Pisa › Places and landmarks
Places and landmarks in Pisa
13 landmarks of Pisa, and the streets, squares and waterways around them, each with its story and where to find it.
Landmarks
Leaning Tower of PisaThe cathedral’s bell tower, which started to lean before its third floor was finished and has leaned ever since, some four degrees today.
Duomo di PisaThe marble cathedral of 1064, paid for with the spoils of a raid on Palermo, the first great building of the Pisan Romanesque.
BaptisteryThe largest baptistery in Italy, round and domed, where a guard sings a few notes every half hour to let you hear its echo.
CamposantoThe marble cloister of a cemetery on the north side of the square, said to stand on earth brought back from Golgotha.
Santa Maria della SpinaA tiny Gothic church on the bank of the Arno, all pinnacles and statues, once home to a thorn from Christ’s crown.
Piazza dei CavalieriThe square of the Knights of Saint Stephen, with Vasari’s painted palace, now the Scuola Normale, and the tower where Count Ugolino starved.
Borgo StrettoPisa’s old shopping street under the arcades, from the Ponte di Mezzo north into the medieval town.
The LungarniThe streets along both banks of the Arno, lined with palazzi in ochre and pink, lit with thousands of candles every 16 June.
Ponte di MezzoThe middle bridge, where the city has crossed the Arno since Roman times, and where the north and the south of Pisa fight every June.
Logge di BanchiThe open loggia at the south end of the Ponte di Mezzo, built around 1605 for the silk and wool traders.
TuttomondoKeith Haring’s last big mural, painted in 1989 on the back wall of the convent of Sant’Antonio, near the station.
Also part of Pisa
Streets, squares and waterways
The places that hold the centre of Pisa together. Point at one to find it on the map.
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1
Piazza dei Miracoli Piazza del Duomo square
The cathedral square on its green lawn, with the Duomo, the Baptistery, the tower and the Camposanto.
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2
Leaning Tower Torre pendente building
The cathedral’s bell tower, leaning about four degrees since the Middle Ages.
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3
Baptistery Battistero di San Giovanni building
The largest baptistery in Italy, famous for its echo.
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4
Camposanto building
The marble cloister of the cemetery, its frescoes burnt in 1944.
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5
Via Santa Maria street
The street of the university, from the Duomo down to the Arno.
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6
Orto Botanico park
The university’s botanical garden, founded in 1544, one of the oldest in Europe.
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7
Piazza dei Cavalieri square
The square of the Knights of Saint Stephen and of the Scuola Normale.
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8
Borgo Stretto street
The old shopping street under the arcades.
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9
Arno waterway
The river that bends through the middle of the city, on its way from Florence to the sea.
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10
Lungarno Gambacorti street
The south bank of the Arno, with Santa Maria della Spina and the Palazzo Blu.
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11
Ponte di Mezzo bridge
The middle bridge, the battlefield of the Gioco del Ponte.
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12
Santa Maria della Spina building
The tiny Gothic church on the river bank.
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13
Logge di Banchi building
The open loggia of the silk and wool market, at the south end of the Ponte di Mezzo.
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14
Corso Italia street
The shopping street of the south bank, closed to cars, from the river to the station.
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15
Tuttomondo building
Keith Haring’s mural of 1989 on the wall of the convent of Sant’Antonio.
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16
Pisa Centrale building
The main station, on the line along the coast and to Florence.