I know that when many people hear of the town of Pisa, they think of the famous Leaning Tower, but…read morethere is so much more to see there than just that - such as the Pisa Cathedral.
Pisa is very easy to visit from Rome or Florence via train for a day trip (or for several days, if you're wanting to stay longer!)
We visited as a stopover on our Trenitalia trip back to Rome from Cinque Terre's Manarola. We only had about 4 hours in Pisa before we had to head back to our train, so we made our way directly toward the Piazza dei Miracoli to see the Leaning Tower, but the Pisa Cathedral was surprisingly just as beautiful and impressive!
You cannot see the Cathedral or any other of the Piazza dei Miracoli buildings by driving by or standing outside on the street. You have to go through a small marketplace of vendors to get to the archway entry. Once inside the entryway, that is where you will see the buildings you are looking for in the Piazza dei Miracoli.
The Il Duomo di Santa Maria Assunta (Pisa Cathedral) holds so much beauty and history. The art inside, including the architecture, woodworking, paintings, and sculptures, will have you just walking around in awe for quite a while.
One piece of extreme interest to view is Galileo's Lamp. It is a replica of the lamp that hung in the exact same spot in the Cathedral when Galileo visited as a young man in the 1600s.
Galileo saw the lamp swinging like a pendulum, giving him the impetus to investigate and discover the principle of isochronism and leading him on the path to become the famed historical scientist we study today.
With all of its beauty, history, and things to learn and see, definitely stop in Pisa if you're in Italy. And don't only stop at the Leaning Tower, because missing the beautiful Cathedral would be a huge mistake!
