Pisa

Everyone was pretty excited to see the Leaning Tower… I know, it’s fame comes from the fact that it was improperly constructed… but still --  it’s pretty iconic and very interesting to read about.  Plus those ‘holding up the Tower’ pictures are pretty fun.

We drove an hour to Pisa and parked remarkably close to the Campo dei Miracoli – Pisa’s ‘Field of Miracles’ which contains five grand buildings: the cathedral (or Duomo), its bell tower (the Leaning Tower), the Baptistery, the hospital (today a museum), and the Camposanto Cemetery. “Theologically, the Campo’s buildings mark the main events of every Pisan’s life: christened in the Baptistery, married in the Duomo, honored in the ceremonies at the Tower, healed in the hospital, and buried in the Camposanto Cemetery.”  

The Leaning Tower  Rick Steves Italy says: “Pisa’s bell tower is nearly 200 feet tall and 55 feet wide, weighing 24,000 tons and currently leaning at a five degree angle.  It started to lean almost immediately after construction began.  The tower was built over two centuries by at least three different architects.    The first stones were laid in 1173.  Five years later, just as they’d finished the base and the first arcade, someone said, “Is it just me, or does that look crooked?”  The heavy Tower – resting on a very shallow 13 foot foundation – was obviously sinking on the south side into the marshy, multilayered, unstable soil.  They carried on anyway, until they’d finished four stories.  Then construction suddenly halted – no one knows why – and for a century the Tower sat half-finished and visibly leaning.  Around 1272, the next architect continued, trying to correct the problem by angling the next three stories backward in the opposite direction of the lean.  The project then again sat mysteriously idle for nearly another century.  Finally another architect put the belfry on top.”  The whole explanation seems pretty silly.

         

The Baptistery  “The Baptistery is the biggest in Italy.  The building is modeled on the circular domed Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.  It leans nearly 6 feet to the North.   John the Baptist stands on top.  In the center sits the octagonal font topped with a statue of the first Baptist… John, which contains plenty of space for baptizing adults by immersion (the medieval custom).”

The Duomo

 

“Begun in 1063, the Duomo is the centerpiece of the Field of Miracles’ complex of religious buildings.  The architect created the style of Pisan Romanesque that set the tone for the Baptistery and Tower.”

The big bronze doors were closed when Chris and the kids were jokingly ‘wanting in’ and then they promptly opened them up. Perfect timing.  Ryan is holding on to the door handle which is one of the bronze man’s arms. 

  

“The 320 foot nave was the longest in Christendom when it was built. The striped marble and columns give it an exotic, almost mosque-like feel.  Dim light filters in from the small upper windows of the galleries, where the women worshipped.”

After walking around for awhile we headed down one of the streets in search of good pizza – and found some.  Chris and I loved our 4 cheese pizza.   Then back to the Villa for a relaxing night of games.