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The name "Square of Miracles” was created by the Italian writer and poet Gabriele d'Annunzio

The Piazza del Duomo ("Cathedral Square") is a wide, walled area at the heart of the city of Pisa, Tuscany, Italy, recognized as one of the main centers for medieval art in the world.

Partly paved and partly grassed, Piazza del Duomo is dominated by four great religious edifices: the Duomo, the Leaning Tower (the cathedral's campanile), the Baptistery and the Camposanto.

In 1987 the whole square was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Piazza del Duomo is otherwise known as Piazza dei Miracoli ("Square of Miracles"). This name was created by the Italian writer and poet Gabriele d'Annunzio. Often people call it Campo dei Miracoli ("Field of Miracles"), but this one is a fictional magical field in the book Pinocchio, where a gold coin seed will grow a money tree.

The heart of the Piazza del Duomo is, obviously, the Duomo, the medieval cathedral, entitled to Santa Maria Assunta, a five-naved cathedral with a three-naved transept.

Construction begun in 1064 by Busketo, a young architect, maybe of oriental origins, that created with this church the Pisan Romanesque style of architecture.

The mosaics of the interior, as well as the pointed arches, show a strong Byzantine influence

The Cathedral has a prominent role in determining the beginning of the Pisan New Year.

Between the tenth century and 1749, when the Tuscan calendar was reformed, Pisa used its own calendar, in which the first day of the year was March 25, which is the day of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary.

The Pisan New Year begins 9 months before the ordinary one. The exact moment is determined by a ray of sun that, through a window on the left side, hit a shelf egg-shaped on the right side, just above the pulpit by Giovanni Pisano. This occurs at noon

The façade, of grey marble and white stone set with discs of coloured marble, was built by a master named Rainaldo

Above the doors there are four rows of open galleries with, on top, statues of Madonna with Child and, on the corners, the Four evangelists

Also in the façade we can find the tomb of Busketo (on the left side) and an inscription about the foundation of the Cathedral and the victorious battle against Saracens.

The massive bronze main doors were made in the workshops of Giambologna, replacing the original doors destroyed in a fire in 1595.

L'antico edificio dell'Ospedale di Santo Spirito (XIII secolo), ora ospita il Museo delle Sinopie. The function of this hospital was to help pilgrims, poor, sick people and abandoned children with a shelter. In the middle part of it, since 1979 is host the Museum of Sinopias where are kept the original drawings of the Camposanto frescoes.

Museo delle Sinopie

Sound: Canto Populare Toscano - Gordginai

Ave María – Joshua Bell

Adestes Fideles - Sister Marie Keyrouz

Pictures: Daniela Iacob

Arangement: Sanda Foişoreanu