Lari Castle – Castello dei Vicari, Lari
To walk up to the Castello dei Vicari, you pass a Medieval gate and carry on along ancient narrow streets. Once you get to the top, the castle’s courtyard will welcome you with spectacular views over the surrounding valley, where on a clear day you can see the sea in the distance. You get a real sense of how this fortress dominated the whole territory at a time where its main purpose was defensive.

Lari was in fact the main Florentine presidio after Florence overcame Pisa in 1406. It became the seat of the Vicari, or governors, Florentine nobles that came to live and rule here in the Arno valley. You’ll see their stone coat of arms in the beautiful courtyard, and you might recognise the the Medici family crest too. Their ‘stemma‘ can be seen all over Florence and other Tuscan towns. It has 6 balls that originally would have been coloured, 5 red and 1 blue one above.

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La Rocca di Vicopisano si trova nell'omonimo comune, nella proprietà di Villa Fehr.
Storia
La prima citazione ufficiale di una fortificazione (castellum/castrum Auseris Sala, poi Auserissola) del borgo di Vicopisano è datata al 975, ma data la sua posizione strategica, a breve distanza da un emissario del Serchio (l'Auser) e dell'Arno, è probabile che l'incastellamento possa risalire almeno al secolo precedente e che sia da far risalire all'iniziativa di una famiglia comitale, gli Obertenghi, che cominciarono a disfarsi dei loro possedimenti in zona alla fine del X sec, cedendo beni e diritti a vari enti ecclesiastici.

Nel 1138 Vicopisano era definitivamente sotto la giurisdizione del vescovo di Pisa e in più occasioni fu bersaglio di tentativi di autonomia da parte dei vicaresi, che dovettero però soccombere al potere ecclesiastico e poi militare di Pisa. Inizialmente limitato alla sommità del colle, il castello dovette poi espandersi per inglobare i due borghi sorti ai suoi piedi (Maggiore e Maccioni nella carte tardo medievali) divenendo così sul finire del Duecento un insediamento di una certa importanza per Pisa, che a partire dalla fine del XII secolo si sostituì al Vescovo pisano nel controllo del castello, che si trovava così legato a doppio filo alle sorti della Repubblica, entrando nelle contese fra guelfi e ghibellini ma anche nelle dispute territoriali fra Pisa, Lucca e successivamente Firenze.

La primitiva rocca è citata nel 1330 ma era posta, a differenza dell'attuale, nella svantaggiosa posizione ai piedi del colle, dove attualmente sorge il Municipio, che ingloba una buona parte delle fortificazioni medievali. Nel 1406 Vicopisano venne assediata dai Fiorentini per otto mesi, finché, il 14 luglio, il castello cadde per fame. Pare che durante l'assedio i fiorentini usarono anche una galera che risalendo l'Arno partecipò al blocco fluviale dei possibili soccorsi: il fiume infatti all'epoca scorreva sotto le mura orientali della fortificazione. La caduta di Vicopisano fu il preludio alla conquista di Pisa, nell'ottobre dello stesso anno.
Conquistato questo importante nodo strategico, che permetteva il controllo di tutto il Valdarno Inferiore fino a San Miniato al Tedesco, Firenze incaricò il più celebre architetto cittadino dell'epoca, Filippo Brunelleschi, di effettuare delle modifiche sulle strutture esistenti. I lavori, iniziati nel 1435, si conclusero nel 1440.

Nel 1495 Pisa e il suo contado si ribellarono ai Fiorentini, scacciando i militari di presidio e resistendo ai tentativi di riconquista fino al 1498: in quella data Vicopisano venne ripresa e, seppure tra vicende alterne, rimase sotto il controllo di Firenze fino all'Unità d'Italia. Persa ormai l'importanza bellica, la rocca venne abbandonata e poi ceduta a privati. Passata alla famiglia Fehr Walser, entrò a far parte del complesso di villa Fehr e venne restaurata dal 1995. Erroneamente denominata "del Brunelleschi", in quanto interamente costruita dal popolo pisano e solo ristrutturata dall'architetto fiesolano, oggi è visitabile a pagamento tramite visite guidate.

