Pisa Beyond the Leaning Tower: What to See When You Stay Longer

Most visitors to Pisa follow the same route: arrive at Pisa Centrale, walk 15 minutes to the Piazza dei Miracoli, photograph the tower, queue for the climb, photograph the tower from different angles, and leave. This is defensible. The tower is extraordinary. But Pisa is also a city of 90,000 people, home to one of Italy’s oldest and most prestigious universities (founded 1343), and the parts of the city beyond the tower district are significantly less photographed and in some respects more interesting. Guided walking tours of Pisa that cover the Camposanto, the Lungarni, and the Tuttomondo mural - not just the tower - are available and well worth considering for a fuller picture of the city.

The Camposanto Monumentale

Still within the Piazza dei Miracoli complex, but the least-visited of the four monuments. The Camposanto (“Holy Field”) is a Gothic cloister built around a long rectangular courtyard, begun in 1278. According to tradition, the soil in the courtyard was brought from Calvary by Archbishop Ubaldo de’ Lanfranchi after the Third Crusade - hence the name.

The cloister originally displayed the most significant cycle of 14th-century frescoes in Italy, painted by Buonamico Buffalmacco and Francesco Traini. The most famous, the Triumph of Death, is an extraordinary allegory painted around 1336–1341: a hunting party encounters three open coffins containing decomposing bodies, watched over by a hermit holding a scroll reading “neither learning nor treasure, nobility nor power, can protect against death.” Above, a winged figure of Death cuts down people indiscriminately with a scythe.

On 27 July 1944, a US incendiary shell hit the Camposanto. The lead roof melted and ran across the fresco surfaces, destroying approximately 95% of the original paintings. The surviving fragments - the Triumph of Death, a Last Judgement, an Inferno, and a series of Old Testament scenes by Buffalmacco - are displayed inside on huge panels. They are haunting precisely because of their damage.

Across the Piazza dei Miracoli in the Sinopie Museum (also covered by the OPA combo ticket): the sinopie, the preliminary drawings made in red pigment on the wall plaster before the finished frescoes were applied. The fact that these survived the 1944 bombing gives the Sinopie Museum an unexpected importance - they are the only complete visual record of what the finished cycle looked like.

Camposanto entry: approximately EUR 5 as of 2026, or included in the 2-monument or 4-monument OPA combo ticket.

Tuttomondo: Keith Haring’s last mural

In June 1989, the American artist Keith Haring came to Pisa at the invitation of the local arts community. Over 11 days on scaffolding, he painted Tuttomondo (“All the World”) on the exterior south wall of the church of Sant’Antonio Abate, on Via Pasquale Paoli.

The mural covers approximately 180 square metres. Thirty figures in Haring’s characteristic thick-outline style interlock in a pattern representing the interconnection of all humanity. The figures include people, animals, a double-headed dog, and a snake coiling through the composition. Haring specified that the mural should have no religious or political meaning; it is an optimistic secular vision.

Three months after completing the mural, Haring died of AIDS-related complications in February 1990. Tuttomondo was one of his last major public works.

The mural is on the south side of the church - easy to miss because there is no gate or entrance fee and it sits on a secondary street. Walk east from Piazza dei Miracoli along Via San Francesco and turn right onto Via Pasquale Paoli. It takes approximately 10 minutes from the tower. The mural has been restored twice since 1989 and the colours remain vivid. Go in the morning or late afternoon when the sun does not hit the wall directly.

Orto Botanico di Pisa

One of the world’s oldest surviving botanical gardens, established in 1544 by Luca Ghini at the order of Cosimo I de’ Medici. It predates the Leiden Botanical Garden (1590) and the Oxford Physic Garden (1621). Originally intended for the study of medicinal plants and herbs, it now holds approximately 3,000 species across a relatively compact site near the centre of Pisa.

It is not a grand garden in the manner of the Boboli (Florence) or the Orto Botanico di Padova (also a UNESCO World Heritage Site). It is a working university garden - green, quiet, frequently visited by students, and largely ignored by tourists. There is a small museum inside with historical botanical equipment and a collection of dried specimens (herbarium) going back to the 16th century.

Entry: approximately EUR 4 for adults as of 2026. Open Monday to Saturday 9am–6pm (winter hours shorter - check orti.unipi.it). Located on Via Luca Ghini, roughly 10 minutes’ walk from the Piazza dei Miracoli.

The Lungarni: walking along the Arno

The lungarni are the embankments on either side of the Arno as it passes through Pisa. This is where the city actually lives. The north bank - Lungarno Mediceo - is the more elegant side, with the Palazzo Toscanelli (where Byron stayed in 1821–1822) and the Museo Nazionale di San Matteo, which contains the finest collection of Pisan medieval sculpture and painting you will find anywhere, including works by Nicola Pisano, Giovanni Pisano, and Simone Martini. Entry approximately EUR 4 as of 2026.

The south bank - Lungarno Gambacorti - has a string of bars and cafes that face the river. This is where university students and Pisans eat and drink in the evening. The aperitivo hour (roughly 6–8pm) here is significantly more local in character than anything near the Piazza dei Miracoli.

Walking the Lungarni from the Ponte della Cittadella (southernmost bridge) to the Ponte Solferino (northernmost, beyond the historic centre) takes about 25 minutes at a stroll and gives a complete picture of how the city functions away from the tourist circuit.

Lunch or dinner near the Lungarni:

• Osteria dei Cavalieri (Via San Frediano, 16) - one of Pisa’s most reliable mid-range trattorias, near Piazza dei Cavalieri. Seasonal menu, strong on pasta and secondi. Approximately EUR 18–25 per person as of 2026. Closed Sundays.
• Trattoria Il Campano (Via Cavalca, 19) - traditional Pisan cooking (trippa, cecina, ribollita). Lunch from approximately EUR 15. No reservations, arrive early.
• Enoteca Latini (Lungarno Gambacorti) - good wine list, cheese plates, bruschetta. Good option for a lighter evening meal on the riverside.

The city walls

Pisa’s medieval walls are not especially well-known outside Italy, but they are some of the best-preserved in Tuscany. The circuit was largely completed in the 13th and 14th centuries and runs for approximately 5 kilometres around the historic centre. Several sections are accessible for walking along the top - the stretch between the Porta Nuova and the Porta Lucca on the northern side is in the best condition and offers elevated views over the university district and the Piazza dei Miracoli from a different angle.

Access is free. There are entry points at several of the historic gates. Not every section is open or well-maintained - the southern wall bordering the Arno is the most accessible, the northern sections require a bit more navigation.

A half-day itinerary beyond the tower

If you have already done the Piazza dei Miracoli in the morning, here is a suggested afternoon:

12pm–1pm: Lunch near Piazza dei Cavalieri (Osteria dei Cavalieri or Trattoria Il Campano)

1pm–2pm: Camposanto and Sinopie Museum (if not visited in the morning)

2pm–2:30pm: Walk to Tuttomondo mural via Via San Francesco

2:30pm–3:30pm: Orto Botanico di Pisa

3:30pm–5pm: Lungarni walk north bank (Lungarno Mediceo) - optional stop at Museo Nazionale di San Matteo

5pm: Aperitivo on the south bank (Lungarno Gambacorti)

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For the basics - tower tickets and Piazza dei Miracoli logistics - see our Leaning Tower tickets guide. For day trips to Florence, Lucca, and Cinque Terre, see day trips from Pisa. Our Pisa food guide covers cecina, schiaccia, and where to eat across the city.