Month: March 2025

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Birthplace of Vincenzo Galilei at the junction of Via Mercanti & Borgo Stretto in Pisa, Italy

Vincenzo Galilei (3 April 1520, c. 1520, or late 1520s – buried 1 or 2 July 1591) was an Italian lutenist, composer, and music theorist, and the father of astronomer and physicist Galileo Galilei and the lute virtuoso and composer Michelagnolo Galilei. He was a seminal figure in the musical life of the late Renaissance and contributed significantly to the musical revolution which demarcates the beginning of the Baroque era.

In his study of pitch and string tension, Galilei produced perhaps the first non-linear mathematical description of a natural phenomenon known to history. It was an extension of a Pythagorean tradition but went beyond it. Many scholars credit him with directing the activity of his son away from pure, abstract mathematics and towards experimentation using mathematical quantitative description of the results, a direction of utmost importance for the history of physics and natural science.

Originally built from 1440 & reconstructed after taking damage, this fortress now houses a garden

Inscription:

A ULISSE DINI
MATEMATICO INSIGNE
ONORE DELLO STUDIO PISANO
GLORIA D’ITALIA
CITTADINO BENEMERITO
PISA RICONOSCENTE
1845-1918».

Translation:

TO ULISSE DINI
NOTABLE MATHEMATICIAN
HONOR OF PISAN STUDY
GLORY OF ITALY
WORTHY CITIZEN
GRATITUDE OF PISA
1845-1918

Part of the Museo delle Sinopie used as the ticket office for the attractions.

Constructed in 1278, the Camposanto was established to safeguard the burial sarcophagi that were in the Cathedral in a new building. As such, it has a collection of sarcophagi from Roman, medieval, and Renaissance times. It is decorated with an amazing collection of frescoes that you can see reconstructed in pictures in the museum. It was one of the first burial structures that became a museum.

Taken from the upper dome of the Baptistery.

This pulpit dating to 1310, survived a fire in 1595. Having been packed away during the redecoration, it was not rediscovered and restored until 1926. The pulpit is supported by plain columns (two of which are mounted on lion’s sculptures) on one side and by caryatids and a telamon on the other: the latter represent Saint Michael, the Evangelists, the four cardinal virtues flanking the church, and a bold, naturalistic depiction of a naked Hercules. A central plinth with the liberal arts supports the four theological virtues.

The present-day pulpit is a reconstruction of the original. It does not lie in its original position, which was nearer the main altar, and the columns and panels are not original. The original stairs (perhaps of marble) were lost.

Construction began on 17 April 1565 in order to build a church for the Order of Knights of St Stephan, founded by the Grand Duke Cosimo de’ Medici to fight Saracen piracy in the Mediterranean.

A long history dating to1061 but is now the official church of the University of Pisa.

Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo bought this tower in 1785 and merged a new bell by Alessandro Tognozzi to mark the hours of study for the students of the University, starting at 7.30 in the morning.

The bell was inscribed:-

Audite disciplinam et et estote sapientes.

Translated:- Hear instruction and be wise.

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