See Pisa with Galileo

T

Cristina Cagianelli

See PISA with GALILEO

he outstanding scientific genius from Pisa, Galileo Galilei, famous throughout the world, guides the young in the discovery of Pisa’s “Miracles”, all constructed during the early Middle Ages when Pisa was a powerful Maritime Republic.

Setting out from the monuments in the Cathedral Square – the Cathedral, Leaning Tower, Baptistery, Camposanto and the Hospital – we walk through the town to discover the many other masterpieces of Pisan Romanesque architecture, with its occasional, surprising flashes of Gothic.

PISA

See

with GALILEO

The Cathedral, Leaning Tower and other Miracles Illustrations by Silvia Sarperi

Edizioni ETS

€ 10,00

Pisa-Guida-950_cover sara corretta.indd 2

04/09/14 11:58

All photographs in this volume are by Bernardo Baldassari, with the exception of page 6 (Maurizio Villani) page 10-11 (Nicola Ughi) pages 85-86, n. 71, page 106 nn. 89-90 (Archives of Soprintendenza per i Beni Architettonici, Paesaggistici, Artistici, Storici ed Etnoantropologici per le province di Pisa e Livorno) page 118, n. 100 (Paolo Del Freo) The Diocesan Office of Beni Culturali Ecclesiastici and the Ven. Chapter of Pisa Cathedral have autorized pubblication of the photographs their properties.

The author would like to thank Mauro Ronzani, Full Professor in Medieval History at the University of Pisa, who has kindly read this text, providing important improvements.

Š Copyright 2014 Edizioni ETS Piazza Carrara, 16-19, I-56126 Pisa info@edizioniets.com www.edizioniets.com Distribuzione PDE, Via Tevere 54, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino [Firenze] ISBN 978-884673974-2

Cristina Cagianelli

PISA

See

with GALILEO

The Cathedral, Leaning Tower and other Miracles

Illustrated by Silvia Sarperi English translation by Elysabeth Philpott

Edizioni ETS

More than just a slogan, in the year we celebrate Pisa Cathedral and Galileo Galilei, “Pisa A.D. 2014� purposes to be a blueprint for development and an occasion for building an educational pathway worldwide for those who aim to enrich their lives and improve their knowledge to the point of excellence. This book is written principally for the young but is sufficiently exhaustive to satisfy the curiosity of the most exacting adults. The wide appeal of its contents to all generations of readers is a worthy celebration of the two great universal gifts history has bequeathed to humanity Paolo Ghezzi Deputy Mayor of Pisa with responsibility for Tourism

5

Pisa, 2nd June 2014

At times like now, when everything seems to be reduced to the present moment, when past and future no longer exist and we have lost our awareness of passing time, almost as if we could stay young forever, allowing a voice from the past to speak out and tell us about the history of a town and its monuments could seem doomed to failure.

Nevertheless, this book, written by Cristina Cagianelli and illustrated by Silvia Sarperi, in which Galileo Galilei tells the story of the Cathedral, the Tower and other “miracles” – i.e. the works of art that belong to Pisa – is the perfect, easy-to-read guide for all those people who have not learned about the joys of studying the past from their elders nor had teachers with a love for the past to teach them, so consequently they have imperfect understanding of the present and are unable to imagine the future.

The text runs smoothly and is enjoyable to read; in a few accurate strokes it pictures the events that gave rise to faces and monuments carved in stone; artists and commissions are described and seem to come alive, as if they might suddenly walk out of the buildings they created, side-by-side with the people who eagerly watched them rising. This book helps us to contemplate buildings that are more than works of art, buildings that exude the spiritual intensity and religious convictions that gave birth to them.

The story told here reveals a thread that unites the many buildings, created mostly for religious purposes, from within, in the sign of the Christian faith. We discover how our forefathers worshipped, which saints they most often appealed to, which religious orders attended to services in each church; the force of the religion of the Pisan citizens who built these works of art.

As we have already said, the narrator is Galileo Galilei: he was a scientist and a believer – one of the greatest men in the history of science but even so, a man of his times, who looked at the past with a critical eye but also looked towards the future, at the same time, fully aware of the social changes underway in that period of history. As a Pisan he was definitely not parochial – he was a citizen of the world, a man of widespread knowledge, capable of discussing art and monuments.

