A Ride Through Pisa

 

A Ride Through Pisa

Our next stop was at the port of Livorno, Italy, so that we could visit the iconic Tower of Pisa.  There ended up being more to this excursion than I imagined there would be!

Early in the morning, coming into the port of Livorno, Italy, I woke up to a lovely sunrise (top image) and then, a bit later, as we got closer to port, the skyline of Livorno was backlit by the sunrise.  What a peaceful way to start the day.

On the way to our tour destination, we passed these walls.  They are the oldest city walls in Italy that remain almost entirely intact.  Construction began in 1154 and was completed in 1161.  In the second image, you can see a walkway that many people are able to walk through.

When we first walked into the small plaza area leading to the Tower, there were some shops and a small restaurant.  There was also a small walkway to another courtyard that had a statue in the middle of it.  But that’s really not why we were here…

The plaza where the Tower is also contains some other buildings.  This beautifully round building is called the Pisa Baptistery of St. John.  Building on it began in 1152 to replace an older baptistery, and when it was completed in 1363, it was the second building (in chronological order) in the plaza, called the Plaza of Miracles.

This is the Pisa Cathedral, the oldest building in the plaza.  It is dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.  It is an example of Romanesque architecture, in the style known as Pisan.

And here’s the reason we came to Pisa!!  It is a freestanding bell tower.  It began to lean during construction, due to the soft ground upon which it was built.  It continued to lean, until it was stabilized during 1993 – 2001.  The degree of the lean is currently nearly 4 degrees. 

Of course, we had to get the stereotypical shots of most of us holding up that leaning tower!!  In the left image, you have Nancy and Lonnie bearing the burden.  In the right, Jeff is bearing the burden! 

Here are a couple of images of the wall I mentioned earlier, this time from the inside of the plaza.  It is possible to walk on the top of the wall, but you couldn’t get to it from any place we knew!

As we left the plaza, I wanted to share my favorite image of the tower, with a statute of cherubs seemingly in front of the Tower.  In reality, it was across from the Tower.

We left the way we came, riding in our trolley through the walls, and through some sites of the town of Pisa – a charming clock tower, and a streetside restaurant.

Another interesting site was this small church, sitting on the banks of the Arno River.  It does seem to be a rather odd site for a church, but it looks absolutely beautiful!

These two buildings were once palaces.  A number of aristocrats and wealthy merchants would build palaces throughout Pisa’s history.  Many of these are now hotels.

These last two images are of the town of Pisa reflected in the Arno River (top image) and a final look at the Plaza of Miracles from the outside.   Our next stop will be in Italy, just a bit further down the coast!!

Enjoy!!