Have you never been to Pisa, and would you like to know more about the beautiful Piazza dei Miracoli? Are you curious about all the secrets of the Leaning Tower of Pisa and of the other magnificent monuments that surround it?
If you are about to take a little trip to Tuscany, or you simply want to learn more about what to see in Pisa, this is exactly the article for you.
The Piazza dei Miracoli in Pisa is one of the most beautiful squares in Italy, and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987 (under its official name, Piazza del Duomo). Its real name is in fact Piazza del Duomo, but the title “Piazza dei Miracoli” (Square of Miracles) stuck to it after Gabriele D’Annunzio, in his 1910 novel Forse che sì forse che no, called it the “meadow of miracles”: from there the name spread quickly, and that “meadow” became a “square” for everyone.
Even though it is one of the most important squares in the city, you should know that the Piazza dei Miracoli is not inside the historic centre but by the city walls, almost on the edge of Pisa.
Why is that?
Most likely, already in the Middle Ages, there was no room inside Pisa to build an architectural complex of this size. So a spot far from the centre was chosen, near the ancient river port, but one that had been religiously important since antiquity.
Today, on this beautiful green lawn stand 4 of the finest monuments of medieval art, so distinctive that they gave rise to an entirely original style, known as “Pisan Romanesque”. Besides the world-famous Leaning Tower, the Piazza dei Miracoli holds the Baptistery, the Cathedral and the Camposanto, each with its own precise meaning.
Have I got you at least a little curious?
Good. Below I have gathered some curiosities and all the information that can be useful if you want to visit Pisa.
If you want to dig deeper and also see the rest of the city, I recommend reading this article on the 5 most important places to see in Pisa as well.
Let’s go!
History of the Piazza dei Miracoli in Pisa
Many works of art have been built with the proceeds of a war or an unexpected conquest. The Malatesta Temple in Rimini is one example, and so is the Piazza dei Miracoli.
This square was in fact built with the loot Pisa gained after its victory over the Muslims in Sicily, in the port of Palermo (1063). The first monument to be built was the Cathedral, dedicated to Santa Maria Assunta: the first stone was laid in 1063 (which, according to the Pisan calendar then in use, running almost a year ahead of the common one, corresponded to 1064: that is why you will find both dates). Only later did they decide to add the Baptistery, the leaning tower and finally the cemetery.
But why was this exact spot chosen?
On the great lawn where the Piazza dei Miracoli now stands, remains dating all the way back to Etruscan and Roman times have been found. Between the Cathedral and the Camposanto lie the foundations of two ancient Roman domus and even some fragments of mosaic.
This area was probably already used for religious functions in Roman times. That is why it was chosen to build one of the most important religious centres in Italy.
Incredible, isn’t it?
After the 4 monuments were built, the square became a hive of activity.
During the Renaissance many buildings rose, both religious and secular, and even the city walls were extended to enclose the Cathedral of Pisa. The square must have looked completely different from today: every open space was filled with new buildings and even a few vegetable gardens.
What happened to those buildings?
If today the Piazza dei Miracoli looks so beautiful and harmonious, we owe it above all to the changes made in the 19th century. It was the architect Alessandro Gherardesca who removed all the constructions added after the 4 main monuments and restored the original conditions, giving the square much more breathing room and revealing some of its symbolism.
Fancy discovering it?
The symbolism of the Piazza dei Miracoli
This place has fascinated tourists and scholars from all over the world for centuries; they have studied the square in every aspect and come up with some surprising theories.
The best known, and also the easiest to spot, tells us that the three great buildings that make up the Piazza dei Miracoli symbolise the three main phases of a person’s life: the Baptistery represents birth, the Cathedral life, and the Camposanto, of course, death.
Another theory holds that the complex was laid out to reproduce the stars of the constellation of Aries, as a representation of spring and rebirth.
And the Leaning Tower?
No, I haven’t forgotten about it!
Even though this monument seems to stand on its own, detached from the rest, it is actually nothing other than the bell tower of the Cathedral of Pisa, and therefore part of it.
Even so, the tower is perhaps the most distinctive monument in the whole square, because of the tilt that makes it unique in the world.
But why does the Tower of Pisa lean?
Let me explain.
The Tower of Pisa: that’s why it’s called the leaning tower
The leaning tower is an attraction famous all over the world, so famous that it was nominated as one of the wonders of the modern world. The original design certainly did not call for this kind of tilt: the Tower of Pisa was meant to be a vertical bell tower, just like every other bell tower in the world.
So why does it lean?
The blame (or the credit) goes to the soft, clayey soil it rests on (don’t forget there was a river port here)!
