By Richard S Preston
Posted: 15th July 2016 08:41
If it was possible, there would be a few advantages to going back in time to visit Pisa back in, say, the 12th Century. There wouldn’t be a tower there, per se - construction wouldn’t begin until 1173 - but there would still be the rest of the Piazza dei Miracoli (Square of Miracles, then called the Piazza dei Duomo) to divert your attention; the Cathedral of Pisa was already there, with its fantastic Romanesque façade and imposing mosaic commanding awe and respect. Construction on the Pisa Baptistery was started in 1153, would become the largest baptistery in Italy and another triumph of Romanesque design. Construction on The Tower of Pisa would be started in 1173 at the behest of elderly noblewoman Donna Berta di Bernardo, with the intention that it was to be a belltower for the cathedral.
However, if you wanted to see either the Pisa Baptistery or the Tower of Pisa being completed, you’d better remember where you parked your time machine; construction finished on these impressive structures in 1363 and 1372 respectively. When work started on building them, Pisa was a republic, the political equal of Venice and wealthy from the spoils of war. When work had finally finished, Pisa had been crushed by the Genoese fleet decades before – it wouldn’t be too great a stretch of the imagination to believe that the Pisans saw those two amazing building as enormous follies; like the Garden of Bomarzo, only they weren’t meant to be funny. It didn’t help that The Tower of Pisa soon became The Leaning Tower of Pisa, when it was discovered in 1178 that the foundation The Tower was built on was too infirm to build it properly. When the writer Gabriele D'Annunzio rechristened the Piazza as the “square of miracles”, he might’ve been hinting that it was a miracle the place was ever finished.
Nowadays, Pisa may not be the centre of a mighty army, but it is a fun place to spend a day or two. Yes, you can go up The Tower, now standing at a four degree angle, thanks to renovation work, and take that oh-so-clever photo where it looks like you’re holding it up (it’s okay, we’ve all done it), but there’s so much more to Pisa. The Cathedral and Baptistery are both worth seeing, as are the various museums around this World Heritage Site, converted from housing for the cathedral workmen and a former hospital. You don’t even have to wander through the distant past to see wonderful things in Pisa; if you head south along from the Piazza dei Miracoli along the Via Roma, cross the bridge over the River Arno and take the fourth left on the Via Francesco Crispi, you can find one of the last murals by the late Keith Haring, a much-celebrated street artist who passed away in 1990.
One advantage modern-day Pisa has over its medieval predecessor is that it has a much better nightlife. Millibar Cocktails is a great bar that has, funnily enough, some truly excellent cocktails and friendly staff behind the bar, but bear in mind that they’re closed from late July until mid-September. If you’re feeling nostalgic, Sunset Strip is an 80’s-themed club that’s just kitschy enough to not be completely twee. If you’re looking for decent accommodation that’s not too far away from the Piazza dei Miracoli, then Hostel Pisa is your best bet; four minutes’ walk from Pisa Centrale Train Station and 20 minutes’ walk from the Piazza, helpful staff and €7 for buffet lunch/dinner all add up to somewhere worth staying. If you don't feel like walking, they also do a reasonably-priced bike hire, and there’s a bus stop right outside.
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