Pisa Off the Beaten Path Tips by filipdebont

If you cross the Arno River via the Ponte Solferino, you can not miss this Santa Maria della Spina.

This beautiful marble chapel is located along the Arno River.

This chapel thanks its name on a relic, a Spine (spina) from Christ's Crown of Thorns.
But nowadays this Spine is not kept in this Chapel but in the Santa Chiara near the Duomo.

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In the past this Chapel was located near the mouth of the Arno River. But due to several floodings the entire Chapel was moved to its present location.

It was built in 1230, and restored several times.

It is really worth to walk around this Chapel in order to admire the very rich Gothic decorations.

It almost looks as they exaggerated, as there are so many pinnacles, canopies and statues on this Chapel.

Anyway it looks just great.

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You can also visit the interior of this beautiful Chapel of Santa Maria della Spina.

Opening hours are from 6.00 till 10.30 and from 15.00 till 18.00 (however this opening times change from time to time).

Entrance fee was 1.50 euro.

The interior looked sober but beautifully.

At first I hoped that I could see the Spine from Christ's Crown of Thorns, which was kept here (said my first guide book), but then afterwards I read in a second guidebook that it is kept in the Santa Chiara near the Duomo.

Nowadays this Chapel is used for temporary expositions.

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The Chapel Santa Maria della Spina which is located near the Arno River is used for temporary expositions.

When I visited this beautiful Chapel there was an exposition of Angelo Barbaro named Ulixes.

In the middle of the Chapel there was a Christ figure walking over a bleu lake, it looked very special.

Anyway this Chapel is a very good location for small expositions.

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This San Paolo a Ripa d'Arno is also located along the River Arno (5 minutes walk from the Santa Maria della Spina).

This is probably the oldest Church in Pisa, built in the 9th century. Later on they built a new front in a typical Pisan-Gothisc style.

It looks as this church was built as a model for the big Duomo at the Piazza dei Miracoli.

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After I had admired the outside of the San Paolo a Ripa d'Arno Church, I decided to go in.

But of course it was Sunday morning, and yes there was a service going on. That way I just entered silently, and stood there for a while in the back of the church, to see the interior of this church, without disturbing the service.
The interior looked very sober.

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If you are visiting the San Paolo a Ripa d'Arno, do not forget to walk around the church, in order to see the Chapel of Saint Agatha.

This small chapel dates from the 11th century (1063) and was built by the monks of the Church of San Paolo a Ripa d'Arno.
This octagonal chapel is made of bricks, and it seems that this original shape comes from Islamic influences. Inside are kept remains of mural decorations from the 12th century. Unfortunately this chapel was not open.

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If you are visiting the San Paolo a Ripa d'Arno Church, do not forget to look at the other side.

Just in front you can see an ancient city gate with remains of the town ramparts. And at the other side of the River Arno you can see the remains of an ancient Citadel, which was built in the 15th century by the Florentines, and the remains of the shipyards were once the Galleys were built (1588).

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As I walked towards the Piazza dei Miracoli, the tourist spot in Pisa, I passed a beautiful garden (Via Roma).

It was the botanical garden of the University of Pisa. This garden is designed by Cosimo de Medici in the 16 century.

However the entrance is not in the Via Roma but in the Via Luca Ghini, nr 5.

Here you also can visit the museum for Mineralogy.

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