Arsenali della Repubblica

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Arsenali della Repubblica (The Republican Shipyards)
Piazza della Terzanaia
Pisa, June 2022

“The arsenals (shipyards) of the Republic were an ancient complex of buildings aimed at the production and repair of galleys of the ancient Republic of Pisa. Today only one building remains, partially destroyed during the bombing of World War II and restored in 2015. The first news of the republican arsenals date back to the beginning of the thirteenth century when, outside the western side of the city walls, the Pisan dockyard was built, where new boats were built or galleys were repaired. Around the middle of the century the area was fortified with the construction of other sides of the wall, leaning against the urban circle. At the end of the fourteenth century part of the arsenals were converted to warehouses and factories of arms. After the Florentine conquest the area was interdicted to Pisani, assuming the function of fortified citadel. Since the mid-sixteenth century ceased to be a military fortress and there was established the Botanical Garden, later transferred to another part of the city. In the eighteenth century there were located the prisons and was built a cavalry barracks, hard hit by the bombing of 1943, along with most of the medieval arsenals. In the 14th century, several changes were made, including the demolition of the thirteenth-century porticoes and the construction of new porticoes for galleys with pointed arches: these are the latter structures recovered today for five lanes, after the disastrous bombing of 1944. The complex was restored in 2015. The Arsenals are home to exhibitions, conventions and shows.” (The Republican Shipyards, Terre di Pisa)

Piazza delle Gondole

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Water lilies
Piazza delle Gondole
Pisa, June 2022

“The Piazza delle Gondole (Square of Gondolas) is a piazza in Pisa, Italy. It is next to one of the city gates in the medieval walls. The square includes a small basin where boats used to dock.” (Piazza delle Gondole, Wikipedia)

Church of San Zeno

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Church of San Zeno
Largo San Zeno
Pisa, June 2022

“The church is documented going back to 1029. It was part of a monastery built over pre-existing edifices, and, until the 15th century, it had also a hospital. In the 12th century it was held by the Camaldolese monks. The church has a nave and two aisles. The façade is preceded by a portico supported by pilasters and a central columns. The second row has mullioned windows and decorations with lozenges and small circular windows, with ceramic basins by Islamic masters. The interior has ancient Roman capitals and traces of medieval paintings.” (San Zeno, Wikipedia)

Hats

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Hats for sale
Via Cardinale Pietro Maffi
Pisa, June 2022

Pietro Leopoldo I

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Pietro Leopoldo I by Luigi Pampaloni, 1829
Piazza Martiri della Libertà
Pisa, April 2022

“Leopold II (Peter Leopold Josef Anton Joachim Pius Gotthard; 5 May 1747 – 1 March 1792) was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary and Bohemia, and Archduke of Austria from 1790 to 1792, and Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1765 to 1790. He was a son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Emperor Francis I, and the brother of Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, Maria Carolina of Austria, Maria Amalia, Duchess of Parma, and Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor. Leopold was a moderate proponent of enlightened absolutism. He granted the Academy of Georgofili his protection. Unusually for his time, he opposed capital punishment and abolished it in Tuscany in 1786 during his rule there, making it the first nation in modern history to do so. Despite his brief reign, he is highly regarded. The historian Paul W. Schroeder called him ‘one of the most shrewd and sensible monarchs ever to wear a crown’.” (Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor, Wikipedia)

Synagogue of Pisa

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Synagogue
Via Palestro
Pisa, April 2022

“Pisa’s synagogue is documented as having occupied the same building since the end of the sixteenth century. Initially rented, the complex was purchased in 1647 and first renovated in 1785. In 1861-65 it was renovated again, to a project by the architect Marco Treves. Treves was a Jew from Vercelli who was working in Tuscany at the time, where he designed some major works for his Jewish clientele. The façade was redesigned, and is simple with classical forms. The main hall of the synagogue, situated on the first floor, was raised, and Treves added the second order of windows, and the large pavilion vault adorned with understated neoclassical decorations. The furnishings were rearranged to reflect a new layout that had become popular during the emancipation era, inspired by Catholic churches. The tevah, enclosed by a semi-circular balustrade in walnut wood, was now placed next to the area of the aron hakodesh, creating a single focal point, similar to the chancel in churches. The central space was entirely occupied by pews, arranged in two sectors of parallel rows facing the aron. On the opposite side, above the entrance, is the women’s gallery.” (Synagogue of Pisa, Visit Jewish Italy)

Pisa a Garibaldi

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“Pisa a Garibaldi” (Pisa to Garibaldi)
Giuseppe Garibaldi by Ettore Ferrari, 1892
Piazza Garibaldi
Pisa, April 2022

Santo Sepolcro

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Chiesa del Santo Sepolcro (Church of the Holy Sepulchre)
Piazza Santo Sepolcro
Pisa, April 2022