Rocca di Vicopisano


La Rocca della Verruca è un'antica e cadente fortificazione eretta dalla Repubblica di Pisa sui Monti Pisani, collocata in una posizione tale da dominare tutta la piana pisana e la valle dell'Arno. 
Storia
La struttura della rocca aveva un'importanza cruciale per la Repubblica Pisana, perennemente in guerra con Firenze. Il castello era il nucleo di un sistema di fortificazioni sparse sul territorio circostante, tra cui possiamo elencare i castelli di Caprona, Vicopisano e Buti. Le comunicazioni tra questi avamposti e la rocca, così come quelle tra la rocca e la città di Pisa, avvenivano con lenzuola, stendardi, fumo, fuochi o colpi di artiglieria attraverso un codice che permetteva di informare repentinamente sui movimenti delle truppe nemiche in avvicinamento. In caso di scarsa visibilità il segnale veniva passato attraverso le varie torri dislocate sui monti pisani: la Torre dello Spuntone, il castellare di Asciano, il castello di Agnano e il castello di San Giuliano.

Teatro di cruente battaglie tra Pisani e Fiorentini, fu ripetutamente roccaforte dei primi quando ormai la città era caduta in mano al nemico. Il sito era già occupato da una fortificazione dal 780, ma la rocca vera e propria fu costruita solo nel XIII secolo, ed è sopravvissuta come struttura militare attiva fino alla definitiva caduta di Pisa nel 1503. Le ultime strutture ad esser costruite, in vista dell'ultimo decisivo scontro con i Fiorentini, furono le quattro torri angolari, due orientali di grossa dimensione e due occidentali più piccole, con feritoie e balestriere.

Nel 1509, tuttavia, la fortezza fu ristrutturata da Antonio da Sangallo a cui vengono attribuiti i due bastioni poligonali e da Luca del Caprina, della bottega del Francione, a cui viene attribuita la grossa torre cilindrica su uno spigolo del perimetro. La fortezza fu in seguito dismessa venendo a mancare la sua posizione di frontiera e quindi la sua utilità difensiva.
Nei primi anni del Novecento venne avviato un progetto per la realizzazione di una croce monumentale, in risposta all'iniziativa di papa Leone XIII di porre il simbolo della cristianità sulle cime più alte d'Italia. La prima pietra venne posata dall'Arcivescovo di Pisa Maffi nel 1904, ma i lavori non proseguirono per il blocco imposto dalla Sovrintendenza ai Beni Culturali, decisa a preservare l'aspetto dell'antica fortezza.

La sera dell'8 settembre 2009 il fianco nord-occidentale del monte è stato interessato da un violento incendio di origine dolosa, estesosi dalla zona di Nicosia di Calci fino a raggiungere Crespignano e Caprona, in basso, e il Lombardone, vicino alla sommità. Il fuoco ha distrutto circa 120 ettari di foresta, lasciando una ferita nel panorama dei Monti Pisani, visibile a chilometri di distanza. Il comune di Calci e la Provincia di Pisa, visti anche gli scarsi finanziamenti da parte della Regione Toscana, hanno deciso di non intervenire con piani di rimboschimento, asserendo che sarà la natura a fare il proprio corso e favorendo quindi la crescita di una vegetazione di tipo mediterraneo, costituita da piccoli arbusti e non più da boschi di leccio o querce.

Dal novembre 2009 la Compagnia di Calci (associazione nata nel 2004 a tutela del territorio e dell'ambiente della Valgraziosa) ha ottenuto, in comodato d'uso dal proprietario dottor Costantino Conforti, la parte della rocca che si trova nel territorio del Comune di Calci. I volontari dell'Associazione si impegnano costantemente in opere di pulizia e messa in sicurezza allo scopo di salvaguardare la Verruca dallo stato di abbandono e al fine di rendere visibili ai numerosi visitatori le parti che la vegetazione col tempo aveva coperto. La vegetazione circostante le mura, composta da lecci, edera, rovi e altri arbusti, sta seriamente minacciando la solidità delle loro fondamenta a causa dell'azione delle radici.

Nel settembre 2018 un violentissimo incendio che ha devastato la parte sud-orientale del Monte Pisano, ha colpito anche la Rocca della Verruca distruggendo praticamente tutta la vegetazione presente.