We hope Galileo can accompany the young – and not so young – on the way towards understanding a culture that has been handed down to us by our forefathers and, thanks to the language of its beauty, still speaks to the people of today. Only, we do not want them to merely scratch the “surface” of things but by entering the secret recesses of the Beauty that our monuments display, to become able to understand the depths of the spirit that derives from the mystery of uncreated Beauty, of God that shines out from the ripened fruits of that artistic genius who is humble enough to draw from the source of Life and allows the Light that never dies to shine on him. + Giovanni Paolo Benotto Archbishop of Pisa

Colour code to highliht contents Cathedral Pisa 1064 Galileo Galilei Arch

red for buildings, monumental areas and museums orange for places green for dates blue for proper names black for the words quoted in the Glossary

Colour code for the Walks

red for Walk no. 1 blue for Walk no. 2 yellow for Walk no. 3 pink for Walk no. 4

8

Contents

A.D. 1064 - A.D. 2014 950 years from the foundation of Pisa Cathedral

p. 10

My name’s Galileo and I want to tell you ...

p. 12

Walk no. 1 – The buildings in the Cathedral Square

p. 17

Duomo or Cathedral, p. 17 - Baptistery, p. 44 - Bell Tower or Leaning Tower, p. 53 - Opera del Duomo Museum, p. 59 - Hospital, Church of Santa Chiara and Sinopie Museum, p. 61 - Cemetery (Camposanto), p. 64

Walk no. 2 - Medieval Churches in the north of the City, west of Borgo Stretto, Via Oberdan and Via Carducci p. 75 Church of San Nicola, p. 75 - Church of San Frediano, p. 80 - Church of San Rocco, previously called San Pietro in Cortevecchia, p. 81 - Church of San Sisto in Cortevecchia, p. 83 - Church of Santi Felice e Regolo, p. 87

Walk no. 3 - Medieval Churches in the north of the City, east of Borgo Stretto, Via Oberdan and Via Carducci p. 89 Church of Santa Caterina di Alessandria, p. 89 - Church of San Zeno, Church of San Francesco, p. 93 - Church of San Paolo all’Orto, p. 95 of San Michele in Borgo, p. 97 - Church of San Pietro in Vinculis or San p. 100 - Church of Sant’Andrea Forisportam, p. 102 - Church of San p. 104 - Church of San Michele degli Scalzi, p. 107

Walk no. 4 - Medieval Churches in the south of the City

p. 92 Church Pierino, Matteo,

p. 110

Church of the Holy Sepulcher, p. 110 - Church of San Martino, p. 112 - Church of Santa Cristina, p. 114 - Church of Santa Maria della Spina, p. 116 - Church of San Paolo a Ripadarno and Chapel of Sant’Agata, p. 119 Glossary

p. 123 9

A.D. 1064 – A.D. 2014 950 years since the foundation of Pisa Cathedral An inscription carved on the Cathedral front tells us that the first stone of this building was laid in 1064.

We must imagine there was a solemn ceremony on that occasion, with priests, especially the most important one, the archbishop, and the city governors (called consuls) as well as a huge crowd of people.

As was usual, the architect, whose name was Busketo, began the building by laying the foundation stone where the apse was going to be, at the eastern end of the Church. The Church was planned as a Latin cross, with a long central arm and a shorter arm crossing it. It was completed by other architects later.

950 years have gone by since that day but the Cathedral and the other monuments in this Square – the Baptistery, the Bell Tower, better known as the Leaning Tower, the Hospital, the Cemetery (Camposanto) and the Opera del Duomo Museum and the Sinopie Museum too are still admired by the citizens of Pisa and people from all over the world.

950 anni d

My name’s Galileo and I want to tell you ...

My name’s Galileo and I’m a mathematician, physicist and astronomer. I’ve spent my whole life studying and experimenting.

I’ve discovered things that have changed the history of the world and I’ve invented and improved important scientific instruments.

I was born in Pisa on February 15th, 1564, the eldest of seven children. My father, Vincenzo Galilei, was a well-known musician and musical theorist from a Florentine family, and my mother, Giulia Ammannati, was the daughter of a rich merchant family from Pescia and Pistoia.

In 1581 my father enrolled me at Pisa University where, until 1585, I studied medicine. But I was more interested in other subjects, so I went to Florence to study Mathematics and Physics. In 1589, thanks to the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Ferdinando I dei Medici, I was awarded a three-year teaching post in Mathematics at Pisa University.

In 1592 I was awarded the chair in Mathematics at Padua University and went to live there, where I stayed until 1610. I met a venetian woman, Marina Gamba and we had three children called Virginia, Livia and Vincenzio.

