Pisa, home of the famous Leaning Tower, is a classy, authentic Italian town often eclipsed by its main attraction. Take a leisurely, 45-minute stroll from the train station to the tower to get acquainted with the more subtle virtues of this Renaissance city.
Leaving the station and walking north, you cross the Arno River on the Ponte di Mezzo bridge, built on the same site where the Romans once built theirs. The bridge is the center of Pisa and the heart of local festivals. From here, shoppers will instinctively seek out the elegantly arcaded Borgo Stretto, Pisa’s main shopping boulevard.
Once you’re done window-shopping, angle northwest to the tower, passing through Pisa’s historic core. Linger in the charming square, Piazza dei Cavalieri, with its colorfully decorated palace and statue of Cosimo I de Medici. In the 15th century, Cosimo I was a shrewd Florentine banker – once the richest man in Europe – who ruled Florence and helped fuel the Renaissance through his patronage of artists. The frescoes on the exterior of the square’s buildings, though damaged by salty sea air and years of neglect, reflect the glory of the region under the influential Medici family.
Heading towards the tower, you’ll pass Pisa’s university, one of Europe’s oldest, with roots that trace back to the 11th century. In the mid-16th century, it was a hotbed of controversy, as spacey professors like Galileo Galilei studied the solar system, with results that challenged the church’s powerful doctrine.
On Via Corsica, take a quick peek into the humble church of San Sisto. With simple bricks, heavy walls and few windows, it embodies the typical Romanesque style. From there, head north until you reach the tower and the Field of Miracles, a vast green field with four large white buildings. The cathedral, its bell tower (the Leaning Tower), the baptistery and Camposanto Cemetery make up the Field of Miracles, Pisa’s religious center. Theologically, these buildings mark the main events of every Pisan’s life: christened in the baptistery, married in the cathedral, honored in ceremonies at the tower, and buried in the cemetery.
All of the buildings in the Field of Miracles have bright white marble, a simple ground floor, and rows of delicate columns and arches forming open-air arcades. Architecturally called Pisan Romanesque, it’s unique and exotic, like the fantasy city of Minas Tirith from “The Lord of the Rings.”
Lining this area is a gantlet of Europe’s worst souvenir stands. Be prepared, too, for the dozens of amateur mimes who “prop up” the Leaning Tower while tourists take photos. If you plan to climb the tower, save time by buying your ticket in advance online at www.opapisa.it. People who buy tower tickets on site have to wait a couple of hours to ascend.
Spend your time instead on a stroll through the Old World town of Pisa. Looking beyond the tackiness, it’s a good way to counterbalance all the plastic tilted towers.
Rick Steves of Edmonds (425-771-8303, www.ricksteves.com) is the author of 27 European travel guidebooks including “Europe Through the Back Door” (published by Avalon), and host of the PBS-TV series Rick Steves’ Europe, airing weeknights at 7 p.m. on Channel 9.
The schedule this week:
Monday: Croatia
Tuesday: Normandy and Brittany
Wednesday: Bruges, Belgium and Luxembourg
Thursday: Burgundy and Profound France
Friday: France’s Loire Valley and Provence
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