“The Church of the Santo Sepolcro (Chiesa del Santo Sepolcro) is a religious edifice in Pisa, Tuscany, Italy. Built in the early 12th century (it is known at least from 1113), it was designed by Diotisalvi, who also designed the Baptistery of Pisa Cathedral forty years later. It has an octagonal plan and, until the 16th century, it was surrounded by a portico. The central tambour, supported by eight ogival arches, is super-elevated and is surmounted by a conic cusp. The attribution to the Holy Sepulchre is a reference to the latter's relics which were carried in Pisa by archbishop Dagobert after his participation to the First Crusade. The structure resembles indeed the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, conquered by the crusaders in 1099. The portals have decorations with animals and lions' heads in marble. The interior, restored in 1720 in Baroque style, was destroyed in the 19th century. What remains include a bust-reliquary of St. Ubaldesca (15th century) with a pail which, according to the tradition, belonged to the saint; the tombstone of Marie Mancini, Mazarin's niece; and a 15th-century panel of the Madonna with Child. The unfinished small bell tower is in Pisane-Romanesque style, with rectangular plan.” (Santo Sepolcro, Wikipedia)

Palazzo Blu

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Palazzo Blu
Lungarno Gambacorti
Pisa, April 2022

“Palazzo Blu is a center for temporary exhibitions and cultural activities located in 9 Lungarno Gambacorti, in the heart of the historic center of Pisa, Italy. This museum is managed by the Fondazione Palazzo Blu (a foundation funded by Fondazione Pisa), and is located in the Palazzo Giuli Rosselmini Gualandi (and Palazzo Casarosa), ancient palace restored by the Fondazione Pisa. Its name comes from the blue color uncovered during an architectural recent restoration, and attributable to the taste of Russian owners who acquired the Palazzo in the eighteenth century.” (Palazzo Blu, Wikipedia)

Frog pond

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Frog pond
Orto botanico (Botanical garden)
Via Ghini
Pisa, April 2022

Palazzo delle Conchiglie

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Palazzo delle Conchiglie (Sea-shells Building)
Orto botanico (Botanical garden)
Via Ghini
Pisa, April 2022

“In 1563 the garden was relocated from its original riverside location (now the Medicean Arsenal) to one near the convent of Santa Marta, and in 1591 (under Joseph Goedenhuyze) again moved to its third and current location.” (Orto botanico di Pisa, Wikipedia)

Botanical school

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Scuola botanica (Botanical school)
Orto botanico (Botanical garden)
Via Ghini
Pisa, April 2022

“The Orto botanico di Pisa, also known as the Orto Botanico dell'Università di Pisa, is a botanical garden operated by the University of Pisa, and located at via Luca Ghini 5, Pisa, Italy. The garden was established in 1544 under Cosimo I de' Medici as the first university botanical garden in Europe, and entrusted to the famous botanist Luca Ghini of Imola.” (Orto botanico di Pisa, Wikipedia)

Piazza dei Miracoli

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Battistero di San Giovanni (Baptistery of St. John)
Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta
Leaning Tower of Pisa
Piazza dei Miracoli (Piazza del Duomo)
Pisa, September 2020

“The Piazza dei Miracoli (Square of Miracles), formally known as Piazza del Duomo (Cathedral Square), is a walled 8.87-hectare area located in Pisa, Tuscany, Italy, recognized as an important centre of European medieval art and one of the finest architectural complexes in the world. Considered sacred by the Catholic Church, its owner, the square is dominated by four great religious edifices: the Pisa Cathedral, the Pisa Baptistry, the Campanile, and the Camposanto Monumentale (Monumental Cemetery). Partly paved and partly grassed, the Piazza dei Miracoli is also the site of the Ospedale Nuovo di Santo Spirito (New Hospital of the Holy Spirit), which houses the Sinopias Museum (Museo delle Sinopie) and the Cathedral Museum (Italian: Museo dell'Opera del Duomo). The name Piazza dei Miracoli was coined by the Italian writer and poet Gabriele d'Annunzio who, in his novel Forse che sì forse che no (1910), described the square as the ‘prato dei Miracoli’, or ‘meadow of miracles’. The square is sometimes called the Campo dei Miracoli ("Field of Miracles"). In 1987, the whole square was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.” (Piazza dei Miracoli, Wikipedia)

San Pietro in Vinculis

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San Pietro in Vinculis
Via Cavour
Pisa, April 2022

“San Pietro in Vinculis is a Romanesque-style, Roman Catholic church in Pisa, region of Tuscany, Italy. History It was built by the Augustinians in 1072-1118 over a pre-existing edifice. The rectory was added a few years later. The structure follows the Pisane Romanesque style established by Buscheto. It has a nave and two aisles with apses. The façade is articulated by pilaster strips, blind arches, oculi (small circular windows), lozenges and mullioned windows. In the interior the intarsia pavement lies over a crypt with groin vaults and Roman capitals, perhaps the relic of an ancient market loggia later turned into a Christian temple. It houses a Roman sarcophagus, remains of frescoes and a Crucifix on panel from the 13th century. In the rectory are frescoes from the 13th and 15th centuries and 18th century stuccoes. The bell tower was in origin a civil tower (late 11th-early 12th century). For years, the church kept a famous manuscript containing a digest of the Corpus Juris Civilis of Emperor Justinian I of the Eastern Roman Empire. The document had fallen into Pisan hands after the sack of Amalfi in 1137. After Pisa fell in 1406, the Florence the document was transferred to the latter city.” (San Pietro in Vinculis, Wikipedia)