Pisa Scavenger Hunt and Self-Guided Tour

The route: Tuttomondo, the Arno, the knights' square and the Piazza dei Miracoli

10 stops · about 34 min walking · start: Tuttomondo (Keith Haring) · finish: Baptistery of St John

The hunt starts at the Tuttomondo mural near the station and heads to the river, where Santa Maria della Spina and Palazzo Blu line the Lungarno Gambacorti. You cross the Ponte di Mezzo to Piazza Garibaldi, continue past the Galileo Galilei statue to Piazza dei Cavalieri and Palazzo della Carovana, and end on the Piazza dei Miracoli with the Leaning Tower, the Cathedral and the finish at the Baptistery of St John. Since the riddles read the outside of churches, palaces and the tower itself, nothing on the way costs extra, and anyone coming from the Piazza dei Miracoli end can let the app flip the start and work the route back towards the station.

Open the route map ↗

1. 

   1Tuttomondo (Keith Haring)Start

   The American artist Keith Haring painted this mural in 1989 on the rear wall of the convent of Sant'Antonio Abate, near Pisa Centrale station. Its title means all the world, and 30 interlocking figures celebrate peace and harmony. It was one of his last public works, as Haring died in 1990.

2. 

   2Santa Maria della Spina

   This small Gothic church on the Arno embankment takes its name from a thorn said to come from Christ's crown of thorns, kept here from 1333. Enlarged in the 14th century, it is covered with pinnacles, statues and tabernacles. In 1871 it was taken apart and rebuilt at a higher level to protect it from the river's floods.

3. 

   3Palazzo Blu

   Palazzo Blu stands out on the Lungarno Gambacorti thanks to the blue façade that gives it its name. The building has medieval origins and was later turned into a noble residence. It opened as an exhibition centre in 2008 and hosts art exhibitions and a permanent collection.

4. 

   4Piazza Garibaldi

   Piazza Garibaldi lies at the northern end of the Ponte di Mezzo, the central bridge over the Arno. A statue of Giuseppe Garibaldi, the general of Italian unification, stands in the square. The arcaded Borgo Stretto, Pisa's elegant shopping street, starts right here.

5. 

   5Galileo Galilei Statue

   Galileo Galilei was born in Pisa in 1564 and studied and later taught mathematics at the city's university. This statue honours the scientist who, according to a famous story, dropped balls of different weights from the Leaning Tower to show that they fall at the same speed. In 1610 he discovered four moons of Jupiter with his telescope.

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6. 

   6Piazza dei Cavalieri

   This square was the political centre of medieval Pisa. In the 16th century Cosimo I de' Medici made it the seat of the Order of the Knights of St Stephen, founded in 1561, and Giorgio Vasari redesigned its buildings. In the Palazzo dell'Orologio is the old tower where Count Ugolino starved to death, a story told by Dante in the Inferno.

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7. 

   7Palazzo della Carovana

   Giorgio Vasari remodelled this palace between 1562 and 1564 as the headquarters of the Knights of St Stephen. Its façade is covered in sgraffito decoration with allegorical figures and zodiac signs, and busts of Medici grand dukes. Today it is home to the Scuola Normale Superiore, a university founded in 1810 under Napoleon.

8. 

   8Leaning Tower of Pisa

   The cathedral's bell tower was begun in 1173 and started to lean during construction because of the soft ground beneath it. Building took about two centuries, and the builders tried to correct the tilt by making the upper floors slightly curved. Engineering work between 1990 and 2001 reduced the lean and stabilised the tower, which is about 56 metres tall.

9. 

   9Pisa Cathedral

   Pisa Cathedral was begun in 1063, funded by spoils from a Pisan naval victory over the Saracens near Palermo. Its white and grey marble façade with rows of small arches set the model for the Pisan Romanesque style. Inside is Giovanni Pisano's carved pulpit, and legend says a swinging lamp here inspired Galileo's study of the pendulum.

10. 

    10Baptistery of St JohnFinish

    The Baptistery of St John, begun in 1152 by the architect Diotisalvi, is the largest baptistery in Italy. Its round body combines Romanesque arches below with Gothic decoration above, added in the following centuries. Inside stands Nicola Pisano's pulpit of 1260, and the dome is famous for its echo.