Travel Guide - Pisa, Italy

Pisa is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is easy to reach Pisa by train from Firenze. The train journey is around 60mins to Pisa Centrale. The return ticket costs approx. Euro 11.40/person. So you can have a day-trip to Pisa if you staying at Firenze.

It takes around 30mins’ walk to Piazza del Duomo from Pisa Centrale station. Walking on the streets is the best way to enjoy the sight and local atmosphere.

Piazza Garibaldi and Piazza XX Settembre, these two squares are linked up by a bridge - Ponte di Mezzo, where is considered as the center of the city. So you can walk along an old street, Borgo Stretto with lots of shops, pass by a middle bridge - Ponte di Mezzo across Arno River to another street, Corso Italia. In Piazza XX Settembre, the Logge dei Banchi is a building created to host textile market in 1600, and the town hall is in the Palazzo del Comune.

Piazza Delle Vettovaglie is now a main city shopping area: markets, towerhouses and shops.

S. Francesco Quarter is the place where Galileo Galilei was born. The church founded by St. Francis of Assisi stands here, too.

The Piazza del Duomo ("Cathedral Square") is a wide, walled area at the heart of the city of Pisa. This square is partly paved and partly grassed and also is dominated by the Duomo, the Leaning Tower, the Baptistry and the Camposanto. It is also known as Piazza dei Miracoli ("Square of Miracles"). The whole square was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.

The heart of the Piazza del Duomo is the Duomo, which is built by grey marble and white stone set with discs of coloured marble.

The world famous Leaning Tower of Pisa (Torre pendente di Pisa) is situated behind the Cathedral and is the third oldest building in Piazza del Duomo after the Cathedral and the Baptistery. Climbing the tower requires reservation. The ticket costs Euro15/person. Please purchase your tickets once you arrive at Piazza dei Miracoli. You are expected to wait for 45 minutes to 2 hours. But you can visit other sites while you are waiting.

The Baptistery , is the largest baptistery in Italy, which stands opposite the west end of the Duomo. The Campo Santo monumentale ("monumental cemetery") is a beautiful walled cemetery lies at the northern edge of the Square.

On the Southeast edge of the square there is the Gothic style brick building of Spedale Nuovo di Santo Spirito ("New Hospital of Holy Spirit"). This hospital was to help pilgrims, poor, sick people and abandoned children with a shelter. Nowadays this building is no more a hospital.


Useful links:
The official website of Visit Pisa - http://www.visitpisa.it/en/
The website for Ticket office of Leaning Tower of Pisa - http://boxoffice.opapisa.it/Torre/index.jsp