The city of Pisa with the leaning tower

The city of Pisa in tuscany with the leaning tower

at the Arno River was founded as an Etruscan port in the 6th century BC. Pisa’s power grew due to its expansion to the banks of the Arno and in the 12th century Pisa was the most important city militarily and economically and even overtook Venice.

The fall of the Seafaring Republic occurred at the end of the 13th century, with the defense of Genoa at the Battle of Melora in 1284. The result was oppression by Lucca and Florence. Pisa was conquered by Florence in 1406, followed by bad years of exploitation, which was only replaced by the Renaissance in Pisa in the 16th century by Cosimo I de Medici.

Pisa’s world-famous leaning tower (the bell tower of the city’s cathedral), the city with more than 91,104 inhabitants (around 200,000 with metropolitan area), includes more than 20 other historical temples, several medieval palaces and various bridges.

Another beautiful excursion point in Pisa is the Basilica romanica di San Piero a Grado. Here St. Peter is said to have set foot on Italian soil for the first time on his trip to Rome. For the pilgrims of the Middle Ages, the pilgrimage church was an important stop on the way to Rome.