History always tends to give a moment to every city or town to come to prominence. In the same vein a quaint little town in Italy came to the world's attention during the middle ages. This was the lovely town of Pisa in Italy. legend has it that at the time of the construction of the bell tower to the central cathedral the ground beneath gave way and the bell tower leaned at an angle to the ground. Pisa is where i headed next..December 31, 2009, Thursday
It was six in the morning and save for a couple i seemed to be the only passenger in the compartment. The train started to chug along the brilliant Tuscan countryside. The view outside was stunning. There was greenery everywhere, dotted with country homes and churches. I started to wonder about the varied landscape of Italy. Italy is a bit like India when it comes to variations in landscape. And for a small country that's quite a surprise. In the north it is crowned by the beautiful Alps, then you have back water towns like Venice, further south the beautiful wine growing stunning landscape of Tuscany, further down you have the great cities of the empire like Rome and further still you get to the wonderful Mediterranean coastal towns . Italy has something to offer to everybody, no wonder emperors throughout history coveted it so badly.
Unlike the cities i had visited previously in Italy, Pisa is a pretty small town. The houses and buildings were small and cute and there were large swathes of greenery everywhere. The river Arno cuts through Pisa and divides it into two halves. The bridge across the river is one of the most beautiful scenes i have ever scene in my life. In the early morning sun the water gleamed and reflected the quaint little houses that bordered the banks. The sight was truly amazing. Pity that i had only half a day to explore this place i thought.
The Leaning tower is the central attraction in Pisa and is located in a complex called Piazza dei Miracoli or the Square of miracles. The name seemed quite appropriate as the leaning tower came into view. It looked like an absolute miracle and seemed as though time itself had leaned. There were three buildings in the Piazza. The leaning tower of course and in front of it was the Cathedral and in front of it was the Baptistery. All three buildings were white in color and contrasted well with the green pastures around them.
Bell towers are a typical Italian artifact. Most churches in Italy have a bell tower accompanying them Usually the churches tend to be the highlight. However here in Pisa the bell tower itself is the main draw. Wonder what the cathedral which in itself is beautiful must be feeling with all the adulation the bell tower gets. The lean of the leaning tower is very prominent as you can compare it with the straight wall of the cathedral. However when you approach it the size of the tower overpowers the lean and you feel as though the tower is in fact straight. One end of the base is weighted with lead bricks so as to prevent the tower from leaning further. Thankfully there were no wires attached to the tower as i had seen sometimes on TV and the tower was standing on its own.
Once near the tower i decided to climb it. In fact i was lucky to get the opportunity to climb the tower as until a couple of years back climbing was barred citing safety reasons. The spiraled staircase within moved me floor by floor to the top of the tower. The bell was there alright but few seemed to notice it. The view of the Piazza and that of the city around it was just stunning. The cathedral was right in front and looked pristine as the sunlight kissed its white exterior. The beautiful baptistery also peaked through from behind the cathedral.
The leaning tower is also famous for a unique experiment conducted by Galileo in the 15th century. The scientist wanted to prove that two objects took the same time to fall to the ground irrespective of their sizes. As the scientist looked around searching for a tall building to conduct his experiment he noticed the leaning tower. Finally one fine morning he made it to the top of the tower and conducted his experiment and proved his hypothesis. As i stood thinking this scene from history i was brought back to reality by the cries of the security guard who was telling everybody that our time was up. Due to safety reasons tourists are allowed only 20 minutes on top of the tower. I was a bit disappointed at such an early exit but felt happy that at least i made it to the top.
Once i got down from the tower i meandered into the cathedral. With all the hype about the tower the cathedral gets very little attention. The cathedral in fact is a gem of an artwork in its own right. It was one of the bigger churches i had seen in Italy especially for a little town like Pisa. The cathedral was in the shape of a Latin cross and the highlight was the roof which was made of actual gold and was simply amazing to look at. Galileo actually studied in this cathedral , just thinking of that gave me goosebumps.
