The cathedral of Pisa stands in Latin cross plan, 100 m. long and 72 m. wide (between the ends of the transepts), and 51.36 m. high (top of the cupola). It reminds us of how glorious was Pisa at its highth as sea merchant city-state. Its style influenced the construction in various areas including Tuscany, Sardegna, Corsica, Puglia and Dalmatia.
The construction started in 1063 to commemorate Pisa's victory over the Saracens (Arabs) at the naval battle near Palermo. Before it, here stood the church of Santa Reparata (highly regarded saint in Tuscany). The building was started by the local architect Buscheto di Giovanni Giudice. The church was dedicated on 29 September 1118 by the pope Gelasius II to St. Mary (Santa Maria Assunta).
The first cathedral was much smaller than the present one, with Greek cross plan, without the cupola. If you take a look at the side, you can observe that the first five arches from the façade have different colour. This is the part added in a later phase. When this enlargement was made is controversial. According to one hypothesis, it was done Buscheto himself, and according to another, it was between 1120 and 1125. The façade was completed by an architect called Rainaldo at the end of the 12th century.
On 25 October 1595, the interior was heavily damaged by a big fire. The restoration work started under the patronage of the Medici family, by a series of architect from Raffaele di Pagno, Antonio Lupicini, Giovanni Caccini, and Alessandro Pieroni.
The façade is facing toward the West, 34.20m. high, and 35.40m. wide. The lower part is decorated by half columns and arches in Byzantine style, and below each arches are decorated by Armenian style rosanges. The upper part are composed by four porticos with slim and elegant columns.
At the top of façade are three statues; at the centre is Saint Mary with the Infant attributed to Andrea Pisano.
The bronze doors on the façade were made in the beginnings of the 17th century by the school of Giambologna. The reliefs on the central doors depict the life of Mary, and two sets of side doors narrate the life of Christ. The lunette above the doors are decorated by mosaics: they were all made in 1829 by Gioseppe Modena from Lucca, based on the design of Antonio Marini from Prato (for the centre and left ones) and of Alessio Baldovinetti (right one).
On the façade, under the right most arch, you can see the funerary inscription of the first architect, Buscheto.
The building went through large scale restauration works during the 19th century.
