Magical Pisa charms the most jaded travelers
by Lucy Komisar
Pisa is magical even to a blasé traveler. The shining, sparking white
marble exteriors (they must be scrubbed to flash so white) are like jewels
on the green lawns. It's not just the Leaning Tower that entrances, but a
cathedral, a baptistry, and the Camposanto (a cemetery). All are placed in
the Campo dei Miracoli, the Field of Miracles. Come, jaded as you are, and
see if you are not stunned.
The cathedral, Il Duomo, was begun in 1064, and the bell tower, Il
Campanile, in 1173. The style was influenced by Islamic design brought back
by sailors in Pisa's trade with Moorish Spain and North Africa. Recalling
that era, there's a rough stylized relief of a sea-tossed boat carved near
the tower entrance.
It took a while to finish the tower. By the time third level was
completed in 1274, it had already started to tilt. The eighth level was done
in 1350. It became a tourist attraction. There are shallow cavities where
footfalls have worn down the stone. The tilt was a draw. Galileo
(1564-1642), who was from Pisa, allegedly climbed the tower to carry out
experiments on the velocity of falling objects! It is said that he dropped
ten-pound and one-pound weights and proved that both fall at the same speed.
The tower leans because it was build on a foundation that was too shallow
on soil that was too silty. After the first three stories were built,
architects compensated by shifting the stop stories in another direction.
More recently, engineers used 30-foot steel cables to anchor the tower, so
it's safe for you.
The spiral staircase has about 300 winding steps, I had some trepidation,
but it turned out to be a piece of cake. (OK, the tower does look like it
belongs on a wedding cake.) The steps are not high, and you are not climbing
in the dark. There are lights all along and at numerous places windows to
the outside. And there are nooks and crannies where you can stop and let
faster climbers pass you. An advantage of the narrow passage is that you can
hold your palms against the walls to keep yourself balanced and steady.
At the 7th level, you can go out on a walkway and look down and inside to
see the tower bells. The walk at the summit offers a vista of the Campo and
surrounding village and hills. We could see the intricacies of the Duomo's
construction and behind it the Baptistry. There are guards along the way and
at the top. After we walked around the walkways for a while, they led us
down. Only 30 people at a time are let up. At the higher levels, stairs are
wide enough to let descending visitors pass those coming up. Closer to the
bottom, the stairs get narrow again. The every-20-minute entrance and the
timed two-way passage are orchestrated quite well.
Afterwards we went into the Duomo. From the outside it looks like another
iced cake decoration, with geometric designed created by the different
colored marbles. The long white-marble colonnaded aisle is topped by a
golden honey-combed ceiling. The most important work is the intricately
carved 13th-century Gothic pulpit by Giovanni Pisano, which portrays the
Christian story of salvation and redemption. A plaque on the site describes
the details in English.
 After we had visited the
buildings, we still could not leave and wandered around the Campo to gaze
again at the stunning structures. Then as the afternoon waned, we walked
back to relax at the Hotel Relais dell'Orologio (the hotel of the clock),
which dates to the time of the completion of the tower. It was built from a
14th-century fortified tower house that was the home of a military captain,
a condottiero.
In the last century, this villa was the home of a Pisan family. The
daughter of the family, Maria Luisa Bignardi, in 2004 turned it into the
only 5-star hotel in the historic center. It's just ten minutes walk from
the Campo.
"I lived here till I was 9 years old," she recalled. Then her parents
moved to another address. Later, she married a diplomat, lived for five
years in France and saw a lot of relais. So, back in Pisa, she decided to
create a hotel, and, she smiled, "After 9 years of work I finally got my
dream."
Adding to the medieval tower house, in the 16th century, the important
architect Vasari connected the tower to an adjoining building with an arch,
and above that he placed a clock, orologio, after which the hotel is named.
The romantic writer and poet Giacomo Leopardi lived down the street in the
early 1800s. The historic building was restored under the supervision of the
Office of Monuments and Fine Arts. Signora Bignardi added a third floor with
a mansard roof in 2007.