Rocca della Verruca

Il castello Sonnino si erge su un promontorio a picco sul mare a pochi chilometri dalla città di Livorno, nei pressi della frazione di Quercianella, in località Romito.
Storia
La costruzione del castello risale alla fine dell'Ottocento, quando il barone Sidney Sonnino decise di installarvi la propria residenza. L'area designata era occupata da un fortilizio cinquecentesco, realizzato dai Medici sui resti di una precedente fortificazione d'origine remota e facente parte di un complesso sistema per la difesa della costa (si vedano le voci Torri costiere della provincia di Livorno e Torri costiere del Granducato di Toscana).

I lavori consistettero in un ampliamento ed una elevazione della struttura preesistente, che un tempo, nota come torre San Salvatore, era costituita da una torre quadrata (il nucleo originario) preceduta da uno spalto per il posizionamento dell'artiglieria. Il maniero fu completato con l'aggiunta di una cappella esterna (1895), ancor oggi esistente ed immersa nel rigoglioso parco circostante.

Sonnino, figura di spicco nel panorama politico italiano, era fortemente legato alla sua dimora livornese: uomo burbero e severo, era affascinato dalla rude solitudine e bellezza di quel tratto di costa, che poteva dominare, per ampi tratti, dall'alto del castello. Decise perfino di esservi sepolto e pertanto, alla sua morte (1922), la sua salma fu tumulata in una grotta della scogliera, nei pressi dello stesso fortilizio.

Attualmente il castello è una residenza privata e quindi non accessibile al pubblico, salvo che in occasioni particolari, come nel corso delle "Giornate del FAI" tenutesi nel 2007, quando la proprietà ha aperto la dimora ai livornesi e ai numerosi turisti.

Inoltre il maniero è dotato di un porticciolo privato, dove sorge una piccola torre neomedioevale, capace di ospitare al massimo 10 piccole imbarcazioni e privo di qualsiasi servizio; i fondali sono molto bassi (1 - 1,50 metri).

Architettura
Il castello Sonnino è un edificio in stile neomedioevale: l'intera struttura è percorsa da una fitta teoria di piccole merlature, che, da lontano, fanno assumere alla dimora un aspetto ancora più imponente.

L'interno è semplice ed austero: l'unico elemento di rilievo è una porta lignea finemente intagliata secondo lo stile neogotico. Ancora riconoscibile è la struttura originaria del fortilizio ed in particolare quella dello spalto mediceo, nel quale oggi è ricavato un grande salone di ricevimento.

Anche la cappella esterna richiama lo stile medioevale, con una facciata aperta da una piccola bifora ogivale; la piccola aula interna è a pianta rettangolare, chiusa da un'abside e coperta da una teoria di capriate in legno.

Castello Sonnino

Castiglionalto o Castiglion Ghinibaldi è un castello medievale situato a Castellina Scalo, nel comune di Monteriggioni, in provincia di Siena.
L'edificio, in posizione rialzata su un colle (m 236) da cui si vede Monteriggioni, è circondato da una possente muraglia con bastioni cilindrici angolari, un articolato cortile centrale su cui si affacciano loggiati e i vani scale.

La sua esistenza viene fatta risalire all'XI secolo quando esisteva un castello con corte dei Lambardi, che sorvegliava la vicina via Francigena. Passato ai vescovi di Siena e poi ai monaci di Abbadia a Isola nel corso del XII secolo, fu distrutto dai fiorentini nel 1158 e riedificato nel 1265 con annesso ospedale per i pellegrini da Ghinibaldo dei Saracini, marito della Sapìa citata da Dante (Purgatorio - Canto tredicesimo). Da qui essa avrebbe osservato la sconfitta dei suoi concittadini durante la battaglia di Colle di Val d'Elsa. Saracini aveva diritti signorili sul castello e ne riceveva grandi profitti di mercatura, reinvestiti nell'acquisto di numerosi poderi circostanti. L'edificio oggi si compone di elementi di varie epoche, con una prevalenza dei caratteri quattrocenteschi.

Castiglionalto

Pasquini Castle dominates the town center of Castiglioncello, in the municipality of Rosignano Marittimo, and dates to 1889, when it was built on the request of Baron Lazzaro Patrone on property purchased from Diego Martelli, who was forced to sell his estate because of his disastrous financial condition.

