LEANING TOWER of PISA
Bonanno Pisano
Attributed Architect of the Tower

Already an important naval base in Roman times, in the Middle Ages, Pisa was one of the greatest marine republics of Italy. The most glorious period of its history was from the XI to the XIII century; it extended its dominion and influence from Corsica to Sardinia and to Sicily; exhausted its rival Amalfi; participated in the 1st Crusade extracting huge benefit; it was master of all the Tuscan shore from Portovenere to Civitavecchia. But internal discord and the rivalries with Lucca, Florence and Genoa undermined its power, as it received a fatal hit in 1284 with the defeat inflicted by the Meloria of Genova. It began as slow decadence, culminating in 1405 with its submission to Florence. The city enjoyed a new period of comfort under the granduchi of Tuscany; there bloomed the studies of Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) from which gave start to a tall scientific tradition that is still working. In the centuries of political and economic power, from the XI century to the first decades of the XIV century, art bloomed luxuriant to Pisa, especially in the field of architecture and sculpture. With the erection of the Cathedral, Pisa settled into one particular type of architecture, Romano-Pisana, that blends various origins harmoniously - classical, Lombarda, Moslem - it gives life to buildings of a rare vigorous and serene beauty together, and it expanded from there into Tuscany, Corsica, Sardinia, and up to the distant Mezzogiorno. After the Cathedral, the Baptistery, the Bell Tower, the church of S.Paolo a Ripa of Arno, and others rose in the city according to that style; then, containing Gothic detailing, the Cemetery, S.Maria della Spina, S.Michele in Borgo, S.Caterina, etc. The competition in culptural was very active among Lombardi and local craftsmen (Bonanno, Guiglelmo) for the decoration of these churches. They prepared the advent, in the second half of the XIII century, of Nicola Pisano, who, with the full mastering of the procedures, infuses sculpture with classical nobility and deep humanity. From him a glorious school derived (Frà Guglielmo da Pisa; Arnolfo di Cambio), of which the greatest exponent was his son Giovanni Pisano, the greatest Gothic Italian sculptor, endowed with a human and violent expressiveness. It continued in the 1300's with Andrew Pisano, sons Nino and Tommaso, Giovanni of Balduccio and others, and his methods fertilized all the Italian sculpture of the time. CHARACTERISTICS of LIFE in PISA. Looking out on an ample expanse of the Arno with an imposing parade of ancient palaces, Pisa, preserves its urban fabric, beyond the many churches and interesting medieval buildings (S.Maria della Spina, S.Paolo a Ripa of Arno, S.Caterina, S.Francesco, S.Michele in Borgo, etc.), a complex of monuments of exceptional variety presents an obligation for each tourist, Piazza di Miracoli, with the Cathedral, Baptistery, the famous Leaning Tower and the Cemetery, among the greatest masterpieces of the Italian art of the 12th and 13th centuries. Not forgotten is the 15th century medieval center, the Piazza dei Cavalieri, near the University, that with the activity of its continuous Institutes the illustrious Pisan tradition as a cultural center of top level. Precious documentations of medieval and Renaissance painting and sculpture are guarded in the important National Museum of S.Matteo. Economic life is tied up in a variety of industries - glass and metalforming, textile establishments, pharmaceuticals, industrial ceramics and coatings. Of notable economic importance is commerce and tourism. From Cibernet Pisa
Translated by Gary Feuerstein 25 April 1998

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