PISA



One day, Joe and the girls took off to enjoy a day in Pisa, which is an easy day trip from Florence by bus or train.



Pisa peaked in 1200 AD and was a major player in medieval times.

Sitting just 6 miles from the Mediterranean on the Arno River, Pisa was made a navy base as well as a sea-trading power by the Romans.

These days, Pisa is one of the lovely, Tuscan towns we explore and enjoy.

Like so many places we visit, there is a lot to see just walking down the street in Pisa. But there is nothing in Pisa quite like the sight of...



...The Leaning Tower.



Pisa prided itself on being independent of popes and emporers, and used its own sea-trading wealth to build three, grand monuments of the "Campo dei Miracoli," or, Field of Miracles. These monuments lie on the best lawn in Italy.





Built as the church bell tower, the Leaning Tower is one of these three monuments and important sights of Pisa.

Another of its monuments is the church cathredral, or Duomo. It is said that the hanging incense burner inside this church caught the attention of the teenage Galileo. A gust of wind set the burner swinging, giving the young Galileo opportunity to measure and time the pendulum motion. 

The most impressive sculpture in Pisa's huge, Romanesque cathedral is this famous and beautifully carved pulpit.

 

The Field of Miracles also holds important tombs, like this one of Henry VII from Germany, who was crowned Holy Roman Emporer by the pope iin 1312 and brought the promise of peace to warring Italy.



The third, important sight and monument in Pisa is this Baptistry,

                                       
                  Its stunning, bronze doors face the Tower and are illustrated with 24 scenes of the life of Christ.
                                   

                                        For the girls, the details of the monuments were beautiful to see...



...and sketch.





It took two centuries and at least three different architects to build the Tower. Just after they laid the first stones and arcade, the Tower began to lean from marshy, unstable soil. Over the centuries, many have tried to correct the lean and stop its slow-motion fall, including Joe.



He did what he could to stabilize the Tower, enough so that he and the girls could walk up its stairs to see the bells inside and the views all around.



 

It's hard not to get a great shot, or a great day, looking out from the Tower in Pisa...



...making days like this in Italy "easy Pisa."