Campo santo

The Camposanto Monumentale is a Gothic marble cloister-cemetery begun in 1277, occupying the northern edge of Pisa's Piazza dei Miracoli. According to tradition, Archbishop Ubaldo de' Lanfranchi returned from the Third Crusade with shiploads of sacred soil from Golgotha, which was laid as the foundation of the cemetery — a claim that drew pilgrims throughout the Middle Ages. By the 14th and 15th centuries, spectacular fresco cycles covered the interior walls, including the vivid Triumph of Death; much of this was destroyed in 1944 when Allied incendiary bombs ignited the roof, melting the lead and destroying most of the painted surfaces. The sinopie — the underdrawings revealed by the fire — are now housed in a dedicated museum next door. Today the covered marble arcade, lined with ancient Roman sarcophagi, offers a rare pocket of quiet contemplation just steps from the busiest corner of the Piazza dei Miracoli.