Pisa is located in Western Tuscany and known worldwide for the ‘Leaning Tower’. This ecclesiastical city began its life as a seaside settlement around 3,000 years ago and was first laid out in the mid eleventh century.

Today, Pisa is crammed full of historical monuments and buildings dating back many hundreds of years and much of the city has retained its medieval appearance. Pisa is also known for its university, which was established in 1343 and has become one of Italy’s top learning establishments.

The first thing that strikes you as we arrived in the North West part of the city was a huge green lawn with four huge impressive buildings. The other thing that struck me was all the small stalls set up at the side of the lawns selling every conceivable tourist gift you could imagine, the vast majority of it being cheap and nasty and completely out of place in such a Grand setting.

The four buildings are huge; the Duomo built almost one thousand years ago, the Bell Tower known as the ‘Leaning Tower of Pisa’, the circular Battistero (The Baptistery) the largest of its kind in Italy  and finally the Camposanto known as the ‘Holy Field’ and one of the most beautiful cemeteries in the world. This area is referred to as the Campo dei Miracoli or the Piazza dei Miracoli – The Field of Miracles.