While I was at Padua, I perfected the telescope and used it for my astronomical observations, to look at the sky at night; I published my discoveries in one of my many books, called Sidereus Nuncius. I dedicated the book to Cosimo II dei Medici and even called the satellites of Jupiter that I discovered “Medicea sidera” (The Medici Planets).

Then, Cosimo II called me back to Tuscany and made me “Mathematician” at Pisa University. I didn’t have to teach and was completely free to carry out my studies.

After that, I began to disagree with certain powerful men in the Church, so in 1611 I went to Rome to demonstrate my discoveries and was well received. But my problems got worse.

12

The fact is that my discoveries in astronomy convinced me more and more that the planets revolved around the Sun (the Sun-Centred Theory), as the polish scientist Nicholas Copernicus (1473-1533) had already suggested, and not around the Earth (the Earth-Centred Theory) as the Greek astronomer and geographer Ptolemy had suggested many, many years before, in the IIth century A.D.! Since this second theory agreed with certain pants of Holy Scripture, was accepted by the Church of Rome. In my day it was really dangerous to go against these deeply rooted beliefs!

I had trouble again with the Church in 1613 when I published my work on sunspots. Cosimo II advised me to go to Rome once more to clear matters up and defend myself against the accusations. This journey, in 1615, was no help at all. I was ordered not to make any public declaration concerning Copernicus’ theory.

In spite of all this, I continued my research and in 1623 I published Il Saggiatore. Soon after, Maffeo Barberini became Pope Urbano VIII. He was a friend of mine and believed me, so the following year I returned to Rome hoping my research would be appreciated. But I was not successful.

So I went back to my studies and in 1624 I built a microscope and began to study tiny organisms, at that time considered insignificant.

In 1631 I went to live in a Villa at Arcetri, near Florence.

1n 1632 I published an important book about the two systems, the one with the Earth and the other with the Sun at the centre. After that, my situation became dramatic.

I was summoned to Rome to be tried by the Inquisition. To save my life I had to deny that Copernicus’ theory was true but even so I was condemned to prison!

But I never actually went to prison. I was allowed to live with some powerful friends and later returned to my home at Arcetri. In 1638, I published another important work in Holland, called Dialogues concerning two new sciences and it made me really famous.

On January 8th, 1642, at Arcetri, I came to the end of my days.

I am known as the founder of the scientific method, based on the principle that what is written in books from the past doesn’t have to be accepted blindly, not even when written by very learned people. Every fact must be checked independently by experiments carried out on the “great book of nature”, as I called it.

13

Walk no. 1 – The buildings in the Cathedral Square 1

Duomo or Cathedral 2 Baptistery

3

Bell Tower or Leaning Tower 4 Opera del Duomo Museum

5

6

Hospital, Church of Santa Chiara and Sinopie Museum Cemetery (Camposanto)

Walk no. 2 - Medieval Churches in the north of the City

6

1

2

3

5

west of Borgo Stretto, Via Oberdan and Via Carducci

10

7

San Nicola 8 San Frediano

9

San Rocco, previously called San Pietro in Cortevecchia 10 San Sisto in Cortevecchia

11

Santi Felice e Regolo

Walk no. 3 - Medieval Churches in the north of the City east of Borgo Stretto, Via Oberdan and Via Carducci

7

12

Santa Caterina di Alessandria 13 San Zeno

14 15

San Francesco San Paolo all’Orto

16 San Michele in Borgo

24

17 San Pietro in Vinculis or San Pierino 18 Sant’Andrea Forisportam 19 San Matteo 20 San Michele degli Scalzi

Walk no. 4 - Medieval Churches in the south of the City 21 Holy Sepulcher 22 San Martino 23 Santa Cristina 24 Santa Maria della Spina 25

San Paolo a Ripadarno and Chapel of Sant’Agata

25

13 12 3

4

14 10 9

11

15

8

16

18 17

19 23

21

24

22

20

T

Cristina Cagianelli

See PISA with GALILEO

he outstanding scientific genius from Pisa, Galileo Galilei, famous throughout the world, guides the young in the discovery of Pisa’s “Miracles”, all constructed during the early Middle Ages when Pisa was a powerful Maritime Republic.

Setting out from the monuments in the Cathedral Square – the Cathedral, Leaning Tower, Baptistery, Camposanto and the Hospital – we walk through the town to discover the many other masterpieces of Pisan Romanesque architecture, with its occasional, surprising flashes of Gothic.

PISA

See

with GALILEO

The Cathedral, Leaning Tower and other Miracles Illustrations by Silvia Sarperi

Edizioni ETS

€ 10,00

Pisa-Guida-950_cover sara corretta.indd 2

04/09/14 11:58