Pisa

Cathedral of Pisa, Pisa, Tuscany, Italy, Europe

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• published: 25 Oct 2012
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The Cathedral of St. Mary, the center of the homonymous square, is the medieval cathedral of Pisa and primatial church. Romanesque masterpiece, especially of the Pisan Romanesque, is the tangible evidence of the prestige and wealth achieved by the Maritime Republic of Pisa in the time of its heyday. It was begun in 1063 (1064 according to the Pisan calendar then in force) Buscheto architect, with a tenth of the spoils of the company Pisan in Sicily in the port of Palermo against Muslims (1063). We blend different stylistic elements: classic, Lombard-Emilian Byzantine and particularly Islamic, proof of the international presence of the Pisan merchants in those days. That same year was also started the reconstruction of the basilica of San Marco in Venice, so it may be that at the time there had been a rivalry between the two maritime republics to create the most beautiful place of worship and sumptuous. The church was built in an area outside the early medieval city walls, to symbolize their power of Pisa, which did not require protection. The area chosen was already used in the Lombard period Necropolis and, already in the early eleventh century, a church was erected never finished that was to be dedicated to Santa Maria. The new large church Buscheto fact is initially called Santa Maria Maggiore until it was finally dedicated to Santa Maria Assunta. In 1092 the church, from simple cathedral, passes to be Primate, having been awarded the title of Primate Archbishop Daiberto by Pope Urban II, an honor today only formal. The cathedral was consecrated in 1118 by Pope Gelasius II, belonging to the branch of the Pisan Gaetani (or Caetani), accounts of Soil and Oriseo, but already in the first half of the twelfth century was expanded under the direction of Rainaldo which has the project of the facade, completed by workers led by the sculptors Guglielmo and Biduino. The current appearance of the building complex is the result of repeated restoration campaigns have occurred at different times. The first radical interventions followed the disastrous fire of 1595, following which the roof was rebuilt and were performed three bronze doors of the facade, the work of sculptors from the workshop of Fra Domenico Portigiani, including Gasparo Molo and Pietro Tacca; in the eighteenth century began the gradual coating of the interior walls with large paintings on canvas, the "bricks" with stories of saints and blessed Pisa, performed by leading artists of the time thanks to the initiative of some citizens who autofinanziarono creating a special business. Among the various interventions of note should be noted the dismantling of the pulpit by Giovanni Pisano who was reassembled in 1926 to a different location and different parts missing, including the scale, and the dismantling of the monument to Henry VII built by Francesco Lupo which was located in front of the door of San Ranieri and then replaced by a simplified and symbolic. The following interventions were made in the nineteenth century and the interior decoration is interested both the external ones, which in many cases, especially for the sculptures on the facade were replaced by copies (the originals are in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo). The building was originally a Greek cross with a large dome where the arms, today is a Latin cross with five naves with apse and transept with three naves, inside suggests a spatial effect similar to that of the great Islamic mosques through the use of raised curve arches, alternating bands of black and white marble and the unusual elliptical dome, Moorish-inspired. The presence of the two women's galleries raised in the aisles, with the solid monolithic granite columns, is a clear sign of Byzantine influence. The architect had welcomed Buscheto stimuli from Levante Islamic and Armenia. The rich decoration includes multicolored marbles, mosaics and numerous bronze objects from the spoils of war, including the Grifo used as east of the roof, taken in Palermo in 1061. The arches in acute profile make reference to Muslim influences and the south d ' Italy. The blind arcades with lozenges recall the similar structures of the churches of Armenia. The façade of gray and white marble, decorated with inlays of colored marble, was built by master Rainaldo. The three portals are subject to four orders of loggias divided by frames with marble inlays, behind which there are single-light, mullioned windows.