Pisa Cathedral complex

Timeline

1. 1063–1118Piazza del Duomo, Pisa · TuscanyAfter the Pisan fleet won victories in Sicily and elsewhere, construction of the new cathedral began in 1063; architects such as Buscheto adopted a Latin cross plan with double arcades. The work continued for half a century, making the cathedral a visual manifesto of the republic's wealth and Mediterranean cultural exchange.
2. 1118Piazza del Duomo, Pisa · TuscanyIn 1118 Pope Gelasius II presided over the dedication of the cathedral, marking the main space's entry into diocesan liturgical use. The dedication did not mean all decoration was complete, but from then on the cathedral served as the center of Pisan civic ceremony and the maritime republic's self-presentation.
3. 1152Piazza del Duomo, Pisa · TuscanyIn the mid-12th century Diotisalvi began building the circular baptistery, and from 1173 the campanile was erected (later becoming the Leaning Tower due to foundation settlement). The complex formed a complete liturgical ensemble of cathedral–baptistery–campanile on the square, and in modern times became one of the world's best-known Romanesque urban landscapes.