Pisa is a city in Tuscany, central Italy, on the right bank of the mouth of the Arno River on the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa, known throughout the world for its famous Leaning Tower (the bell tower of the city’s cathedral); however, Pisa contains many more beautiful works of art and architecture aside from this striking landmark.
 Ancient Roman authors referred to Pisa as the “old city”. Emperor Augustus fortified the colony into an important port, which after became the seat of a bishopric. The 3,000 year old seaside settlement developed into a powerful maritime republic in the 9th to 11th centuries, until it was crushed by Genoa in 1284. In the 13th and 14th centuries, Pisa was chronically at war with Florence, to which it fell under rule from 1406-1509. The city’s university, founded in the 14th century, enjoyed a great reputation during the Renaissance; Galileo, who was born in Pisa in 1564, was a student and later a teacher there. The city officially became part of the Kingdom of Italy in 1860.
Pisa is crammed full of wonderful, historical monuments and buildings dating back many hundreds of years, and much of the city has retained its medieval appearance. The ancient Piazza del Duomo houses the city’s Cathedral or Duomo, the circular Baptistry – the largest of its kind in all of Italy, and the Camposanto Monumentale – the monumental cemetery also known as the Holy Field. This area of Pisa referred to since the 20th century as the Piazza dei Miracoli or the Field of Miracles, and its remarkable Pisan buildings, combine Moorish, Gothic and Romesque architectural features.
 The historic city centre of Pisa is concentrated on the north bank of the River Arno and is still surrounded by the 12th-century walls. The 'high street' is the long and curving Via Santa Maria that connects the Campo dei Miracoli with the Lungarno (Embankment). Palaces and mansions still line this street and retain their splendid facades, which date back to the 16th century. The social centre of Pisa is the Piazza Garibaldi, which is located on the north side of the Ponte di Mezzo (Middle Bridge) and also the elegant Borgo Stretto, full of interesting shops and cafés.
To the south are two major museums – the the Museo dell’Opera, containing a significant collection of sculptures, paintings and other works relating to the ecclesiastical buildings on the Piazza del Duomo, and the Museo delle Sinopie, with many original sketches in plaster from frescoes that were damaged by fire during heavy fighting that occurred in World War II.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa isn't the only edifice that is no longer standing upright in the city. Pisa's unsteady, sandy soil under the Field of Miracles has resulted in other problems that initially are not quite so obvious. The baptistery lurches noticeably towards the north and also, when viewed at certain angles, Pisa's Duomo cathedral is far from straight. There are also a couple of small bell towers (campaniles) in Pisa that have also shifted and these have been nicknamed 'The Other Leaning Towers of Pisa!'
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