PISA CATHEDRAL COMPLEX

1. PISA CATHEDRAL COMPLEX
ROMANESQUE ARCHITECTURE
ASHIRA P, SURUMI SULTHANA R A

2. ROMANESQUE ARCHITECTURE
◦ Art appeared during the middle age.
◦ It is the first style that can be found all over Europe,
even when regional differences.
◦ The expansion of the style was linked to the
pilgrimages mainly to Santiago.

3. ROMANESQUE ARCHITECTURE
Romanesque art developed series of causes :
◦ The end of Barbarian invasions
◦ The decomposition of Cordoba’s caliphate
◦ The establishment of peace in the Christian world,
with the development of the cities, commerce and
industry.

4. TYPOLOGIES
o There are three main architectural typologies :
Monasteries Castle Churches

5. PISA CATHEDRAL COMPLEX
o Pisa Cathedral Complex, known simply as cathedral
square.
o In addition to the cathedral itself,It includes a church, a
baptistery, a cemetry and one very famous bell tower-
better known as Leaning Tower of Pisa.
o It has been described by UNESCO as ‘An out standing
example of medievial Christian architecture.

6. PISA COMPLEX
Pisa complex mainly comprises of :
Pisa Cathedral
Campanile
Baptistery
Cemetry

7. PISA CATHEDRAL
o Construction of Pisa cathedral began first in 1093.
o Pisa cathedral is large ,with a nave and four
aisles,and is one of the most impressive and majestic
of all Romanesque churches.
o Pisans wanted their Bishops church not only to be a
monument to the glory of god but also to bring
credit to the city.

8. ◦ The cathedral resembles an early Christian basilica with a
timber roof ,columnar arcade and clerestory but the
broadly projecting transparent with apses ,the crossing
dome ,and the facade’s multiple arcaded galleries
distinguish it has Romanesque.
◦ The main architect was Buscheto, he was buried in the last
blind arch on the left side of the facade.
◦ The facade is marble.
◦ The bottam section has tall blind arcades with pastel-
colored marble inlay and three portals with bronze doors.
Above this a four raws of open arcades with delicate
columns rising to the top of a gable that is much taller
than the cathedral roof.

9. o The spacious nave has a Cosmatesque marble
pavement and two aisles on each sides ,the transept
crossing is covered by a painted oval dome.
o The granite Corinthian columns between the nave and
the aisle came originally from the mosque of Palermo,
captured by the pisans.
o The elaborately carved pulpit was made by Giovanni
pisano,a master work of medieval sculpture. The
pulpit is supported by plane columns.
o At the east end of the exterior, high on a column
rising from the gable, is the modern replica of Pisa
Griffin, the largest Islamic metal sculpture.

10. CAMPANILE
◦ The campanile was begun in 1173 as the final structure of the
magnificent cathedral complex on the Campo dei Miracoli in Pisa.
◦ The settling of its foundations and resulting lean became apparent
before it was even finished - after only three stories were
completed.
◦ The engineer, believed to be Bonnano Pisano, tried to compensate
by making the new stories a little taller on one side. However, the
extra materials caused the tower to sink even more.

11. ◦ Made of gleaming white and pastel marbles, the Leaning
Tower has a diameter of 52 feet (16 m) at the base and
would stand 185 feet (56 metres) high if it were straight
◦ It currently leans 5.5 degrees, which amounts to about 15
feet or 4.5 metres from vertical.

12. o The bottom register of the tower has a blind arcade and an ornately carved portal,
which features grotesque sculptures of animals. The second through seventh stories
have open arcaded galleries and the eighth story houses the bell chamber. The
medieval bells remain in place, but for stability reasons are no longer rung. Inside the
tower is a 294-step spiral staircase leading to the bell chamber.
o The famous lean of the bell tower often overshadows its magnificent architecture,
which is an exceptional example of the Romanesque style. The round tower is made of
fine multi-coloured marble and has eight stories in all, each surrounded by an arcaded
gallery. The repeating registers of arches give the tower an exceptionally harmonious
and rhythmic appearance.

13. BAPTISTERY
◦ Construction on the baptistery began in the
Romanesque style under Diotisalvi in 1153.
◦ It was finally completed in 1363.
◦ Italy's largest baptistery (54.86m tall and 104m
in circumference), the Battistero di San Giovanni
is also slightly taller than the Leaning Tower
across the square. As it shares the same
unstable ground as the tower, the baptistery
also has a slight lean of 0.6 degrees towards the
cathedral.

14. o The lower register of the baptistery is
12th-century Romanesque (with round
blind arches), while the upper parts are
predominantly 13th-century Gothic
(with pointed arches).
o The exterior of the second register was
decorated with statues and designs by
Giovanni Pisano; The square main portal
bears interesting reliefs by an unknown
artist of the 13th century.
o The left side depicts the Labors of the
o Months while the right side portrays the
Apostles (in pairs), the Harrowing of
Hell, and King David.

15. ◦ The interior is fairly plain, dimly lit and not
especially attractive, but it includes two
great treasures: the first of the great Pisano
pulpits and the large baptismal font in the
centre.
◦ The baptistery's pulpit is a masterpiece
carved in 1255-60 by Nicola Pisano.

16. ◦ The central baptismal font was carved and inlaid in 1246 by
the Gothic sculptor Guido Bigarelli da Como (active 1238-
57).
◦ In the centre of the font is a 20th-century statue of St. John
the Baptist, to whom the baptistery is dedicated.
◦ The baptistery is renowned for its perfect acoustics - choir
concerts held inside can be heard from miles away.

17. CEMETERY
◦ A cemetery known by the name of
Campo Santo, Camposanto
Monumentale or Camposanto Vecchio is
situated in the northern side of Pisa’s
Cathedral Square.
◦ It is now addressed as monumental as
recently an urban cemetery was
constructed in Pisa. To avoid confusion,
this one is often called the Camposanto
Monumentale. A burial ground, legend
says that any person’s body buried in this
ground will decay within 24 hours.

18. ◦ The building of this structure has been constructed by the famous Giovanni in 1278 over the burial
ground. The exterior wall of the building has 43 blind arches and two doorways. The right side door
has an artwork exhibiting the Virgin Mary with Child and four saints. It has three chapels- Ammannati
(named after a teacher in University of Pisa), Aulla (that houses the original lamp seen by Galileo) and
Dal Pozzo (where at times a Mass is organised

19. THANK YOU