The castle, built to look like Palazzo Vecchio, replaced Diego Martelli’s old estate, made famous by numerous paintings from the Macchiaioli movement, while the farming lands were transformed into a park, designed according to the Romantic style of the era, to decorate and protect the privacy of the new residence.

At the entrance to the avenue, along the perimeter wall, the custodian’s house was built, with a curvilinear plan (the Comma), whose merlons dotting the top of the structure recall the Gothic style of the main building. Inside the park, near the castle, is the basement chapel, with a circular plan and decorated in the Coppedè style.

In 1938, Baron Patrone was forced to sell all his properties, including the castle: the building had other owners until the second half of the 1940s, when it was bought by the Pasquini family, who lent the castle the name it still carries today and who made significant changes, especially, to the park.

Today, the castle belongs to the Municipality of Rosignano and is the seat of the cultural association Armunia, which promotes theatre, dance and cultural activities throughout the territory.
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Pasquini Castle

The Leaning Tower of Pisa  is part of the ensemble of the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta in Pisa . The tower is the bell tower of the cathedral and adjoins its northeast corner. The famous cathedral ensemble in Pisa is a masterpiece of medieval Italian architecture. The tower is known for being strongly inclined.

The height of the tower is 56 meters, diameter - 15 meters, diameter of the foundation 19.6 meters. To the top of the tower are stairs with 294 steps, climbing which to the mountain, you can see the whole area. The world-famous scientist Galileo used the Leaning Tower of Pisa for his experiments . From its top floor, he threw various objects to prove that the rate of fall does not depend on the weight of the falling body.

The creation of the complex began in 1063 , when on the outskirts of the city, on a green lawn, was laid the building of the ensemble of the city cathedral, which included a white marble five-nave cathedral, a bell tower and a baptistery-baptistery. The first builder of the temple was the architect Busketto, probably a native of Greece. This is indicated by both the name of the master and his proposed composition of the cathedral, dating back to the ideas of Byzantine architecture of the V century. After 1118, the construction of the Cathedral of Pisa was continued by Master Rainaldo. He extended the main nave of the building and erected the facades. It is he who designed the main facade of the cathedral in the form of several rows of light, elegant semicircular arcades.. In Tuscany, it was not customary to decorate the facades of churches with sculpture, and Master Rainaldo simply lined the facade with white and black, with a gray-blue tint, stone with marble inlays. Basically, the construction of the Cathedral of Pisa was completed in the 1150s. This relatively fast construction is explained by the fact that the masters did not spend time on the construction of complex stone structures: the ceiling of the central nave is made of wood. Above the portals are colorful mosaic panels. The interior of the cathedral is decorated with a gilded ceiling and numerous marble sculptures.

The construction of the bell tower ("Leaning Tower") was started on August 9, 1173 by masters Wilhelm (Guglielmo) from Innsbruck and Bonanno Pisano. Having built the first floor 11 meters high and two colonnade rings, Bonanno found that the bell tower deviated from the vertical by four centimeters. The master stopped working and disappeared from the city.

From time to time construction work was resumed, and by 1233 only four floors had been built. Only a hundred years after construction began, in 1275, the city authorities found a daredevil who risked continuing the construction of the bell tower.

When the architect Giovanni di Simone resumed work, the deviation of the upper cornice of the tower from the vertical was 50 centimeters. The risk was very high. Therefore, after finishing the fifth colonnade, he stopped working. In 1350, when the deviation from the vertical was already 92 centimeters, the architect Tomaso di Andrea undertook the work. He raised the next floor from the sloping side by 11 centimeters, and the bell tower was "overwhelmed" to the side, opposite the slope. Only then did he place a bell tower with a bronze bell above the eight tiers of the tower. Yes, 164 years later the construction of the tower was finally completed. However, it was shortened by four floors and without a roof. And according to the plan of the first architects, the first floor was to be high, then 10 floors with balconies, the 12th floor - a bell tower, and the campanile was to be crowned by a roof.

