Overview
The Piazza del Duomo — popularly the Piazza dei Miracoli ("Field of Miracles") — occupies the northwest edge of historic Pisa, Tuscany, Italy. The cathedral (Duomo di Pisa), begun in 1063 after a naval victory at Palermo, displays Pisan Romanesque architecture with Byzantine and Islamic influences in its bronze doors and granite columns spolia. The freestanding baptistery (1152–1363) is the largest in Italy; the camposanto (monumental cemetery) retains medieval fresco cycles damaged in 1944.
The campanile — the Leaning Tower of Pisa — began in 1173 and started tilting during construction due to soft subsoil on the south side. Work paused and resumed over centuries; the 8-storey white marble cylinder reaches about 56 metres at a roughly 4-degree lean (reduced after 1990s–2000s stabilisation). Galileo's legendary gravity experiments are apocryphal but cement the tower in scientific folklore.
UNESCO inscribed the Piazza del Duomo in 1987. The ensemble draws millions of visitors annually and anchors Pisa's identity alongside its former maritime republic history.