Pisa (40 km)

The history of Pisa has got its roots in the 5th century B.C., when Pisa was an Etruscan settlement, that faced the sea. In the 2nd century B.C. the Romans built Portus Pisanus.
After the end of the Roman Empire, this was a port town of great importance for the Gothes, the Longobards and the Carolingians too. A further development transformed Pisa, in the 11th century, into one of the most powerful Italian Maritime Republics, together with Genoa, Venice and Amalfi.
For most part of the Middle Ages, the powerful Pisan navy guaranteed to the town the supremacy of the West Mediterranean Sea.

http://www.comune.pisa.it/

In this period the buildings that made Pisa famous were begun: the Duomo, the cathedral’s bell tower and the well known Leaning Tower.
The richness that Pisa gained in this period allowed it to found some colonies in North Africa, in South Spain and on the southern coast of Lesser Asia.
The decline of the Maritime republic began in 1284, when it was defeated by Genoa and became more visible, because of the sanding up of the port.
Then, in 1406, the town passed under the dominion of Florence and, with the Medici family, it flourished again. In fact, in 1472, they re-established the university, which was declining, and brought new prestige to the ancient centre.
Pisa is also the birthplace of Galileo Galilei, an astronomer, physicist, mathematician and the founder of the experimental method.

Pisa is one of the greatest Italian cultural centres and preserves a rich a rtistic heritage, which is an original medieval reworking of Islamic, Lombard and local influences.
Undoubtedly the most important monuments of Pisa stand in Piazza dei Miracoli. In this square you can see: the Duomo (cathedral), Santa Maria Assunta with the Leaning Tower, the Battistero (baptistery), the Galleria that surrounds the Camposanto (graveyard), the Cappella del Pozzo and all the monuments strictly made of white Carrara marble.

In the Duomo Museum you can appreciate some artistic works that belong to all the town’s churches and the treasure of the Duomo, of course.
In Pisa you can also find the Domus Galileiana, where Galileo Galilei probably lived.
In 1288, in the so called Torre della Fame (the Hunger Tower), Count Ugolino della Gherardesca, accused by the town of tyranny, died with his family. You can find a description of this event in the “Inferno� by Dante.
Finally do not miss the Piazza dei Cavalieri, one of the most important squares in Pisa. Once it was the Renaissance centre of the town and it is surrounded by wonderful palaces, among which we advise you to visit the Palazzo dei Cavalieri, that is the seat of the prestigious Scuola Normale Superiore, founded by Napoleon in 1810. Today it has become an important university, that admits only the most qualified students of the country.

San Rossore Park was founded in 1979. It is composed of different estates, as Migliarino, Coltano and Tombolo, that extend on a surface of 23.114 hectares.
Since it is only a few km away from the town, it represents its inexhaustible green lungs and it is rich in attractions that have got a great landscape, environmental and naturalistic value.
Inside th park there are many things to see: large pinewoods, mesophyll oak forests, ash trees, elms and alders, where you can also find the very rare liana (Periploca graeca). Moreover, many deers and wild boares live in these woods, together with bee-eaters, that nest in the sand in July, and little egrets too. The territory of the park presents also some swamps next to the drainage ditches, where you can find the strange presence of some historical buildings in Piedmontese style, that had been built by the Savoia family.
Finally, a special train has been working in the park for a few months, to allow people to do the longest and most complete visit in the park (about 30 Km).

It is worth visiting Pisa in June, not only because of its artistic beauties, that are famous all over the world, but also because of the numerous folk celebrations that the town offers in this month. An excellent festivity, among the celebrations of the “Giugno Pisano�, is the Luminara di San Ranieri, that lights more than 70.000 wax squat candles (put into some glasses called “lampanini�), which are fixed on white laths (called “biancheria�) and put at the windows of the town palaces and at the main doors, creating an evocative and fascinating effect. At the same time, on the surface of the Arno, they put some floating candles, which are slowly driven by the current in the dark, with the result of a really charming atmosphere. This celebration reaches its climax at about 11.00 p.m., with the throwing of the fireworks from the Cittadella Vecchia … This is an extraordinary event that takes place on the 16th June, in honour of St Ranieri, the town’s patron.

The Pisan gastronomy includes typical Tuscan courses, based both on meat and fish. In particular, some typical recipes of this town are: minestra di fagioli bianchi di San Michele (soup with white beans from St Michele), the bavettine sul pesce (a starter made of bavette, a kind of flat spaghetti, which are served with fish), the zuppa di ranocchi (frog soup) and the riso con le arselle (rice with clams). The most used kinds of fish are: the grilled mullet from the mouth of the Arno, the Pisan cèe (the cèe are the eel’s fries), the boiled sting-bull and the sweet-and-sour baccalà or stoccafisso (dried salted cod). The game is frequently used for the main courses and, in particular, the meat of pheasants, ducks, wild boars and of wild rabbits, too. Also the production of some local types of cheese is good, among which the pecorino (sheep’s milk cheese).