She had worked as an interior designer and in fashion in France and did
the hotel's décor. "I did it with lots of love," she said. The rooms are
decorated with elegance. Ours had a blue and white striped spread with
matching chair and drapes. A gilt mirror adorned the wall. Some of the
rooms' ceilings are wood timbered. Furniture is period. The lobby and bar
are welcoming.
She insists, "It's not a hotel, it’s a house with a mistress who receive
the guests who come." In fact, the pasta and pesto are homemade, and she
takes guests to the country see her production of oil and wine. It's where
she gets food for the hotel restaurant. Signora Bignardi explained, "I get
the chicken in the country. It's not the same as in the market."
Wrought iron tables in the garden of "Hallet's Restaurant" are lit by
candles, and lights peak out from the surrounding bushes. The food by Chef
Antonio was the best we had in Italy: rugola with pesto and tomatoes,
tagliatelle with Tuscan Ragout, a succulent veal stew, and chocolate
soufflé.
In the morning, before we left to go down the coast to Rome, we wandered
over to the Campo dei Miracoli one more time.
If you go
Getting there
Plane: Get to Pisa's Aeroporto Internazionale Galileo Galilei from
European cites.
Rail: If you are travelling around Italy, or from neighboring
countries, get a Eurailpass from Rail Europe (http://www.raileurope.com/)
, which will save money and allow you to avoid buying tickets at each stop.
And it's often faster: by rail, Pisa is an easy high-speed 1-hour train ride
to Florence, and just over 2 hours to Bologna and 2 ½ hours to Rome. Check
times to all destinations on the Rail Europe website; click "travel
comparator" under "plan your trip" at the bottom. Italian trains often
require seat reservations. The Rail Europe website shows the timetables, so
you can order reservations in advance and receive them with your railpass.
Guides
Eyewitness Travel Guides "Italy" has my favorite design, with a large
number of colored maps and photos, addresses, phones and timetables, and
what you should look for at the destinations.
www.dk.com.
Michelin's "Italy" green guide takes you by the hand to make sure you
know all relevant information, including good historical summaries, and the
best sites rated by stars, even where to stop for a break.
www.ViaMichelin.com.
Insight Guides' "Italy" works the sights into essays about each
destination, an old-fashioned travel book rather than a compendium of places
to visit. www.insightguides.com.
Hotel Relais dell'Orologio *****
Via della Faggiola 12/14
56126
Pisa
39 050 830361
Fax 39 059 551869
info@hotelrelaisorologio.com
www.hotelrelaisorologio.com
21 bedrooms, 2 suites and 2 junior suites.
Hallet's Restaurant closed
Monday; best reserve via the hotel.
Visiting the Tower
 Only a certain number of
people are allowed to enter the tower every 20 minutes. Unless you want to
wait a few hours to climb, make a reservation at least 15 days in advance
via the internet. Then you print a form to take to the central ticket office
to collect your ticket at least a half hour before your scheduled visiting
time. There are lockers in which to stash bags before you climb.
If you haven't reserved, when you arrive at the ticket office, you will
see the times tickets are available, generally at least 2 hours later. Buy
the time you want and then see the rest of the site. People begin to line up
at the tower about 20 minutes in advance, but it doesn't really matter in
which order you ascend. Wear rubber-soled shoes or sneakers, as the steps,
worn down by centuries of climbers, can be slippery.
Office for the monument
 Segreteria dell'Opera della
Primaziale Pisana.
Piazza Duomo, 17
56100 Pisa (PI)
Open Monday to
Friday 8am-1:30pm
39 050 835010/11; Fax 39 050 560505
info@opapisa.it
http://www.opapisa.it/en/home-page.html
Tickets to Leaning Tower: euro 15 onsite and euro 17 online.
Visits
last about 40 minutes. Children under 8 not allowed.
There is tourist
parking.
Photos by Lucy Komisar
Lucy's website is
http://thekomisarscoop.com/
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