Tuscany - Italy - page 157

most (if not all) of the tour times will be sold out. The 11pm closing time does
allow for increased tour times for last-minute planners, but obviously your views
won't be as spectacular.
Bags are absolutely not allowed on the climb up the tower, and must be left at
the hectic tourist office north of the tower. Children under 8 also aren't allowed
up the tower (though it is not recommended to leave them in the lockers). Arrive
at the ticket office an hour before your reserved tour time to pick up your ticket.
And woe betide you if you've forgotten your receipt, as it nearly takes a papal
decree to get the thing reissued.
The Leaning Tower overshadows (literally) the other fine sites in the Campo.
But you should visit the Cathedral

( % 050-560547; www.opapisa.it; € 2 or
as part of cumulative campo ticket; Apr-Sept 10am-8pm, Mar and Oct 10am-7pm,
Nov-Feb 10am-1pm and 3-7pm), a construction (completed 1064-1275) that
displays all the famous characteristics of Pisan architecture, from the multicol-
ored, multishaped columns of the facade to the Moorish-influenced marble tiling
(black and white stripes around the building). The cavernous interior is nearly
120m (400 ft.) from end to end, with over 60 columns supporting the building's
weight. Notable attractions are Giovanni Pisano's pulpit (a 20th-c. reconstruction
of the fire-damaged original), Cimabue's 13th-century Christ mosaic, and the
16th-century lamp hanging by the altar. This is the light that supposedly
intrigued Galileo during a boring sermon one day. The lamp was bumped and
began to swing side to side, and Mr. Galilei came up with his formulas describ-
ing pendulum movement.
The north side of the piazza has the giant Camposanto (Cemetery)

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( % 050-560547; www.opapisa.it; € 5 or as part of cumulative ticket; Apr-Sept
8am-8pm; Mar and Oct 9am-6pm; Nov-Feb 10am-5pm). Designed by Giovanni
di Simone in 1278 to contain soil brought back by crusaders from Cavalry, the
site of Jesus' crucifixion, it was the chic place for noble burials. To make their final
resting places even more impressive, locals appropriated the sarcophagi of ancient
Romans. Now the long hallways are filled with rows of these tombs, while dozens
of skull-and-crossbones memorial blocks line the floors. The walls of the building
were covered in extensive frescoes until 1944, when a massive fire (from either
Allied bombing or an unattributed “grenade”) torched the structure. Photos from
that time are on display in a northern room. Thankfully, one set of frescoes sur-
vived, including the series Triumph of Death, Last Judgment, and the Inferno.
These soaring pieces depict aerial battles between flying angels and devils, a giant
Godzilla-like devil in hell, and tough angels at the Last Judgment knocking peo-
ple into line. Also note the nobles on horseback holding their noses in the
Triumph of Death as they confront three rotting corpses in the ground—the fresco
was done in 1398, only months after the Black Death had run rampant through
Tuscany.
The giant orange-squeezer-shaped Baptistery

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(admission and hours same
as for Camposanto) dominates the eastern side of the piazza. Its exterior matches
that of the Cathedral, with blank arches topped by myriad columns supporting
further levels with their own decoration and statuary. The structure, at nearly
105m (350 ft.) around, is the largest of its kind in Italy. Construction began in
1152, and improvements continued through the 1300s. Inside, the Baptistery is