Pisa, more than just a tower.

The Leaning Tower for which Pica is most famous is, without a doubt, spectacular even though it's surprisingly hard to photograph in a way that truly shows the angle.  Tourists flock to it, to take photos of each other standing in front of it, or apparently propping it up.

The Square of Miracles, Piazza dei Miracoli, or the Piazza del Duomo (its original name) is the first thing most people would see in Pisa.  Many are dropped off there by coaches.  The cathedral dominates the square.

The largest baptistery in Italy

The Baptistery is opposite the end of the cathedral.  The Tower isn't the only building in Pisa to lean, they all seem to have their own version of vertical.  At times it's hard to know how to line things up while taking a photo.

On the left is the Monumental Cemetery, the Campo Santo, said to be the most beautiful cemetery in the world.

Tabernacle above the Campo Santo

This was the original doorway, surmounted by a Gothic tabernacle containing the Virgin Mary and four saints.  It dates from the second half of the 14th century.

A panel from one of the bronze cathedral doors, showing where people have touched parts of it: the head of the Virgin Mary, the baby Jesus, and unaccountably, the man on the extreme right.  Or maybe it's not unaccountable.

The Cathedral interior is probably less elaborate than some, but beautiful nevertheless.  Take the time to look carefully and look up, those who say it's a disappointment.

And that is more or less all anyone ever sees of Pisa.  Now, if you want to see all these properly, it will take you hours, all of a day trip which is what the vast majority of people do.  It is such a shame!  There is much, much more to Pisa than the immaculately kept UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Dare to stray a little further into the city and you will find fewer crowds and a thriving, vibrant city with history at every turn.  Its university students keep it lively, it's small enough to be easily to walk everywhere, and it's a voyage of discovery.

Just a few hundred metres, and you come across the church of San Sisto, one of the oldest
churches in Pisa.

Then you arrive at the Piazza dei Cavalieri, the Knights' Square and sometimes also called the Square of the Seven Streets.

One of the seven streets approaching the square.

The highly selective Scuola Normale Superior, part of the university system.

There are more historic and interesting buildings alongside the river Arno where once ships were built.

There are almost too many things to mention in a single blog post.  I would wish that people spent less time propping up the Leaning Tower** and more time exploring the ancient city.

** I am clearly developing into an old curmudgeon.  People were grouped all over the place attempting to produce "propping up the Leaning Tower" shots.  They aren't particularly easy to get right so they had to stay in position for many times longer than usual resulting in a "traffic jam" of photographers.

I've uploaded several more photos, too many to show here, on to Flickr.

An afternoon in Albi

It should have  been a good deal longer than the afternoon, but we chose the same day to travel to Albi as the lorry carrying paper for recycling, the one that caught fire and melted the carriageway of the autoroute we had hoped to use.  The cross country route ate up most of our time.

Albi is in the department of the Tarn, in what used to be the Quercy region of France.  It looks very different from many French cities, being built with Languedoc red brick.  Montauban is similar, though not as attractive, and I believe Toulouse is too.

The town grew around the rather forbidding looking cathedral, built between 1282 and 1480 on the site of earlier religious buildings.  It is the largest buildng made of brick  in the world and was designed to make a statement after the Cathar or Albigensian Crusade.

The wonderful porch and entrance does lead you understand that the interior is going to be completely different from the austere exterior.

Even though I visit so many cathedrals, I am still surprised that they are all so different.  Albi is no exception.  Sadly, but understandably, in order to preserve the beautiful decorations they keep the lighting subdued and don't allow flash photography.  As result my photos are very limited.

After the cathedral, a short walk down to the river.  In fact you can see the cathedral's position in the town better from there, from the bridge, the Pont Vieux or old bridge.

The old bridge dates from 1040 and yet it's still in daily use.  At the time it allowed the far bank to be developed and trade expanded.  At one time, between the 14th and 18th centuries it had houses along its length and a toll gate at the centre.  These were demolished after the enormous flood of 1766 which is marked on one of the buildings beside the bridge.

In 1820 the original stone bridge was clad in brick and widened.  At the time The river Tarn carried a great deal of river trade and the old port bustled with activity.  The bridge remains one of the oldest bridges still in use in France.

The mills of Albi - there were once ten or so of these mills on the banks of the river.  They flourished from the 13th century, finally stopping in 1976.  They have now been refurbished and put to other uses, one was the hotel where we stayed the night.

Next to the cathedral is the bishop's palace, the Palais de la Berbie.  It was finished at the end of the 12th century making it even older than the Palais des Papes in Avignon.  Now it holds the Toulouse-Lautrec Museum which has the most complete collection of his work in the world. 

Nearby is the church of Saint Salvi even older than the Cathedral.  The building was started before the Cathar Crusade.  It is topped by a watchtower added in the 15th century and used by the city as a look out.  The city emblazoned its arms on the tower so the church had an effigy of St Salvi added in an equally prominent place.  Unfortunately the church hasn't been as well preserved as many of the other buildings.

By this time it was getting late and all we could do was admire from outside followed by a quick tour around the town.

Through beautiful streets where old buildings have been put to modern uses, via parks and green spaces enjoyed by all.

This post has been rather longer than intended, but it's a reflection on how much I enjoyed the place.  I found it relatively unspoilt and a pleasant mingling of the old buildings with modern city life.  There was no feeling of being in a museum.

Albi is in the process of being approved as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  I do hope that it won't change the character of the city, even with the expected 30% increase in tourism.