Images of the Pisa Cathedral. Digital Imaging Project: Art historical images of European and North American architecture and sculpture from classical Greek to Post-modern. Scanned from slides taken on site by Mary Ann Sullivan, Bluffton College.

Pisa Cathedral, Campo dei miracoli--page 1 (of two pages)

begun 1063

This Romanesque cathedral was built at a time when Pisa was one of the most powerful maritime centers in Italy. The complex follows the early Christian pattern of separate structures for the church, baptistry, and bell tower, all of which are unified by the use of similar stone and the design of blind arcades and horizontal galleries. The cathedral plan is a Latin cross with a five-aisled nave, with a transept with apses at each end, and an elliptical crossing dome (erected later).

Views of the transept and nave wall
The blind arcades on the first floor rest on slender pilasters or columns. Marble incrustations in polychrome panels decorate the exterior walls.

One end of the transept and a transept apse

The apse

The front (west) facade
Four levels of arcade galleries are above the first register with its blind arcades. The top galleries act as a pediment. The front is especially rich in marble incrustation and mosaics of marble and glazed inlaid work.

Details of the entrance and main portal

Continue for views of the interior.

Click here to see the campanile (Leaning Tower), Baptistry, and Campo Santo (cemetery) of the Pisa Cathedral complex.

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Copyright © Mary Ann Sullivan. I have photographed (on site), scanned, and manipulated all the images on these pages. Please feel free to use them for personal or educational purposes. They are not available for commercial purposes.

Page created by Mary Ann Sullivan

This Romanesque cathedral was built at a time when Pisa was one of the most powerful maritime centers in Italy. The complex follows the early Christian pattern of separate structures for the church, baptistry, and bell tower, all of which are unified by the use of similar stone and the design of blind arcades and horizontal galleries. The cathedral plan is a Latin cross with a five-aisled nave, with a transept with apses at each end, and an elliptical crossing dome (erected later).


Views of the transept and nave wall The blind arcades on the first floor rest on slender pilasters or columns. Marble incrustations in polychrome panels decorate the exterior walls.


One end of the transept and a transept apse


The apse

The front (west) facade Four levels of arcade galleries are above the first register with its blind arcades. The top galleries act as a pediment. The front is especially rich in marble incrustation and mosaics of marble and glazed inlaid work.


Details of the entrance and main portal