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In 1987 the whole square was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site . THE DUOMO is on the left, the Duomo is in the center and the Baptistery is on the right.]] The heart of the Campo dei Miracoli is the Duomo, the Medieval Cathedral , entitled to St. Mary. This is a five-naved basilica with a three-naved transept. It was begun in 1064 by the architect Buscheto and is the originator of the distinctive Pisan Romanesque style in architecture. The mosaics of the interior show a strong Byzantine influence, while the pointed arches point to Muslim influences. The façade, of grey Marble and white stone set with discs of coloured marble, was built by a master Rainaldo, as indicated by a write above the middle door: ''Rainaldus prudens operator''. The massive Bronze main doors were made in the workshops of Giambologna , but visitors actually enter through the ''Portale di San Ranieri'' (St. Ranieri's Gate), opposite the Leaning Tower. Made in around 1180 by Bonanno Pisano , this doorway was actually moved from its original place opposite the Baptistery when Giambologna's doors were erected. Above the doors there are four rows of open galleries with, on top, statues of ''Madonna with Child'' and, on the corners, the ''Four evangelists''. One of these galleries contains the tomb of Buscheto. The interior is faced with black and white marble and has a Gild ed ceiling and a Fresco ed dome. It was largely redecorated after a fire in 1595 , which destroyed most of the medieval art works. The impressive Mosaic , in the Apse , of ''Christ in Majesty'', flanked by the ''Blessed Virgin and St. John the Evangelist'', which was completed by Cimabue in 1302 , survived the fire however. It evokes the mosaics in the church of Monreale , Sicily . The cupola, at the intersection of the Nave and the Transept , was decorated by Riminaldi showing the ascension of the Blessed Virgin. Galileo is believed to have formulated his theory about the movement of a Pendulum by watching the swinging of the huge Incense lamp (not the present one) hanging from the ceiling of the Nave . The impressive granite Corinthian columns between the nave and the aisle came originally from the Mosque of Palermo , captured by the Pisans in 1063. The coffer ceiling of the nave was replaced after the fire of 1595. The present gold-decorated ceiling carries the coat of arms of the Medici . The elaborately carved Pulpit (1302-1310), which also survived the fire, was the masterpiece of Giovanni Pisano . It was packed away during the redecoration and was not rediscovered and re-erected until 1926 . It shows nine scenes from the New Testament, carved in white marble with a Chiaroscuro effect. It contains a bold, naturalistic depiction of a naked Hercules The church also contains the Mummified body of St Ranieri , Pisa's Patron Saint , and the tomb of the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VII , carved by Tino Da Camaino in 1315 . The building, as several in Pisa, is also slightly tilting since the construction. |
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