Pisa (City of central Italy capital)

Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)

a city of central Italy, capital of the province of Pisa, on the Arno, 8 miles from its mouth, 13 miles N. E. of Leghorn, and 50 miles W. of Florence. The walls are 5 miles in circuit. The Arno flows through the city, and is crossed by several bridges, the principal one being of fine marble. The cathedral, with its attendant buildings, the baptistery, the cemetery, and the belfry is perhaps, the finest specimen that exists of the style of building called by the Italians the Gotico-Moresco. The most remarkable buildings in Pisa are the Campo Santo, and the stately belfry, or campanile, a cylindrical tower, 178 feet in height, constructed of successive rows of pillars, chiefly of marble; it is extremely graceful in its proportions; but its chief peculiarity consists in its inclination about 14 feet out of the perpendicular, whence it is commonly called the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The University of Pisa is one of the oldest in Italy; it has 56 professors and about 1,000 stu- 000 dents. Galileo, who was a native of bassadors. After the rival Popes failed Pisa, was formerly one of the professors. A library, botanical garden, a cabinet of natural history, and an observatory are connected with the university. Pisa is supposed to have been founded shortly after the Trojan War. It became a Roman colony about 179 b. c., but did not attain to distinction before the 10th century, when it became the leading commercial republic of Italy. During the 11th century it maintained its superiority in the Mediterranean, materially assisting the French in the Crusades. A war with Genoa ended in the ruin of Pisa in 1284. The city afterward became the prey of various factions, till finally united to Florence in 1406. Pop. about 70,000.