350 Route 51.
PISA.
S. Nicola.
established. — (Opposite to it, on the left bank of the river, is
the Loggia de' Banchi; see below.)
Farther on is the Palazzo Lanfreducci (PL 47), now Uppezinghi,
designed by Cosimo Pagliani, with the fragment of a chain over
the entrance, with the motto 'alia giornata'. It contains a small
collection of pictures (including Guido Rents 'Divine and Earthly
Love') which are offered for sale.
To the N. rises La Sapienza (PL 58; D, 4), or the University,
a large edifice of 1493, extended in 1543, with a handsome Renais¬
sance court. The Library contains 50,000 vols, and several
valuable MSS. (including the famous Statuto di Pisa, or funda¬
mental law of the city).
The University, mentioned in history as early as the 12th cent., and
extended by Cosimo I. in 1542. is now provided with a staff of about 60
professors, and attended by 600 students. The celebrated Galileo was
appointed professor of mathematics here in 1610. — Connected with it are
the Museum of Natural History, founded in 1590, chiefly illustrative of
the ornithology and geology of Tuscany, and the "Botanical Garden (both
in the Via S. Maria, PI. 37; C, 3), one of the oldest in Italy, founded in
1547, remodelled in 1563 by the celebrated Cesalpino, and transferred in
1595 to the present site, which was laid out by Giuseppe Benincasa.
S. Nicola (PI. 11; C, 4), founded about the year 1000 by Count
Hugo of Tuscia as a Benedictine Abbey, has an obliquely placed
Campanile, which contains an admirable winding-staircase ascribed
to Niccolb Pisano. — The Piazza in front of the church is adorned
with a Statue of Ferdinand I., 1595, by a pupil of Giambologna.
On the Left Bank of the Arno is situated —
*S. Maria della Spina (PL 26; C, 5), so called from a fragment
of the veritable 'Crown of Thorns' preserved here, an elegant little
church in the Pisan Gothic style, erected in 1230 by the senate
and the noble families Gualandi and Gattosi, for sailors about to
go to sea. It was enlarged in 1323, and adorned with sculptures by
pupils of Giovanni Pisano and by Nino, the son of Andrea Pisano
(key kept at the opposite house, No. 22). The church has re¬
cently been skilfully restored.
Passing the new Ponte Solferino (p. 343), we proceed towards
the Porta a Mare, at the end of the town, near which rises —
*S. Paolo a Ripa d'Arno (PI. 31 ; B, 6), dating from the 12th
or 13th cent., with a fine facade embellished with three rows of
columns, the finest at Pisa after that of the cathedral. The interior
is adorned with badly-preserved frescoes of 1400.
Near the Ponte di Mezzo (see above, and p. 343; PL D 4) are
situated the Loggia de' Banchi (PI. 39), erected in 1605 by Buon-
talenti, now the corn-exchange, and the handsome Palazzo del
Comune (PL 39; formerly Gambacorti). The latter contains the
newly-arranged Archivio diStato, or the city-archives, which occupy
ten rooms, and comprise 15,994 parchment charters (one granted by
Frederick Barbarossa in 1162, one by Richard Oouir de Lion in 1192
and others of very early date: catalogue kept by the custodian).
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