Day trip from La Spezia pier: Pisa highlights - private tour

The city of Pisa rises above the banks of Arno, just before the mouth of the river at Marina of Pisa. It is one of the most important cities in Tuscany and it is extremely well-known in the world, because of its famous symbol: "the Leaning Tower".

The Tower of Pisa in Italian “Torre Pendente di Pisa” is located in the city of Pisa, exactly in the Piazza del Duomo of Pisa known as “Piazza dei Miracoli” (Cathedral Square). This famous tower began to tilt when its construction began in 1173. The Tower of Pisa measures 55.86 meters of height with an estimated weight of 14,700 tons and an inclination of about 4 ° extending 3.9 m of the vertical. In 1964 the Italian government asked for help to prevent the Tower of Pisa from collapsing. In 1987, UNESCO declared Patrimony of the Humanity to the whole patrimonial group of the Cathedral Square. In 1990 it closed its doors to the public as a security measure and after several works of restructuring, on June 16th 2001 opened its doors again.

Founded in 1064 and consecrated with great pomp on September 26th 1118, the Cathedral was built in two stages, one by architect Buscheto, who created the original layout with the basilican body with four aisles and one nave, a transept with one nave and two aisles, and the dome on the cross vault, and one by Rainaldo, who extended the building and the façade. The building was not finally completed until the last quarter of the XII century, when Bonannoís bronze leaves were placed on the central door, which were later destroyed by the devastating fire of 1595, after which many of the destroyed works were replaced and a vast decorative plan was started.

With a circumference of 107.24 metres, walls 2.63 metres thick at the base, and a height of 54.86 metres, it is the largest baptistery in Italy. The dome is clad with red tiles on the side facing the sea, and with lead sheets to the east.

The National Museum of Palazzo Reale in Pisa is housed inside the Palazzo Reale on the Lungarno, designed by Bernardo Buontalenti for Ferdinando I dei Medici at the end of the 16th century. ( choose the proper option to visit also this location ) Here you can admire works of art from the Medici, Lorraine, Savoy and Pisan collections, but also the splendid Medici tapestry with pieces by the Stradano and the clothes of Eleonora of Toledo, wife of Grand Duke Cosimo I de 'Medici , without forgetting a unique collection of armor, which includes 900 pieces dating back to the XV-XVII centuries. The Museum preserves some works attributed to Rosso Fiorentino and to a very young Raphael, but also precious ivory miniatures from the Ceci collection, the paintings by Galileo Chini and the portraitist Italo Griselli.

The idea of creating a mural in Pisa happened by chance when a young Pisan student met Haring on the street in New York. The theme, peace and harmony in the world, can be read through the links and divisions between the 30 figures which, like a puzzle, occupy 180 square metres of the south wall of the church of St. Anthony in the centre of Pisa. Each figure represents a different aspect of peace in the world: the "human" scissors are the image of solidarity between Man in defeating the serpent (symbol of evil), which is already eating the head of the figure next to it; the woman with a baby in her arms represents maternity, and the two men supporting the dolphin refer to Man's relationship with nature.