Camposanto Monumentale
Camposanto Monumentale is one of the narrated stops on the self-guided Pisa audio walking tour in Gingerguide. Plan about ~60 min here. Press play at the spot for its two to three minute story, or ask the AI guide anything about it.
- Type historic
- Suggested visit ~60 min
- Pisa Pisa guide
About Camposanto Monumentale
A magnificent medieval cemetery begun in 1277, its cloistered galleries once covered in extraordinary 14th-century frescoes, many destroyed by a WWII incendiary bomb, containing Roman sarcophagi and the famous Triumph of Death.
The Camposanto Monumentale, Holy Field, is a great rectangular marble-walled cemetery enclosure begun in 1277 on the north side of the Cathedral. According to tradition, it was built to house a ship-load of sacred earth brought back from Golgotha by the Archbishop of Pisa during a Crusade, soil in which, it was said, bodies would decay to bones in just twenty-four hours.
The cloistered rectangular galleries were once covered with one of the most important cycles of medieval fresco painting in Italy, including the terrifying Triumph of Death and the Last Judgment, painted in the mid-fourteenth century, possibly by Buonamico Buffalmacco, and the Story of the Anchorites. On 27 July 1944, an Allied incendiary bomb hit the roof, which melted and destroyed much of the fresco cycle. The remaining sinopie (preliminary sketches) are displayed in the adjacent Museo delle Sinopie. The building also houses an extraordinary collection of ancient Roman and Greek sarcophagi.
Did you know? The Camposanto was allegedly built around earth brought by ship from Golgotha (Calvary) by the Archbishop of Pisa, holy soil in which, according to tradition, a body would decay to bones in just 24 hours.
How long should you spend at Camposanto Monumentale?
Plan about ~60 min at Camposanto Monumentale. That is enough to take it in and hear its narrated story; stay longer if it grabs you. The tour is self-guided, so there is no rush.
Is Camposanto Monumentale worth visiting?
Camposanto Monumentale is one of the 18 sights the Gingerguide team researched and narrated in Pisa, so it earns a place on a self-guided walk. Its story explains why it matters, and you can ask the AI guide anything the story leaves open.
Nearby stops in Pisa
Hear the story of Camposanto Monumentale
Preview the Pisa tour free in the Gingerguide app.