Campo Santo

Campo Santo translated from Italian means “holy field” - this is one of the attractions of Italy, which is located in the north of the Cathedral Square of Pisa. The place has many other names, such as "Camposanto Monumentale", meaning "memorial cemetery", and "Camposanto Vecchio", which translates to "old cemetery". As the legend says, this field was located on the spot where Ubaldo de Lanfranchi, who was the Archbishop of Pisa in the 12th century, threw some sacred earth from Calvary, when he was returning from the 4th Crusade. Before this, instead of Campo Santo, on this site there were the ruins of the ancient annex of the Church of Santa Reparata, located on the territory of the present Duomo.

Construction history

In the entire history of buildings on the cathedral square, this attraction became the 4th in a row. Construction of the cemetery began at the end of the 1280s. Its construction was carried out by the architect Giovanni di Simone. The construction of Campo Santo came to an end only in 1464. There are rumors that they wanted to build the Church of the Holy Trinity instead of the cemetery, but the plans were changed during the work. It is known for sure that construction began from the western part, which is the oldest. The eastern part was the final building.

Features of Campo Santo

There are several frescoes here, which are also popular among tourists. The first frescoes were painted in 1360, and the rest about three centuries later. One of the most ancient frescoes is the “Crucifixion”, located on the southwestern side. Its author was Francesco Traini. The Campo Santo cemetery occupies a large area and consists of about 40 arches and 2 gates. Above the gate located on the right side of the holy field, which was originally the main one, there is a tabernacle in the Gothic style with the image of the Virgin Mary with a baby in her arms and 4 saints. The author of such a work, created in the 14th century, is recognized as Giovanni Pisano.

Historical facts

More than half of the tombs are located under arches, but some are located on the central lawn. Round arches were erected along the edge of the courtyard located inside. The cemetery has 3 chapels. The oldest of them is Ammannati, built in 1630. She was named in memory of Ligo Ammannati, a teacher in the city of Pisa. The second chapel is Aulla. She kept the altar, the author of which in 1518 was Giovanni della Robia. The last one – Dal Pozzo Chapel, built in 1594. Dal Pozzo became the place where things from the cathedral collection were taken. Among them were two parts of the Life-Giving Cross, a small fragment of the Virgin Mary's clothing and a thorn from the Crown of Thorns.

In the mid-20th century, a bomb fell on the holy field, causing a fire to break out. Due to the heat, the lead on the roof began to melt. It flowed down and damaged several sarcophagi, sculptures and frescoes of Campo Santo. When peacetime came, everything that was inside the cemetery took a long time to restore. Today they are trying to move them to their original places in the cemetery.