Piazza dei Miracoli

Piazza dei Miracoli (also: Piazza del Duomo) rightfully holds its name: square of miracles as there are four wonderful sights you can find there just next to each other. They make the whole square much more special together with similar colors and style used. I firstly had doubts about going to Pisa during the italian trip I did with my sister, but this square made it worth it, so if you are planning on travelling to Florence, take a train to Pisa as well. The city is quite small so for us one day was enough to see the famous Piazza along with the city centre that is worth a stop and the river banks with many motorcycles parked next to many restaurants.

The Leaning tower

That is the one thing that drives people to Pisa. I, just like many visitors, did not know about the other sights and let myself be surprised when I arrived there. Its name: the Leaning Tower holds a characteristic that made it so famous. It is a bit ironic that people visit it because of its imperfect inclination, the thing that caused so many problems to its architect. When he started to build it, he did not put its foundations deep enough. Therefore, the tower began to sink on one side which made its creator think very carefully how to continue building it. Even the famous Galileo Galilei is connected to it as he used the tower for demonstration of one of the laws of physics. Till that day, the tower insists in standing position and does not break down.

When we got to the tower we saw many people taking photos. Surely you have seen the most famous one where people pretend to support the tower so it would not fall. Being so classical, we naturally had to make some of those pictures ourselves. People had to wait for their turn to take photos at the fence that forbid people to walk on the loan as there were so many of them. So different from the city center that does not make you feel like you are visiting another of those overcrowded touristic sights in this world where half the enjoyment disappears thanks to the amount of people.

Most tourists also took a tour to the top of the tower. We saw the price was even higher than to get to the Eiffel tower and there were different times at which you could join one of the groups. We would have to wait for at least 4 hours and that averted us. We saw the other three monuments and the center instead. On our way back we met a girl that took the tour, but she said that she was disappointed as the view at the top was not really good through small grates. So I do not think it is worth the money.

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Cathedral

The entrance to the cathedral, the largest building of the four, is free. However, you should make sure that your trousers cover your knees and your t-shirt covers your shoulders. We had a scarf with us to cover our shorts and people that did not got a black jacket that looked like a cheap cape. The inside is richly ornamented. To me the thing I remembered the most is a pert of the ceiling covered with golden flowers, richly decorated. The interior holds lots of black and white marble exhanging in lines. You will see many columns supporting the higher terrace you cannot visit.

The cathedral. Source: own photo

Baptistry

It looks really small but once you are inside it looks a bit larger making it the largest baptistry in Italy. The color of the marble inside is white with thin black lines. The round shape is present outside creating a shape of a dome and inside it transforms into octagonal with lines leading from the center where they used to baptise people. The columns at the side of the building support the terrace you can visit. From there, you will have a nice view of the ground floor and the other sights, especially the Cathedral and the Pisa tower.

The baptistry. Source: own photo

Camposanto Monumentale

Camposanto Monumentale is the name of the old cemetery. It does not look like much on the outside with its square shape, but it holds some nice frescos in not the best condition. Inside you will find a small central garden with loans making its shape look like a frame. The people barried in the tombs inside were mostly important priests like bishops and archbishops. The tombs have some carvings. In one of the walls you will see the chain. There are the remaints of the arms in one smaller room along with the chapel. You will not need a lot of time to walk through the four sides.

The tomb. Source: own photo