Over the next four centuries, seven bells were installed on the tower , the largest weighing more than 3,600 kg. However, by the early twentieth century, the heaviest bells ceased to be used, as it was believed that their movement could potentially impair the stability of the tower.

Reasons for tilt
There are various assumptions that explain the reasons for the tilt of the unfortunate tower. Researchers have suggested that Bonanno may have used pumps to pump water, which was not the case at all. Since he was building a round structure, the pumps were probably in the center of the tower - away from the walls. The pumped water flowed in one direction - in the direction of the Arno River . There are also versions that Bonanno simply saved on the foundation to increase his earnings, or laid part of the foundation on hard ground and part on soft ground.

In 1911, it was recorded that the peak tilts by 1.2 mm per year. In 2006, the top of the tower was deflected 5.3 m from the center.

Since 1990, due to fears that the 14,500-ton tower could collapse at any moment, tourists have been barred from it.

In recent years, many architects have been very concerned that the angle of the tower has become very large and there was a huge risk that one day the tower will simply collapse. That is why a number of measures have been taken recently to keep the tower from falling further. Since 1994, special lead counterweights have kept it from falling. And in 2001, work was completed to prevent the possible fall of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The collapse of a lesser-known falling tower in Pavia in 1989 prompted work , killing four people.

In June 2007, work was completed to reduce the deflection of the tower. An international team of rescuers from the Leaning Tower of Pisa removed 70 tons of soil from the north side of the tower, which led to the turn of the building in this direction. The movement was controlled by 600 tons of lead ballast-counterweight in the tower and a system of metal ropes, which fixed the attraction. The project cost $ 20 million. As a result, the deviation of the top of the tower was reduced by 45 centimeters. Thus the falling tower returned to the position of 1838. Engineers expect the tower to remain stable for the next 200 years.

Leaning Tower of Pisa

Pisa Cathedral (Italian: Cattedrale Metropolitana Primaziale di Santa Maria Assunta; Duomo di Pisa) is a medieval Roman Catholic cathedral dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, in the Piazza dei Miracoli in Pisa, Italy. It is a notable example of Romanesque architecture, in particular the style known as Pisan Romanesque. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Pisa.

Construction on the cathedral began in 1063 (1064 according to the Pisan calendar of the time) by the architect Buscheto, and expenses were paid using the spoils received fighting against the Muslims in Sicily in 1063. It includes various stylistic elements: classical, Lombard-Emilian, Byzantine, and Islamic, drawing upon the international presence of Pisan merchants at that time. In the same year, St. Mark's Basilica began its reconstruction in Venice, evidence of a strong rivalry between the two maritime republics to see which could create the most beautiful and luxurious place of worship.

The church was erected outside Pisa's early medieval walls, to show that Pisa had no fear of being attacked. The chosen area had already been used in the Lombard era as a necropolis and at the beginning of the 11th century a church had been erected here, but never finished, that was to be named Santa Maria. Buscheto's grand new church was initially called Santa Maria Maggiore until it was officially named Santa Maria Assunta.

In 1092 the cathedral was declared a primatial church, archbishop Dagobert having been given the title of Primate by Pope Urban II. The cathedral was consecrated in 1118 by Pope Gelasius II, who belonged to the Caetani family which was powerful both in Pisa and in Rome.

In the early 12th century the cathedral was enlarged under the direction of architect Rainaldo, who increased the length of the nave by adding three bays consistent with the original style of Buscheto, enlarged the transept, and planned a new facade which was completed by workers under the direction of the sculptors Guglielmo and Biduino. The exact date of the work is unclear: according to some, the work was done right after the death of Buscheto about the year 1100, though others say it was done closer to 1140. In any case, work was finished in 1180, as documented by the date written on the bronze knockers made by Bonanno Pisano found on the main door.

The structure's present appearance is the result of numerous restoration campaigns that were carried out in different eras. The first radical interventions occurred after the fire of 1595, following which the roof was replaced and sculptors from the workshop of Giambologna, among whom were Gasparo Mola and Pietro Tacca, created the three bronze doors of the facade. In the early 18th century began the redecoration of the inside walls of the cathedral with large paintings, the "quadroni", depicting stories of the blesseds and saints of Pisa. These works were made by the principal artists of the era, and a group of citizens arranged for the special financing of the project. Successive interventions occurred in the 19th century and included both internal and external modifications; among the latter was the removal of the original facade statues (presently in the cathedral museum) and their replacement with copies.

