This page of our tourist guide to Pisa is dedicated to the last (but certainly not the least important) of the masterpieces that stand in Piazza dei Miracoli.

The Monumental Cemetary was built between 1277 and 1278.

According to popular tales, the soil of the central courtyard comes from the Golgotha, the hill situated just outside Jerusalem where the Roman soldiers crucified Jesus. It is said that it was the crusaders who brought the soil back to Pisa during the 13th century - hence the name "camposanto" (Italian word for cemetery, which means "holy field").

In the past, the walls of the cemetery were decorated with more than 2,000 square metres of frescoes by Buonamico Buffalmacco and Stefano da Firenze, Spinello Aretino and Benozzo Gozzoli, and many other artists.

Unfortunately World War II bombings severely damaged the frescoes, so that today only a few of them are visible to tourists.

However, if you want to have a clear idea of the incredible scene the Pisans saw once they entered the door of the Monumental Cemetery you can visit the nearby Museo delle Sinopie. The museum houses the preparatory sketches of the various frescoes and a representation of the evolution of the Monumental Cemetery in the course of the centuries.

So, if you are spending some weeks in the Grand Duchy, and whether you have rented one of the many holiday houses scattered in Tuscany or you have chosen a villa in Pisa plan a tour of Piazza dei Miracoli and a visit to the Leaning Tower, the Cathedral, the Baptistery and the Monumental Cemetery.