A Quiet Morning in Pisa

Pisa is like so many Italian cities that are a destination for one particular site.  Here, it's the Leaning Tower.  As I said in my previous blog, it's such a shame that tourists come here just for that.  Pisa is rich in history and art and local traditions that are still going strong, as I discovered!

The Tower is just part of what is known as the Campo dei miracoli, the Field of Miracles.   It's just ONE of four miraculous structures on this (later discovered to be marshy) field.  It was conceptualized as an allegory (most things were in the middle ages) and if you look at the scheme of it, you can see:

On the left is the Baptistry, the largest in Europe, and this is where you begin your life as a Christian.  From there you move to the Church, and grand it is!  This is where your life as a Christian is conducted.  The Church and its sacraments follow you through every rite of passage, even to death.  From there you go to the Camposanto, the 'holy ground', where you are consecrated in death and reminded that your corporeal self is there but your soul is swooping upwards, into the heavens, which is what the Tower represents.
These four buildings are beautiful and made of white marble.  They are very impressive and very huge.  A visual reminder of the Christian's journey.

And by the way, the Tower doesn't seem to be the only thing that's crooked.  All of these buildings don't look level.  At least to my eyes.  The whole thing was built on soggy ground, I think.

One has to remember that Pisa, along with Lucca and Florence, was a top gun during the late middle ages and early renaissance.  The city competed for trade and business and even banking business and so you see that in the architecture that was meant to impress.  Pisa has oodles of churches, a few towers, the river Arno, AND it was favored by the Medicis to come here and escape the high summer heat in Florence.  Because of that, there is a Palazzo Real here, a Royal Palace, filled with gorgeous things....

The museum guide pointed out that it was through textiles and fabric that one demonstrated one's wealth, style and lifestyle.  Cosimo de Medici was particularly fond of tapestries:

Ladies of the court wore their wealth:

And portraits were painted not merely to capture the images of the artist's clientele, but also to transmit clear ideas about fashion, jewelry, what was in and what was out.

Also, the 16th was the annual Feast of San Ranieri, the patron saint of Pisa.  From the two main bridges across the Arno, the houses are both sides were strewn with tea lights.  NOT electric lights.  Actual tea lights (what a feat of organization!).  Then at midnight a huge fireworks display for 30 minutes!  Craziness!  Then in the morning, scraping all the tea lights away.  Wow.  Sorry, I thought I had pictures of this but there's nothing in my phone.  Not sure how that happened.....