Italy – Pisa and Gimignano

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Our vacation in Italy was a leisure trip, visiting three cities, Rome, Florence, and Venice, and spent three days in each. In stead of taking the tour bus, we took high-speed train from city to city. In my last post, I included our last day in Rome and the first day in Florence. In this post, I continued with our second and the last days in Florence.

Friday, June 13, 2025

We embarked on an adventure today to see the amazing Leaning Tower. Pisa is 42 miles west of Florence. We stopped at the Piazzale Michelangelo to see the panoramic view of the city with the Florence Cathedral in the background. There’s a bronze replica of Michelangelo’s David statue in the Square.

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After an hour and fifteen-minute ride, the local specialist showed us the entrance to the Square of Miracles. The Square of Miracles contains Pisa’s most distinguished monuments, including the Baptistery of St. John, the Cathedral, the Leaning Tower, and the Campo Santo Monumentale (a cemetery).

The Pisa Baptistery of St. John is a prominent structure within the Square of Miracles. It is the largest baptistery in Italy, with 54.86 m high, and a diameter of 34.13 m, an example of the transition from the Romanesque style to the Gothic style.

The Pisa Cathedral, officially known as the Primatial Metropolitan Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary, is a medieval Catholic cathedral, the oldest of the three structures in the plaza, followed by the Pisa Baptistery of St. John and the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The cathedral is an example of Romanesque architecture.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is a freestanding bell tower of Pisa Cathedral. The tower began to lean during construction in the 12th century, because of soft ground which could not properly support the structure’s weight. It worsened through the completion of construction in the 14th century. By 1990, the tilt had reached 5.5 degrees. The structure was stabilized by remedial work between 1993 and 2001, which reduced the tilt to 3.97 degrees.

Between 1993 and 2001, ten restorers spent 8 years and 3 months cleaning every single 24,424 blocks of stone in the structure with chisels, lasers and syringes. The lean made restoration extremely physically challenging since restorers had to work at an angle all day and sometimes at night too. They even invented a new kind of scaffolding to get it done.

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After visiting the Square of Miracles, we were invited to a “Be My Guest” dinner at a vineyard operated by three generations. The daughter showed us the wine they produced in the vineyard and gave credit to the father and grandfather for the cooking of the dinner.

Saturday, June 14, 2025

We visited the San Gimignano, a Medieval Town, today. San Gimignano is a charming medieval town in Tuscany known for its well-preserved architecture. In the Middle Ages, Florence had about 150 tower houses. San Gimignano became independent in 1199. Between the 11th and the 13th century, the noble families and upper middle-class merchants who controlled the free town built many fortified tower houses (probably 72) as symbols of their wealth and power.

There were about fifteen movies filmed in San Gimignano. To name the three I’ve seen:

The English Patient (1996), directed by Anthony Minghella, is a romantic war drama that was partly filmed in San Gimignano. The movie, which won nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture, showcases the town’s stunning scenery and historic buildings.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1999) based on the Shakespearean play of the same name, is a whimsical romantic comedy that was partly filmed in San Gimignano. 

The Gladiator (2000), starring Russell Crowe, is a historical epic set in ancient Rome during the reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius.

Collegiate Church of Santa Maria Assunta (right), and the town hall (left) that has the tallest tower in San Gimignano
The town has become a tourist town
Sellers were setting up the booths
Buildings with tall towers
In Medieval time, people use wells to collect rain water. There was no underground water.

The Travel Director told us there were no two doors that were alike in this town.

We were entertained with ongoing performances while roaming around town.

This concluded our visit in Florence. Both Rome and Florence were hot and humid. It was up to 101o F with 70% humidity. We looked forward to going to Venice where it was about 10 degrees cooler.

This post contributes to Dan Antion’s Thursday Doors.

Thursday Doors: Italy – Pisa and Gimignano

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