Duomo - Pisa

The Pisa Cathedral (Duomo Santa Maria) is located in Piazza dei Miracoli in the Italian city of Pisa. The medieval cathedral, dedicated to Mary, is the heart of this square. Separately are the Baptistery (on the west side) and the bell tower, the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa (on the east side).

The cathedral has the shape of a five-aisled basilica with a three-aisled transept. Construction began in 1064 under the architect Busketus and he built in the typical Pisan Romanesque style. The mosaics inside show a strong Byzantine influence.

The massive bronze doors were made in Giambologna's workshop, but visitors enter through the Portale di San Ranieri, opposite the Leaning Tower.
Above the doors are four rows of open galleries topped by statues of the Virgin and Child and, at the corners, the four evangelists. One of these galleries contains the tomb of Busketus.
The interior is clad in black and white marble. The ceiling is gilded and the dome is decorated with frescoes. The interior was redecorated after a fire in 1595 which destroyed most of the medieval art. The impressive mosaic in the apse of Christ in Majesty, with the Blessed Virgin and John the Evangelist next to it, made by Cimabue in 1302, survived the fire. It resembles the mosaics in the church of Monreale, Sicily. The dome at the intersection of the nave and the transept, decorated by Riminaldi, depicts the Ascension of the Blessed Virgin. Galileo is said to have formulated his theory of pendulum motion here by looking at a large lamp (not the current one) hanging from the ceiling of the nave. The imposing granite Corinthian columns between the nave and the aisle are originally from the Palermo mosque, which was conquered by the Pisans in 1063.

The coffered ceiling of the nave was also replaced after the fire of 1595. The current gold-decorated ceiling contains the Medici coat of arms.

The beautifully carved pulpit (1302-1310), which also survived the fire, was Giovanni Pisano's masterpiece. It had been removed from the redecoration and was only found in 1926, after which it was reinstated. It features nine scenes from the New Testament, carved in white marble with a chiaroscuro effect. It contains a naturalistic depiction of a naked Hercules.

The church also contains the mummified body of Saint Ranieri, Pisa's patron saint, and the tomb of Emperor Henry VII made by Tino da Camaino in 1315.

The building, like more in Pisa, slopes slightly since its construction.

Willem Vandenameele