Museo dell'Opera del Duomo

Pisa


Closed for extensive (seemingly everlasting) renovation, this museum is a repository for works of art once displayed in the duomo and battistero. Collection highlights include Giovanni Pisano's ivory carving of the Madonna and Child (1299), made for the duomo's high altar, and his mid-13th-century Madonna del colloquio, originally from a gate of the duomo. Possibly even more memorable is the museum's tranquil cloister garden with stunning, crowd-free views of the Leaning Tower.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Pisa attractions

1. Leaning Tower

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One of Italy's signature sights, the Torre Pendente truly lives up to its name, leaning a startling 3.9 degrees off the vertical. The 58m-high tower,…

2. Piazza dei Miracoli

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Pisans claim that Campo dei Miracoli is among the world's most beautiful urban spaces. Its walled lawns provide a photogenic setting for the candy-striped…

3. Duomo

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Pisa's magnificent duomo was begun in 1064 and consecrated in 1118. Its striking tiered exterior, with green-and-cream marble cladding, gives onto a…

4. Museo delle Sinopie

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Home to some fascinating frescoes, this museum safeguards several sinopie (preliminary sketches), drawn by the artists in red earth pigment on the walls…

5. Camposanto

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Soil shipped from Calvary during the Crusades is said to lie within the white walls of this hauntingly beautiful resting place for many prominent Pisans,…

6. Battistero

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Pisa's unusual round baptistry has one dome piled on top of another, each roofed half in lead, half in tiles, and topped by a gilt bronze John the Baptist…

7. Mura di Pisa (Main Entrance)

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8. Orto e Museo Botanico

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