The information we have on the origins of Pisa are rather confused.
Someone says it was founded by the Greeks. According to others, it was the Ligurians who laid the first stones. Last but not least, someone says that Pisa, like many other Tuscan towns, was founded by the Etruscans.

This incertitude is probably due to the fact that Pisa stands in a sort of a boundary area.

Due to the finding of about 20 tombs dating back to the Iron Age and of the so-called tomb of the Etruscan prince in the 19th century and in the 1960s respectively, it is now believed that the town was founded by the mysterious people (probably) coming from Lydia, today`s Turkey.

What is certain is that the first settlers established in the area north of today`s historic centre. The above-mentioned tumulus is situated in Gagno, in proximity to the city walls, among the one-or-two-storey villas of this corner of Pisa. Some archaeological digs have revealed the presence of several Roman villas in Pisa, close to Piazza dei Miracoli. In Roman times, the town of the Leaning Tower was indeed and important fortified port and military base.

But with the fall of the Empire, Pisa lost its importance.

Its power and prestige began to increase around the year one thousand, when the town regained the centre of the scene - not only in Italy (for more information about this period read the following chapter of this tourist guide, dedicated to Pisa, ancient Maritime Republic).