Pisa, the Cathedral - Il Duomo

The Duomo of Pisa is built in the much imitated but never surpassed ‘Pisan Romanesque' style, much seen throughout Tuscany. It was started in 1064 and as such predates the leaning tower by one hundred years. Much of the interior was badly damaged by a fire in 1596, therefore much of what we now see dates from the Renaissance or later.

Not to be missed are the original bronze doorway (Portale di San Ranieri), the pulpit by Giovanni Pisano, the tomb of the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry VII, and the mosaic of Christ in the apse.

The forerunner of the huge bronze incense burner found in the central aisle was said to have given Galileo the inspiration for his theory of the movement of the pendulum.