Other notable interventions include: the dismantling of Giovanni Pisano's pulpit between 1599 and 1601 that only in 1926 was reassembled and returned to the cathedral (with some original pieces missing, including the staircase); and the dismantling of the monument to Henry VII made by Lupo di Francesco that was found in front of the door of San Ranieri and later substituted by a simpler, symbolic version.

The original building plan was a Greek cross with a grand cupola at the crossing, but today the plan is a Latin cross with a central nave flanked by two side aisles on each side, with the apse and transepts having three naves. The inside offers a spatial effect similar to that of the great mosques thanks to the use of raised lancet arches, the alternating layers of black and white marble, and the elliptical dome, inspired by the Moors. The presence of two raised matronea in the nave, with their solid, monolithic columns of granite, is a clear sign of Byzantine influence. Buscheto welcomed Islamic and Armenian influence.

The rich exterior decoration contains multicolored marble, mosaic, and numerous bronze objects from the spoils of war, among which is the griffin which was taken in Palermo in 1061 and later placed on the eastern part of the roof. In the early 19th century the original sculpture, which can now be seen in the cathedral museum, was removed from the roof and replaced with a copy. The high arches show Islamic and southern Italian influence. The blind arches with lozenge shapes recall similar structures in Armenia. The facade of grey and white marble, decorated with colored marble inserts, was built by Master Rainaldo. Above the three doorways are four levels of loggia divided by cornices with marble intarsia, behind which open single, double, and triple windows.

The heavy bronze doors of the facade were made by different Florentine artists in the 17th century. Contrary to what might be thought, from the beginning the faithful entered the cathedral through the door of Saint Rainerius, found in the transept of the same name, which faces the bell tower. This was because the nobles of the city, who approached the cathedral by via Santa Maria, would find themselves precisely at this entrance. This door was cast about 1180 by Bonanno Pisano, and it is the only door not destroyed by the fire of 1595 that heavily damaged the cathedral.

The door of Saint Rainerius is decorated with 24 bronze relief sculptures showing stories of the New Testament. This door is one of the first produced in Italy during the Middle Ages, after the importation of numerous examples from Constantinople (to Amalfi, Salerno, Rome, Montecassino, Venice, etc.), and a completely western sensibility, detached from the Byzantine tradition, can be admired. Above the doors are four open galleries, with, at the top, the Madonna and Child and, in the angles, the four evangelists. The tomb of Buscheto is found to the left of the north door of the facade.

The interior, subdivided at the front into a central nave flanked by two side aisles on either side and with the transept and apse in three naves, is covered with white and black marble, with monolithic grey marble columns having corinthian capitals. It has a wooden 17th-century coffered ceiling, painted and decorated with gold leaf, made by Domenico and Bartolomeo Atticciati; it bears the Medici coat of arms. Presumably the earlier ceiling was a structure with wooden trusses.

The inside of the dome, found where the central nave and the transepts cross, is decorated using a rare painting technique called encaustic and depicts the Virgin in glory with saints by the Pisan artists Orazio and Girolamo Riminaldi (1627-1631). Restoration of the dome began in 2015 and was concluded in 2018.

The granite Corinthian columns between the nave and the apse come from the mosque of Palermo, and are Pisan spoils retained in 1063 after a successful joint attack with the Normans on the Muslims in that city.

The large mosaic in the apse of Christ enthroned between the Virgin and Saint John is famous for the face of Saint John, painted by Cimabue in 1302, which miraculously survived the fire of 1595. This is the last work painted by Cimabue and the only work of his for which we have certified documentation. The work evokes the mosaics of the Byzantine and Norman churches found in Cefalù and Monreale in Sicily. The mosaic, in large part made by Francesco da Pisa, was brought to completion by Vincino da Pistoia with the Madonna on the left side (1320).