This bell tower began to show structural failures even during construction, which started in 1173 and dragged on, with long interruptions, until the mid-14th century. Its foundations are shallow compared with the total height, and the soft ground gave way unevenly.
It is thought that all the great architects working on the cathedral and the baptistery of Pisa had a hand in it, trying to correct the tilt while the building was still going up. The Tower of Pisa was then the subject of numerous restorations over the centuries, because the sinking became more and more pronounced: fortunately it never collapsed, because its centre of gravity still falls within the base of support.
Although it was supposed to be “just” a bell tower, the leaning tower has become a real symbol of the city of Pisa. It is one of the most visited monuments in Italy: inside there is a beautiful spiral staircase of about 251 steps up to the bell chamber, which will lead you to admire one of the finest views in Tuscany.
Have you ever wondered how tall the Tower of Pisa is?
Here are some technical facts!
This extraordinary bell tower is nearly 56 metres tall (55.86 on the lower side, 56.70 on the higher one), weighs a good 14,500 tonnes and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site, along with the rest of the Piazza dei Miracoli, since 1987.
Every year more than 500,000 people climb its steps to look out over the Piazza dei Miracoli from the top of the tower. It is also one of the most photographed monuments in the world: it is perfect for taking funny pictures that play with its unusual angle.
The Cathedral of Pisa
Right in the centre of the Piazza dei Miracoli stands the cathedral.
As I was saying, the Duomo of Pisa was begun in 1063 to commemorate the city’s victory over the Muslims in the port of Palermo that same year. It is a true masterpiece by the architect Buscheto, because it fuses elements typical of the Tuscan Romanesque style with others from the Arab and Byzantine world (remember that Pisa was an international port, a crossroads of cultural and economic exchange). The very granite columns inside come from a mosque in Palermo, part of the war loot.
But why was the Duomo of Pisa built outside the walls?
The position was chosen for two reasons, one practical and one ideological: inside the city there was no room for such a monumental building, and building it outside the walls was a way of saying “we are so powerful that we don’t need protection”. In short, propaganda!
The initial design of the Duomo of Pisa underwent changes and contributions from some of the greatest medieval artists and architects of the time. We know that the architect Rainaldo, who designed the façade, worked on the structure, along with Biduino and Guglielmo, while inside Giovanni Pisano created the pulpit (between 1302 and 1310) and Cimabue the apse mosaic.
What are its features?
The Cathedral has 5 naves, with a three-nave transept. What will strike you most when you go inside, however, is that it seems to be not a single church but three different basilicas: one for the central body and two for the sides of the transept.
The interior decoration is simply magnificent: it includes multicoloured marbles and beautiful mosaics. Among the finest, pay attention to the one in the apse, the Christ in Majesty between the Virgin and Saint John the Evangelist: the figure of Saint John the Evangelist was made by Cimabue, the master of Giotto, between 1301 and 1302, and it was his last documented work.
Unfortunately, over the centuries, some furnishings have been lost forever.
If the fire at Notre Dame in 2019 shocked you, you should know that the Cathedral of Pisa also suffered great losses because of a fire, the one in 1595. The dynamics were very similar to those of the Paris cathedral: the flames destroyed much of the interior furnishings and the original wooden doors. The bronze doors you see on the façade today are the 17th-century reconstruction, from the workshop of Giambologna.
Even though many medieval masterpieces were destroyed, fortunately Giovanni Pisano’s pulpit survived, as did Cimabue’s beautiful mosaic and parts of the floor.
All these elements make the Duomo of Pisa one of the most important medieval masterpieces in central Italy.
History and curiosities about the Camposanto of Pisa
On one side of the Piazza dei Miracoli in Pisa stands the Campo Santo, a monumental cemetery built like a cloister, with a feature unique in the world.
Do you want to know what it is?
Well, if many religious buildings hold important relics inside them, the Camposanto of Pisa is itself a relic. According to tradition, the earth in its centre comes all the way from the Holy Land: it is said to have been taken from Mount Golgotha and brought to Pisa by archbishop Ubaldo Lanfranchi on his return from a crusade (sources waver between the third and the fourth), and from this the name “holy field” would derive.
Legend has it that it was precisely the arrival of this earth that prompted the decision to build the cemetery. In reality it was the practical need to bring order to all the burials multiplying beside the cathedral that led to its construction, begun in 1277 under the direction of Giovanni di Simone.
What can you find inside?
