Handpicked experience · Pisa
Pisa, Italy
An hour on the square with the cathedral included — Cimabue's only signed work, the doors that outlived the 1595 fire, and a staircase that leans with the tower.
A guided walk of the square with expert commentary
Admission to Pisa Cathedral included
An optional tower ticket, adding the climb and the view
An hour on the Square of Miracles with a guide, with admission to the cathedral included and the option of adding a climb up the Leaning Tower. It is a short, concentrated visit built around the building most visitors photograph from outside and never enter.
You meet on the square and walk it with a guide, each of you wearing an earpiece so nothing is lost to the noise of the place. The cathedral is entered as part of the tour and forms the heart of it. Those who have added the tower ticket climb at their allotted time; everyone else has the rest of the square to themselves. The baptistery and the walled cemetery are ticketed separately and can be added on the spot afterwards.
Nine visitors in ten come for the tower, photograph it, and leave without going through the west door twenty metres away. Inside is a five-aisled basilica begun in 1063, its walls striped in white and grey marble, with an elliptical dome that predates any other in Italy and a nave whose axis does not quite line up with the transept — the building was raised over two centuries on soft ground, and it shows in a way that is oddly moving once you notice it.
High in the semi-dome sits a mosaic of Christ flanked by the Virgin and Saint John. The figure of John was made by Cimabue in 1302, the teacher of Giotto and the last great painter before the Renaissance changed everything. It is the only work of his that is signed and dated, and he died within months of finishing it. Most people walk beneath it without looking up.
A fire gutted this interior in 1595 and took nearly everything with it. The bronze doors on the south side, facing the tower, were made around 1180 and are the originals — they survived because the flames went the other way. Their panels tell the life of Christ in small, blunt, immediate scenes, and the handles have been polished to a shine by eight centuries of hands.
Climbing is timed, numbers are capped, and bags cannot be taken up. Children under eight are not admitted and those under eighteen go up accompanied. The slot is fixed when you book, so the climb happens at its stated time rather than whenever the group finishes.
Two hundred and fifty-one steps spiral inside the wall, and because the whole structure leans, one side of every turn feels like walking uphill and the other like being pushed forward. The marble treads are worn into shallow grooves by six centuries of feet. The effect is disorienting for the first turn and then quite funny.
Shoulders and knees covered for the cathedral. Bags go into free lockers before the tower climb, so travel light if you are going up. Cancellation is free up to a day ahead.
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A guided walk of the square with headsets, and entry to the cathedral, which forms the heart of the visit. The baptistery and the walled cemetery are ticketed separately.
It is an option added to the booking. Those who take it climb at their allotted time, which is fixed when reserved rather than decided on the day.
Because almost nobody does. It is a five-aisled basilica begun in 1063 with striped marble walls, an elliptical dome older than any other in Italy, and a nave whose axis does not quite meet the transept after two centuries of building on soft ground.
Christ between the Virgin and Saint John. The figure of John was made by Cimabue in 1302 — his only signed and dated work, finished months before he died, by the painter who taught Giotto.
The bronze doors on the south side, cast around 1180, because the flames travelled the other way. Their panels tell the life of Christ, and the handles are polished bright by eight centuries of use.
Children under eight cannot climb, and anyone under eighteen must be accompanied. Numbers on each slot are capped and bags cannot be carried up.
Leave it in the free lockers at the base before you go up. Travel light on the day if the tower is part of your plan.