Other sights in Pisa
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Museum of the Cathedral
Housed in the Cathedral’s former chapter house, the Museum of the Cathedral is a repository for works of art once displayed in the Cathedral and Baptistry. Highlights include Giovanni Pisano’s ivory carving of the Madonna and Child (1299), made for the Cathedral’s high altar, and his mid-13th-century Madonna del Colloquio (Madonna of the Colloquy), from a gate of the Duomo. Legendary booty includes various pieces of Islamic art, including the griffin that once topped the Cathedral and a 10th-century Moorish hippogriff.
reviewed
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A
Palazzo Blu
West of Corso Italia, facing the river, is the Palazzo Blu, a magnificently restored 14th-century building that sports over-the-top 19th-century interior decoration. Home to the Foundation CariPisa art collection, which comprises predominantly Pisan works from the 14th to the 20th century, the palazzo also hosts temporary exhibitions. Access is via a 20-minute guided tour only (at 4pm, 4.30pm and 5pm daily unless pre-booked).
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Duomo
Construction of Pisa’s Cathedral began in 1063 and continued until the 13th century, when the main facade was added. The elliptical dome, the first of its kind in Europe, dates from 1380. The building’s striking cladding of alternating bands of green and cream marble became the blueprint for Romanesque churches throughout Tuscany.
The cathedral was the largest in Europe when it was constructed, its breathtaking proportions designed to demonstrate Pisa’s domination of the Mediterranean. The main facade has four exquisite tiers of columns diminishing skywards, while the vast interior is propped up by 68 hefty granite columns. The wooden ceiling decorated with 24-carat g…
reviewed
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C
Camposanto
Soil shipped from Calvary during the Crusades is said to lie within the white walls of the hauntingly beautiful Camposanto, a cloistered quadrangle where prominent Pisans were once buried. Some of the sarcophagi here are of Graeco-Roman origin, recycled in the Middle Ages.
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Babette Food and Art Café
To view art from a different era, make your way to Babette Food and Art Café, a favourite haunt of the local bohemian set. Its exposed-brick walls play host to a changing programme of works by local artists and its casual vibe encourages coffee-fuelled conversation.
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D
Museum of the Ancient Ships of Pisa
The Museum of the Ancient Ships of Pisa on Lungarno Simonelli opens in early 2010. The museum will display a remarkable collection of nine Roman cargo ships excavated from Pisa’s silted-up harbour in 1998 and restored over the past decade.
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