Among the medieval works that avoided destruction during the fire of 1595 are the fresco of the Madonna with Child in the triumphal arch by the Pisan artist Maestro di San Torpè, as well as the cosmati pavement, work rarely found outside of Lazio. It was made using inlaid marble to create geometric patterns (mid-12th century). Other fresco fragments from the late medieval period have survived, among which is Saint Jerome on one of the four central pylons, as well as Saint John the Bapstist, a Crucifixion, and Saints Cosmas and Damian on one of the pylons near the entrance, partially hidden by the entry way.

The pulpit, a masterpiece made by Giovanni Pisano (1302-1310), survived the fire but was dismantled during the work of restoration and was not reassembled until 1926. With its intricate architecture and its complex sculptural decoration the work presents one of the most sweeping narratives of the 13th-century imagination which reflects the religious renewal and fervor of the era. On the slightly curved panels are sculpted with an expressive language the episodes of the life of Christ. The structure is polygonal (exactly as seen in the analogous works in the Baptistery of Pisa, in the Siena Cathedral Pulpit, and in the church of Saint Andrew); but this is the first example in a work of this type in which the panels are slightly curved. Other original features include:

the presence of caryatids, sculpted figures in place of simple columns, that symbolize the Virtues;
the use of scrolled 'shelving' in place of arches to support the raised platform;
the sense of movement given by the numerous figures that fill up every empty space.
For these qualities united to the skillful narrative art of the nine scenes the pulpit is generally considered to be a masterpiece, but more broadly it is considered a masterpiece of Italian gothic sculpture. This pulpit substituted the previous one made by Guglielmo (1157-1162) that was sent to the Cagliari Cathedral. Given the lack of documentation prior to its dismantling, the pulpit was placed in a location different from its original spot, and without doubt, its parts are not in their original positions either. It is unknown if the original work possessed a marble staircase.

The church also houses the relics of Saint Rainerius, patron saint of Pisa, and the fragmentary tomb of Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor, who died at Buonconvento while holding Florence, in vain, under siege. The tomb, sculpted by Tino da Camaino between 1313-1315, was also dismantled then reconstructed and today sits in the right transept, while its original position was in the center of the apse as a sign of the city's ghibbeline adherence. Moved several times for political reasons, it eventually was separated into many parts (some inside the church, some on the facade, others in the Camposanto, and yet others in the cathedral museum).

The 27 paintings that cover the galleries behind the main altar, depicting stories of the Old Testament and stories of the life of Christ, were made between the 16th and 17th centuries mostly by Tuscan artists, among whom are Andrea del Sarto (three works: Saint Agnes, Saints Catherine and Margaret, and Saints Peter and John the Baptist) il Sodoma, and Domenico Beccafumi (Stories of Moses and the Evagelists).

Numerous and prestigious are the sacred furnishings of the church, including the bronze crucifix found on the main altar, and the angel candleholders placed at the ends of the rich marble transenna, made by Giambologna, as well as the large ciborium in silver designed by Giovanni Battista Foggini (1678–86) on the altar of the Blessed Sacrament chapel. On the numerous side altars are located 16th and 17th century paintings. Among these works are the Our Lady of Graces with saints, by the Florentine Mannerist Andrea del Sarto, and the Madonna enthroned with saints in the right transept, by Perin del Vaga, a student of Raphael, both finished by Giovanni Antonio Sogliani. In the Baroque style are: the Disputa del Sacramento by the Sienese painter Francesco Vanni, and the Cross with saints by Genoan Giovanni Battista Paggi. Particularly well-loved is the 13th century image of the Madonna col Bambino, also called the Madonna under the organ, attributed to Berlinghiero Berlinghieri of Volterra.

The cathedral, like the leaning bell tower, is sinking perceptibly into the ground, and a few indications of this instability are visible. For example, the difference in the floor levels of the original nave of Buscheto and the bays which were added later by Rainaldo.

The cathedral's original gràdule, constructed by Giovanni Pisano and dating from the late 13th century, were replaced in 1865 by the present parvise. These marble panels, decorated with carved animal figures and faces, were used to create a low wall which was placed close to the outer perimeter of the cathedral and which created an enclosure that provided space for the numerous sarcophagi from the Roman period. During the Middle Ages, these panels were reused for burials of nobles (among them Beatrice of Lorraine) and other well known persons. Some fragments are still visible in the cathedral museum, while the sarcophagi were all moved inside the fence of the Camposanto.