PISA, a city of Italy, in the grand dutchy of Tuscany, is situated in a fertile plain, on the river Arno, about five miles from the sea. This river flows through the town, dividing it into two nearly equal parts that are connected by three bridges, one of which is of white marble. The town is between six and seven miles in circumference, and is surrounded with a wall and ditch, and fortified with a castle and modern citadel. But, like many of the cities of Italy, the population bears no proportion to the space within the walls, so that it has a solitary and deserted ap pearance. The number of inhabitants, which, at one pe riod, amounted to 140,000, does not now exceed 17,000. The streets are broad and well paved ; the houses are in general lofty, and, though they are chiefly ancient, appear remarkably fair and new. The principal street is the Lungarns, which extends along both sides of the Arno from one extremity of the town to the other, and is com posed of elegant houses and several noble palaces ; some of which were built by Michael Angelo. The public buildings are on a magnificent scale, and many of them built entirely of marble. The dtical palace and the ex change are both splendid edifices ; several of the churches are elegant, and enriched with fine paintings. But the great boast of Pisa is the cathedral, with its baptistry, bel fry, and campo santo, forming, perhaps, the finest group of buildiugs to be found in Italy. These edifices are all detached, and occupy a considerable space ; they are all of the same era, viz. the 12th century ; all built of the same marble ; and varities of the same architecture, being that railed, by the Italians, Gotico Moresco. The plan and elevation of the Lathcdral arc basilica! ; the roof is supported by noble pillars of oriental granite. The inte rior is adorned with statues and fine paintings ; and the doors, which are of bronze, are much admired for their rich sculpture. The baptistery is a large rotunda, finely carved, and embellished with columns and arcades. The campo santo, or burial ground, is an oblong enclosure, surrounded with corridors filled with various Grecian and Roman sarcophagi, basso relievos, busts, &c. many of which are of great beauty. The belfry, or celebrated leaning tower of Pisa, is of a cylindrical form, and con sists of eight circles of columns, all supporting arches, which are smaller and more numerous as you ascend. It is about 180 feet in height, and is extremely graceful in its proportions ; but it is chiefly remarkable for an incli nation of more than fourteen feet from the perpendicular. It has occasioned much discussion, whether this striking phenomenon has been owing to accident or design. The most probable account seems to be, that the foundation ground gave way before the edifice was finished, and that the architect completed his work in the direction thus accidentally given to it. The university of Pisa was one
of the first established in Italy, and long maintained a high reputation ; but after the subjugation of Pisa to Florence it gradually declined, and, though partially restored by Lorenzo de Medici, it has never recovered its former fame. It consists of three colleges, and possesses an ex tensive library, a botanical garden, a cabinet of natural history, and an observatory. It is resorted to by the greatest part of the Tuscan youth. There is also a pub lic hospital, which is calculated for the reception of 300 patients. The trade of Pisa is very limited, and there are but few manufactures. The climate is extremely mild and bland, and attracts great numbers of invalids ; winter is the finest season, and is fully as mild as spring. The town is supplied with water by a long aqueduct, which is carried as far as Leghorn, and consists of 1000 arches. The hot baths of Pisa were formerly more frequented than at present : they are about four miles from the city, and occupy 100 houses, situated at the foot of calcareous mountain.
Pisa, according to Strabo, was founded by a colony of Arcadians from the Grecian town of that name in the Pe loponnesus, and Virgil assigns to it the same origin, In the year of Rome 572, it was colonized by the Ro mans, and at a later period it became a municipal town.
i On the decline of the Roman empire Pisa shared in the common sufferings ; after being long subject to foreign or domestic tyrants, it, in the 10th century, asserted its and assumed a republican form of government. During the following century it attained the highest pitch of power and opulence, and even rivalled Venice and Ge noa in commercial greatness. Together with these states it furnished transports to the armies of the crusaders, and contracted with them for military stores and provisions, by which means it acquired immense sums ; while, at the same time, it obtained a large share of the commerce which had been engrossed by Constantinople and the other ports in the cast of the Mediterranean. About this pe riod, Pisa subdued Carthage and took the king prisoner, Corsica and Sardinia were subject to it, and its fleets rode triumphant on the Mediterranean. This state of prospe rity continued till the end of the 13th century, when it received a fatal blow from the victories of the Genoese. The usurpations of domestic tyrants next broke the spirit of its citizens, and paved the way for its subjugation to Florence, which took place in 1406 ; and since that time it has been gradually on the decline. Pisa is the see of an archbishop. North lat. 43° 43' 11" ; east long. 10° 24'.