Pisa, Cathedral and Baptistry

The Cathedral was built in the Pisan Romanesque style, using marble of alternating colors. The bronze doors depict the Virgin Mary and the Life of Christ. Inside, the Cathedral measures 380 feet by 114 feet, held in place by sixty-eight columns.

In 1581, at the age of seventeen, Galileo Galilei attended the University of Pisa. One day while at mass in the Cathedral, he noticed the huge bronze chandelier swaying in the wind. Galileo conceived his theory of the movement of a pendulum when he discovered that in a quiet breeze or in a strong wind, the time of a complete swing of the chandelier did not vary. Of course he had no wrist watch, but he was a medical student, so he measured time by his pulse rate.

The Baptistry is built of marble, with an unusual 115-foot diameter dome roof, surmounted by a lantern turret. The impressive interior has a remarkable echo, and the exceptional acoustics of the Baptistry are noticeable on feast days when a children’s choir sings Fugues by Johann Sebastian Bach.

The Torre Pendente Campanile, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, stands (still!) just to the right of this photo.
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And another view —