Pisa Museo Aperto

Luogo

Since early times Piazza del Duomo, which is also known as Piazza dei Miracoli, was the city’s spiritual heart. Here the Etruscans built two temples; on the other hand, the Romans used the area for commercial purposes as it was the crossing point of important waterways. Indeed, to the north of this area the river Auser flowed and a recently discovered  river port where the San Rossore railway station stands today. Residential homes for the most important Pisan families were also built by the Romans. Recent archaeological excavations prove this by bringing to light mosaic floors, wall structures and pillars that supported porches.
After 1000 A.D. Pisa’s expansion in the Mediterranean and the commercial development which followed led to the construction of a new cathedral and the foundation of a new monumental complex comprising of the cathedral, the baptistery and the monumental cemetry

The so-called Opera di Santa Maria was soon founded which was charged with the task of raising the funds needed for the construction of the cathedral. Work continued for many centuries and the construction of the whole monumental complex  proved to be extremely difficult and expensive.
White marble from nearby quarries of the Monti Pisani, and Carrara was used as the main construction material. Inspiration for this choice of material and colour came from the many Roman buildings and ruins that still stood in the city. These ruins were the remains of Ancient Roman palaces, country villas and temples built and decorated in marble. During the communal age many Italian cities described themselves as a “new Rome” and adopted the Capitoline she-wolf as the city symbol, to underline their bonds with the legacy of Imperial Rome. In Tuscany this was particularly the case of Pisa and Siena whose cathedrals were built entirely in marble.
Twelfth century Pisans were well aware of this bond and the following inscription was made on the cathedral facade: “Non habet exemplum niveo de marmore templum” (“There is no other temple like this, white like snow”).
A number of other inscriptions on the cathedral walls, celebrate Pisa’s naval victories in the Mediterranean. One of these inscriptions, placed on the façade, remembers that in 1064 “the Pisan citizens, encouraged by their renowned valour, began to build this church” with the riches collected from the coming from the city of Palermo which had been sacked by the Pisans that same year.