The cathedral opened into the Baptistery. The Baptistery has an amazing exterior and is built in the shape of a bell. I wondered why they did not call this the bell tower! With such a superb exterior i had lot of expectations of the interior. However the interior was extremely disappointing. It did not have the saving grace of having some decent paintings which italy is full off. It was just an empty space with staircases leading to the upper floors. This was probably my only underwhelming experience in Italy or for that matter in Europe.
After wondering around the Piazza for some time and soaking up the place it was time for me to make a move. As i exited the Piazza dei Mirocili i saw all three wonderful monuments together and i muttered a genuine gratitude to my stars.
Unlike the cities i had visited previously in Italy, Pisa is a pretty small town. The houses and buildings were small and cute and there were large swathes of greenery everywhere. The river Arno cuts through Pisa and divides it into two halves. The bridge across the river is one of the most beautiful scenes i have ever scene in my life. In the early morning sun the water gleamed and reflected the quaint little houses that bordered the banks. The sight was truly amazing. Pity that i had only half a day to explore this place i thought.
The Leaning tower is the central attraction in Pisa and is located in a complex called Piazza dei Miracoli or the Square of miracles. The name seemed quite appropriate as the leaning tower came into view. It looked like an absolute miracle and seemed as though time itself had leaned. There were three buildings in the Piazza. The leaning tower of course and in front of it was the Cathedral and in front of it was the Baptistery. All three buildings were white in color and contrasted well with the green pastures around them.Bell towers are a typical Italian artifact. Most churches in Italy have a bell tower accompanying them Usually the churches tend to be the highlight. However here in Pisa the bell tower itself is the main draw. Wonder what the cathedral which in itself is beautiful must be feeling with all the adulation the bell tower gets. The lean of the leaning tower is very prominent as you can compare it with the straight wall of the cathedral. However when you approach it the size of the tower overpowers the lean and you feel as though the tower is in fact straight. One end of the base is weighted with lead bricks so as to prevent the tower from leaning further. Thankfully there were no wires attached to the tower as i had seen sometimes on TV and the tower was standing on its own.
Once near the tower i decided to climb it. In fact i was lucky to get the opportunity to climb the tower as until a couple of years back climbing was barred citing safety reasons. The spiraled staircase within moved me floor by floor to the top of the tower. The bell was there alright but few seemed to notice it. The view of the Piazza and that of the city around it was just stunning. The cathedral was right in front and looked pristine as the sunlight kissed its white exterior. The beautiful baptistery also peaked through from behind the cathedral.
The leaning tower is also famous for a unique experiment conducted by Galileo in the 15th century. The scientist wanted to prove that two objects took the same time to fall to the ground irrespective of their sizes. As the scientist looked around searching for a tall building to conduct his experiment he noticed the leaning tower. Finally one fine morning he made it to the top of the tower and conducted his experiment and proved his hypothesis. As i stood thinking this scene from history i was brought back to reality by the cries of the security guard who was telling everybody that our time was up. Due to safety reasons tourists are allowed only 20 minutes on top of the tower. I was a bit disappointed at such an early exit but felt happy that at least i made it to the top.
Once i got down from the tower i meandered into the cathedral. With all the hype about the tower the cathedral gets very little attention. The cathedral in fact is a gem of an artwork in its own right. It was one of the bigger churches i had seen in Italy especially for a little town like Pisa. The cathedral was in the shape of a Latin cross and the highlight was the roof which was made of actual gold and was simply amazing to look at. Galileo actually studied in this cathedral , just thinking of that gave me goosebumps.
The cathedral opened into the Baptistery. The Baptistery has an amazing exterior and is built in the shape of a bell. I wondered why they did not call this the bell tower! With such a superb exterior i had lot of expectations of the interior. However the interior was extremely disappointing. It did not have the saving grace of having some decent paintings which italy is full off. It was just an empty space with staircases leading to the upper floors. This was probably my only underwhelming experience in Italy or for that matter in Europe.After wondering around the Piazza for some time and soaking up the place it was time for me to make a move. As i exited the Piazza dei Mirocili i saw all three wonderful monuments together and i muttered a genuine gratitude to my stars.
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