• Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Gplus
  • Twitter
Italian Notes
  • HOME
  • PEOPLE & PLACES
    • Abruzzo
    • Basilicata
    • Calabria
    • Campania
    • Emilia-Romagna
    • Friuli-Venezia Giulia
    • Lazio
    • Liguria
    • Lombardia-Lombardy
    • Marche
    • Molise
    • Piemonte-Piedmont
    • Puglia – Apulia
    • Sicilia
    • Toscana-Tuscany
    • Trentino-Alto Adige – Trentino-South Tyrol
    • Umbria
    • Veneto
  • FOOD
    • Antipasti
    • Primi piatti
    • Secondi piatti
    • Dolci
  • PR/ADVERTISING
  • Search
  • Menu

Pisa’s Tiny Church by the River

There’s so much to explore in Pisa apart from the Leaning Tower and the other sights on Piazza dei Miracoli. Take a walk along the Arno, for instance, until you stumble over Pisa’s tiny church by the river.

To me the epitome of Tuscany can be found on a walk along the Arno. The warm sienna, umbra and ochre colours of the houses along the river banks serve as artificial, happiness inducing sunlight, and behind the facades there are museums, convents and curious historical incidents.

A Forgotten Toy Church

While strolling along the Lungarno Mediceo, I was surprised to find the pavement blocked by a tiny church with an extraordinarily rich Gothic ornamentation. The white marble and intricate decorations are completely at odds with the surroundings, it looks as if some giants have been playing around with a toy church and forgotten to take it with them.



Booking.com

As it turns out Santa Maria della Spina hasn’t always been sitting on the pavement. The tiny church was originally erected in 1230 as a prayer hall for sailors directly by the river, but in 1871 it was dismantled and rebuilt on a higher level to protect it from damp and flooding with the high tides. The thorn (Spina) in the name refers to a holy relic from Christ’s crown of thorns brought to Pisa in 1333, but this has later been moved to the Chiesa di Santa Chiara. In other words, there is not a lot to see inside the church, which is nice to know considering that the doors are mostly locked.

Pisas tiny church by the river

The real name of Pisa’s tiny church by the river is Santa Maria della Spina due to the former presence of a holy relic from Christ’s crown of thorns.

Magnificent Exterior

The exterior, however, is magnificent. Santa Maria della Spina is one of the most outstanding Gothic edifices in Europe with numerous sculptures, pediments, turrets and pointed ends. The centerpiece on the western façade is a statue of Madonna with Child attributed to Giovanni Pisano and on the side facing the street it is possible to identify the 13 statues of the Apostles.

Pisa’s tiny church by the river is in many ways as miraculous as the world famous edifices on Piazza dei Miracoli. And there are no tourist queues and weird poses to disturb the admiration of building.

Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Google+
  • Share on Pinterest
  • Share on Reddit
  • Share by Mail
5 replies
  1. Muza-chan
    Muza-chan says:
    August 26, 2015 at 6:32 am

    Beautiful…

    Reply
    • Mette Vaabengaard
      Mette Vaabengaard says:
      August 30, 2015 at 7:30 pm

      Thank you.

      Reply
  2. LivedinItaly
    LivedinItaly says:
    April 13, 2016 at 3:12 am

    Thank you for sharing.

    Reply
    • Mette Vaabengaard
      Mette Vaabengaard says:
      April 14, 2016 at 5:30 pm

      My pleasure:)

      Reply

Trackbacks & Pingbacks

  1. 0324: A Spring Break | artandfossils says:
    March 24, 2016 at 7:24 pm

    […] Santa Maria della Spina, Pisa […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Followon TwitterSubscribeto RSS Feed

Booking

Booking.com

Rental cars

More about food

Antipasti recipes - Italian NotesANTIPASTI RECIPES

Primi Piatti - Italian Notes

PRIMI PIATTI

Secondi piatti - Italian Notes

SECONDI PIATTI

Dolci - Italian Notes

DOLCI

© Copyright - Italian Notes
  • Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Gplus
  • Twitter
Potato and bean salad Potato and bean salad Black rice pancakes with smoked salmon Black rice pancakes with smoked salmon
Scroll to top

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.

OK