Larger-than-lifesize sailors furl the sails of two small vessels nearing a tower probably representing the Portus Pisanus, a seaport that, before it silted up, turned Pisa, Tuscany, Italy, into a maritime republic rivalling Genoa, Amalfi and Venice. Romanesque 12th century marble sculpture on the Leaning Tower, Pisa Cathedral’s tilted Torre Pendente campanile or bell tower.
Pisa, Tuscany, Italy: small sailing ships sculpted in the 12th century by the entrance to the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Torre Pendente campanile or bell tower on the Piazza dei Miracoli, are typical of the naval vessels that helped to turn the city into a wealthy maritime republic rivalling Genoa, Amalfi and Venice. The Pisan navy earned the city considerable wealth, power and prestige before it was defeated by Genoa in 1284 and its harbour began to silt up. This artwork, typical of the Pisan Romanesque artistic style, shows larger-than-life sailors furling the sails of two ships as they approach a tower that probably represents Pisa’s original seaport, the Portus Pisanus. The harbour, founded around 200 BC, was built in a lagoon connected to the Ligurian Sea, but protected from its storms. The Portus Pisanus flourished throughout Roman and medieval times, but by 1000 AD, the shifting coastline was already affecting its access. By 1500, the lagoon had all but turned into a lake cut off from the sea and ships used the new seaport of Livorno instead. The precise location of the Portus Pisanus remained unclear until the modern era, when scientists used both biological and geological modelling techniques to recreate relative sea levels over thousands of years and assess their impact on the forces that shaped the harbour basin. They found that the same natural process that formed a navigable lagoon also led to the harbour becoming unusable.
Size: 3872px × 2592px
Location: Leaning Tower of Pisa / Torre Pendente, Piazza dei Miracoli, Pisa, Tuscany, Italy
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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