angers, France, since 1982[16]
  Jericho, Palestine, since 2000[16]
  Niles, Illinois, United States, since 1991[16]
  Coral Gables, Florida, United States
  Unna, Germany, since 1996[16][17]
  Cagliari, Italy
  Ocala, Florida, United States (Sister City 2004)
[16][18]

References[edit]
Notes[edit]
1. ^ "Statistiche demografiche ISTAT".  demo.istat.it.
 2. ^ "Superficie di Comuni Province e Regioni italiane al 9 ottobre 2011".
Istat. Retrieved  March 16,  2019.
3. ^ "Popolazione Residente al 1° Gennaio 2018". Istat. Retrieved March
16,  2019.
4. ^ Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna di Pisa Archived January 1, 2016, at
the Wayback Machine Information statistics
5. ^ William Heywood (2010).  A History of Pisa: Eleventh and Twelfth
Centuries. Cambridge University Press. p.  1.  ISBN  9781108010139.
6. ^ Jump up to:a b Machiavelli, Niccolò (1981). The Prince and Selected
Discourses  (Bantam Classic ed.). New York: Bantam Books. pp. 128–
29.  ISBN  0-553-21227-3.
7. ^ "A traveler's oasis in Italy". Wiesbaden.army.mil. Archived from the
original on February 19, 2013. Retrieved  March 12,2013.
8. ^ "Darby Military Community, Camp Darby, Italy, Top Picks".
Usag.livorno.army.mil. April 30, 1945. Archived from the originalon
March 5, 2013. Retrieved  March 12,  2013.
9. ^ "PISA/S.GIUSTO"  (PDF). Servizio Meteorologico.
Retrieved October 13, 2012.
10. ^ S. Giusto "Tabella CLINO 1961–1990 Pisa"  Check  |url=value
(help). Servizio Meteorologico. Retrieved  October 13,  2012.
11. ^ "Navi Pisane - Le Antiche Navi Romane scoperte a
Pisa".  www.navipisa.it. Archived from  the original on August 20, 2018.
Retrieved May 6,  2015.
12. ^ "MM100 PisaMover".  LEITNER ropeways. Archived from the
original on February 13, 2018. Retrieved  February 12,  2018.
13. ^ Jump up to:a b "CPT PISA (gruppo CTT Nord)". www.cpt.pisa.it.
14. ^ as of 2013–14
15. ^ Heywood, William (1905). Palio and Ponte: An Account of the
Sports of Central Italy from the Age of Dante to the XXth Century.
London: Methuen & Co. pp.  116–126.
16. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f g h "Pisa – Official Sister Cities".  © Comune di Pisa,
Via degli Uffizi, 1 – 56100 Pisa centralino: +39 050 910111.
Retrieved January 11, 2016.
17. ^ "List of Twin Towns in the Ruhr District"  (PDF). Archived from the
original  (PDF)  on November 28, 2009. Retrieved October 28, 2009.
18. ^ "San Rossore Officially Sister City To Ocala". Thoroughbred Times.
Archived from  the original on April 20, 2016. Retrieved  July
16,  2007. "This event is just the beginning of a nice relationship
between the city of Ocala and the city of Pisa and San Rossore,"
Fontanelli said in Italian during the ceremony.

Bibliography[edit]
See also: Bibliography of the history of Pisa

 Renouard, Yves (1969). Les Villes d'Italie de la fin du

Xe siècle au début du XIVe siècle (in French).
 Official Abitants statistics
 Pisa Metropolitan Area

External links[edit]
 Wikimedia Commons has
media related to Pisa.

Wikivoyage has a travel

guide for Pisa.

 Portal of Pisa
 Pisan history portal
 Official site of the Pisa Tourist Board
 Official site of the Municipality of Pisa, including
webcams
 Moving Postcards of Pisa
 Pisa Guide
 A comprehensive guide of Pisa
show

Tourism in Pisa

show

Tuscany · Comuni of the Province of Pisa

show

 Maritime republics

-4b43-8a12-fe11c8961c2f
034879
Categories: 
 Pisa
 Cities and towns in Tuscany
 Communes of the Province of Pisa
 Coastal towns in Tuscany
 University towns in Italy
 Gothic sites in Tuscany
 Romanesque architecture in Tuscany
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