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Pisa in Italy may be famous for its leaning tower but the town has many more beautiful monuments, discovers J. L. Gupta
Italy is not merely a country of mountains and highlands. Or known just for its Fiat and Ferrari or pizzas. It is a treasure trove where every stone has a story to tell and its each city offers a slice of history. And it does not take long to discover it. While flying may remain a preferred mode of travelling for many tourists an equal number are opting for leisure travelling through cruises. Italy is one such destination. Most cruise ships dock for couple of days at various cities to enable its passengers to visit its various tourist attractions. The port city of Livorno in district Tuscany is one such stop. While the main city of Livorno has much to offer, the nearby city of Pisa attracts more visitors by the virtue its having the famous leaning tower. It is also the birthplace of scientist Galileo. Many buses are available from Livorno to Pisa. The highway is just a dual carriageway. But the traffic is very orderly. No honking, no rush. The drive is very scenic, with a lot of greenery everywhere. The hour-long drive to Pisa is quite refreshing. At first sight the city looks like a small Indian town. People mostly move on bicycles. The main square of Pisa, called Piazza del Duomo (Cathedral Square), is a wide, walled area in the heart of the city. It is also known as Piazza dei Miracoli (Square of Miracles). Recognised as one of the main centers for medieval art in the world, the square is dominated by three great religious edifices: the Duomo or the Cathedral, the Leaning Tower, (the cathedral’s campanile) and the Baptistry. In 1987 the whole square was declared a Unesco World Heritage Site. After a short walk through the partly paved and partly grassed square, the first view of the monuments is breathtaking. Sometimes also called the holy trinity of a baptistery, a cathedral and a bell tower, each monument is a work of art. The Baptistry of St John is round in shape. It is the largest baptistry in Italy. The immensity of its interior is overwhelming. It has a notable acoustics and is supposed to hold a sung note for minutes. The construction of Baptistry started in 1152. The architect was Diotisalvi, whose signature can be read on two pillars inside the building. The two-tier lintel inside depicts several episodes in the life of St John, the Baptist, and Christ between Madonna and St John, flanked by angels and the evangelists. The pulpit of the Baptistery was carved by famous sculptor Nicola Pisano in 1260. The heart of the Piazza dei Miracoli is the Duomo, or the medieval cathedral, entitled to Santa Maria Assunta (St Mary of the Assumption). It is a huge structure. Its construction began in 1063 and it took about 29 years to build it. It houses Giovanni Pisano’s ornate pulpit and "swath of Gothic reliefs." Guglielmo Pisano had made the Cathedral’s first pulpit in the year 1162, while its massive bronze doors were sculpted by Bonanno Pisano in 1180. The existing pulpit in the Cathedral is from Nicola’s son. It has a bold, naturalistic depiction of a naked Hercules. The Leaning Tower of Pisa (La Torre di Pisa) is the campanile or freestanding bell tower of the Cathedral. It is situated behind the cathedral and is the third oldest structure of the Piazza del Duomo after the cathedral and the baptistry. The tower began leaning to the southeast soon after the onset of construction in 1173 due to a poorly laid foundation. A loose substrate has allowed the foundation to shift direction. The tower presently leans to the southwest.. Construction of the tower began on August 9, 1173 and was spread in three stages over a period of about 177 years. Pisa and its famous monuments are abound with many stories about Galileo. He is believed to have formulated his theory about the movement of a pedulum by watching the swinging of the incense lamp (not the present one) hanging from the ceiling of the nave at the Cathedral. The original lamp is now kept in the Camposanto, in the Aulla chapel. The scientist is also said to have dropped two cannon balls of different masses from the leaning tower to demonstrate that their speed of descent was independent of their mass. Pisa may be an old city but a sense of timelessness prevails there, as even the ancient monuments do not betray their age. Because these are well maintained. Restoration is a continuing process. I wish we Indians should also be able to keep our monuments like the Europeans do.
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