Besides the beautiful Gothic arches built in the 15th century, inside the Campo Santo you will find an extraordinary painted decoration. The most famous fresco is the Triumph of Death (together with the Last Judgement and other scenes), painted around 1336-1341 and today attributed to Buonamico Buffalmacco (for a long time the work was given to Francesco Traini: it was the art historian Luciano Bellosi, in 1974, who returned it to Buffalmacco and pushed its date back by more than a decade).
If you look at the plasticity of the figures, the realistic details and the imagination of the whole, you will realise this is an absolutely unique work. The frescoes of the Camposanto of Pisa are full of detail: if you pay attention, you can even spot a man holding his nose because of the stench of rotting corpses. In short, a vivid picture of 14th-century life.
Beyond being incredible frescoes, there is also a social message in the background: one must give up the useless, frivolous joys of courtly love, because before death we are all equal.
And the tombs?
The tombs kept in the Campo Santo of Pisa are real masterpieces, like those in other important monumental cemeteries such as the Verano in Rome or the Père Lachaise in Paris: inside you will find Roman, medieval and 19th-century sarcophagi.
Restoration works began in 1945 and allowed the conservation of the precious sinopie, the preparatory drawings by the great masters who decorated the cemetery. The original frescoes, in fact, were badly damaged on 27 July 1944: an Allied artillery shell set the roof on fire, and the molten lead of the covering poured down the walls, ruining the paintings.
Thanks to the work of the restorers, those preparatory drawings can now be seen in the Museo delle Sinopie of Pisa, right across from the square.
Here’s a curiosity!
In the symbolism of the Piazza dei Miracoli, the Campo Santo represents the end of life. Not by chance it was built to the north of the square, that is, in the “coldest” spot, farthest from the sun.
The Baptistery of Pisa, a jewel of acoustics
To the south of the Piazza dei Miracoli stands the beautiful Baptistery dedicated to Saint John, symbol of life and rebirth.
Diotisalvi designed it in 1153: it has a very simple, linear Romanesque structure, later enriched by the Gothic additions of Nicola and Giovanni Pisano. It is the largest baptistery in Italy, with a circumference of no less than 107.25 metres.
The interior is bare and simple, but it holds a great medieval masterpiece, the pulpit by Nicola Pisano, carved between 1255 and 1260. It was the first of the great Pisano pulpits, hexagonal in shape, and includes scenes from the life of Christ together with many symbolic meanings. The work already approaches the Renaissance in the expressiveness of the figures and its classical references, and it is a triumph of feeling, tension and emotion.
If you like this pulpit, in Pistoia there is another beautiful masterpiece by Giovanni Pisano, Nicola’s son, that I recommend you go and see.
Don’t forget to walk up to the upper gallery of the Baptistery of Pisa to admire the dome and the beauty of the interior. Pay attention to the details: the capitals of the columns are truly beautiful.
A curiosity!
The interior of the baptistery was specially designed to have quite exceptional acoustics: at regular intervals an attendant sings a few notes and lets them resonate under the dome, in a small a cappella concert that will leave you speechless. We happened to be there right at the moment of the demonstration, and it was one of the loveliest memories of the day.
Practical information and tickets for the Piazza dei Miracoli
To climb the Tower of Pisa and visit the other monuments in the Piazza dei Miracoli there are several tickets, depending on your needs. Here is how it works (information updated for 2026, but always check the official website opapisa.it before you go).
- Tower of Pisa: climbing it costs €20 (price checked in August 2026 on the Opera della Primaziale Pisana site, the only official channel) and must be booked, with a timed entry slot. Groups go up in short shifts of a few minutes, so it’s best to arrive on time. For safety reasons, children under 8 are not allowed to climb, and minors aged 8 to 18 must always be accompanied by an adult. You cannot bring bags or backpacks: there is a free luggage storage next to the tower.
- Cathedral (Duomo): entry is free, but you need a timed coupon (limited in number). Any paid ticket for the other monuments already includes the free Cathedral pass; in low season (from November to the end of February) you can usually walk straight in.
- Baptistery, Camposanto, Museo delle Sinopie, Museo dell’Opera del Duomo: these are bought with combined tickets you can mix and match (generally around €7 for one monument and €10 for two). The ticket is valid for one year from the date you choose.
There is almost always a big crowd around the ticket offices, so I recommend booking online to avoid wasting time. You can buy the skip-the-line ticket for the Leaning Tower and the Cathedral directly online: that way you climb the bell tower at the time you prefer and enjoy the day at your own pace.
When you have finished your tour of the monuments, take the time to sit on the lawn and look at the square from a distance: that is when you truly understand why they call it the “Square of Miracles”.
And you, have you ever climbed to the top of the tower? Which monument in the square struck you the most?
