Il Cattedrale

The cathedral of Pisa

The Cathedral of Pisa Pisa's Duomo (cathedral) is a massive Romanesque structure with blind arcades running down the side and a facade of stacked colonnades.

The cathedral interior was rebuilt after the fire, but a few details remain from its earlier era, including Cimabue's 1302 mosaic filling the apse of Christ Pancrator, and in the aisle one of Giovanni Pisano's greatest carved pulpits (1302-11), the panels of which are a masterpiece of Gothic sculpture.

The Pisano pulpit and cofferd ceiling of the Pisa Cattedrale
The Pisano pulpit and coffered ceiling in the DuomoMake sure you check out the medieval bronze doors on the back side of the right transept, facing the Leaning Tower, as they're only set to survive a 1595 fire.

(Actually, the ones on the church now are replicas; the originals—with their simple and exquisite Romanesque scenes of Bible stories—are in the nearby Museo dell'Opera del Duomo.)

Beyond Newton's Apple
Pisan scientist Galileo Galilei spent the 16th century observing the motions of pendulums (such as the low-hanging candelabra here in the Duomo), asserting the Earth revolved around the sun, and dropping balls of differing weights off the Leaning Tower to prove they would hit the ground at the same time. Many people at the time thought he was kooky, and the church even excommunicated (and nearly executed) him for the blasphemy of suggesting the Earth wasn't the center of the universe, but today we know Galileo as one of the fathers of modern physics.

Tips

Planning your time: The cathedral only takes about 15–30 minutes.
Book your tickets ahead of time.

   • Pisa Walking Tour Including Skip-the-Line Leaning Tower of Pisa Ticket (3 hrs)
   • Private Tour: Pisa and the Leaning Tower from Florence (4 hrs)
   • Pisa Half-Day Trip from Florence Including Skip-the-Line Leaning Tower of Pisa Ticket (5.5 hrs)

You actually only book a specific entry time for the Leaning Tower itself (at least 15 days before your visit at www.opapisa.it), but when you buy that ticket you can also include on it admission to any or all of the other five sights and monuments on the Campo dei Miracoli. You actually only pay for any random one to five other "monument" (see box); you get to pick which ones you want to see once you're here.

Cimabue's mosaics in the Pisa cathedral apse.Look it sounds complicated, but here's what you do: by everything. Book the Leaning Tower ticket, and then go ahead and buy the ticket for all the other sights. It's just not worth troubling over—especially not for a mere €10 (€8 in winter, when the cathedral is free)—and they're all worth popping into.

Note that you have a specific window in which you can book online: starting 45 days before your visit, but ending 15 days before your visit. In other words, if its two weeks before you arrive in Pisa, you're going to have to hope you get lucky and will be able to find tickets on the day at the ticket desk. (Entry to everything else is always available, so if you don't care to climb the tower, you can just show upon the day.)

Hint: to avoid waiting in the regular Leaning Tower line, while booking tick the box that you want to pick up your tickets either at the Central Ticket Office or the Museo delle Sinopie.
Book a tour: Prefer to leave the driving and arrangements to someone else? Take either a bus tour to Pisa or a private walking tour of Pisa (or Pisa and Lucca) including transport from Florence with a private driver/guide. (Be sure to let them know you want admission to the Tower and other sights in Pisa, though; they'll tack it on to the price.)

     • Private Tour: Pisa and the Leaning Tower from Florence (4 hrs)
     • Pisa and the Leaning Tower Half-Day Trip from Florence (5.5 hrs)
     • Private Tour: Lucca and Pisa from Florence (10 hrs)
     • Tuscany in One Day Sightseeing Tour (12 hrs)
Get tickets at the Museo delle Sinopie. There is a single ticket for entry into all the sights on the Campo dei Miracoli. if you didn't book it ahead of time, make sure you buy it at the Museo dell Sinopie, which has the largest ticketing desk and the shortest lines.

Tips & links

Details

★★ Cattedrale di Pisa (Il Duomo)
Piazza del Duomo/Campo dei Miracoli (middle)
tel. +39-050-835-011/12
www.opapisa.it
Open Apr–Sept 10am–8pm; Oct 10am–7pm; Nov–Feb 10am–12:45pm and 2–5pm; Mar 10am–6pm
Adm: €5–€42; free Nov–Feb

Planning your time

The cathedral only takes about 15–30 minutes.

Campo dei Miracoli admissions
Leaning Tower: €18
Cathedral: free admission with any ticket
1 monument: €5 ea.
2 monuments: €7 ea.
3 monuments: €8 ea.

Book your tickets ahead of time.

You actually only book a specific entry time for the Leaning Tower itself (at least 15 days before your visit at www.opapisa.it), but when you buy that ticket you can also include on it admission to any or all of the other five sights and monuments on the Campo dei Miracoli. You actually only pay for any random one to five other "monument" (see box); you get to pick which ones you want to see once you're here.

The mosaic by Cimabue in the Pisa cathedral

Cimabue's mosaics in the Pisa cathedral apse.Look it sounds complicated, but here's what you do: by everything. Book the Leaning Tower ticket, and then go ahead and buy the ticket for all the other sights. It's just not worth troubling over—especially not for a mere €10 (€8 in winter, when the cathedral is free)—and they're all worth popping into.

Note that you have a specific window in which you can book online: starting 45 days before your visit, but ending 15 days before your visit. In other words, if its two weeks before you arrive in Pisa, you're going to have to hope you get lucky and will be able to find tickets on the day at the ticket desk. (Entry to everything else is always available, so if you don't care to climb the tower, you can just show upon the day.)

Hint: to avoid waiting in the regular Leaning Tower line, while booking tick the box that you want to pick up your tickets either at the Central Ticket Office or the Museo delle Sinopie

Book a tour

Prefer to leave the driving and arrangements to someone else? Take either a bus tour to Pisa or a private walking tour of Pisa (or Pisa and Lucca) including transport from Florence with a private driver/guide. (Be sure to let them know you want admission to the Tower and other sights in Pisa, though; they'll tack it on to the price.)

Private Tour: Pisa and the Leaning Tower from Florence (4 hrs)
Pisa and the Leaning Tower Half-Day Trip from Florence (5.5 hrs)
Private Tour: Lucca and Pisa from Florence (10 hrs)
Tuscany in One Day Sightseeing Tour (12 hrs)

Get tickets at the Museo delle Sinopie

There is a single ticket for entry into all the sights on the Campo dei Miracoli. if you didn't book it ahead of time, make sure you buy it at the Museo dell Sinopie, which has the largest ticketing desk and the shortest lines.

Tourist information

Pisa tourist information office
Most convenient location:
Piazza Arcivescovado 8 (in the Museo del Duomo, just behind the Leaning Tower)
tel. +39-334-641-9408

Main location:
Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II 16 (two blocks north of the main train station)
tel. +39-050-42-291

Other locations:
• At the aiport
• Near Ponte di Mezzo (Lungarno Galilei at Piazza XX Settembre)

www.pisaunicaterra.it
www.pisaturismo.it

Tours of Pisa

Pisa tours

Tours to Pisa from Florence

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Details

★★ Cattedrale di Pisa (Il Duomo)
Piazza del Duomo/Campo dei Miracoli (middle)
tel. +39-050-835-011/12
www.opapisa.it
Open Apr–Sept 10am–8pm
Oct 10am–7pm
Nov–Feb 10am–12:45pm and 2–5pm
Mar 10am–6pm
Adm: €5–€42; free Nov–Feb

Tourist info