Camposanto Monumentale (Monumental Cemetery), Pisa (must see)

The Monumental Cemetery stands along the northern side of the Miracles Square and immediately feels more enclosed than the surrounding monuments. As you face the long façade, notice the continuous sequence of typical Gothic elements - pointed arches, stretching across the exterior, creating a steady rhythm that defines the building. This elongated structure surrounds a central lawn, forming a cloistered rectangle designed for reflection.

Its Italian name Campo Santo, meaning “holy field,” comes from the tradition that the cemetery was built using sacred soil brought from Golgotha — the site in Jerusalem associated with Christ’s crucifixion — by Archbishop Ubaldo de’ Lanfranchi, giving the ground its special religious significance. A local legend even claims that bodies buried here would decompose within just 24 hours.

If you enter through the right-hand doorway, you can see a sculpted tabernacle showing the Virgin and Child with four saints. It dates to the second half of the 14th century and is attributed to a follower of Giovanni Pisano, an Italian sculptor, painter, and architect. Its placement above the entrance signals the sacred character of the space beyond.

Step inside and walk beneath the covered corridors that frame the open courtyard. Along the walls stand Roman sarcophagi, reminders that this site also became a place for preserving classical antiquities. Among the notable memorials, the western gallery of the cemetery features a 19th-century commemorative statue dedicated to Italian mathematician Leonardo Fibonacci, inaugurated in 1863 and created by Italian sculptor Giovanni Paganucci. The monument reflects Pisa’s pride in the mathematician whose work had a lasting influence on European mathematics.

The frescoed walls are one of the greatest highlights of the cemetery. Between 1336 and 1341, Italian painter Buonamico Buffalmacco decorated them with powerful scenes such as The Triumph of Death, The Last Judgment, and the Stories of the Hermits, created to remind visitors of the fragility of life. About a century later, painter Benozzo Gozzoli added the colorful Stories of the Old Testament along the north wall, preserving biblical history through vivid and detailed imagery.

Although many of these works were damaged during World War II bombing and fire, restoration efforts have preserved significant sections.

Within the Chapel Aulla, you can find the original lamp associated with Galileo Galilei, the renowned Italian astronomer and physicist. Historical accounts link Galileo’s observations of a similar swinging lamp inside Pisa Cathedral to the early development of his studies on pendulum motion.