Camposanto Monumentale

About this place

The Camposanto Monumentale, also Camposanto Vecchio or simply Campo Santo, is a historical edifice at the northern edge of the Cathedral Square in Pisa, Italy. Campo Santo can be literally translated as "holy field", because it is said to have been built around a shipload of sacred soil from Golgotha, brought to Pisa from the Third Crusade by Ubaldo Lanfranchi, archbishop of Pisa in the 12th century. A legend claims that bodies buried in that ground will rot in just 24 hours. The burial ground lies over the ruins of the old baptistery of Santa Reparata, the church that once stood where the cathedral now stands. As you explore, compare the building itself with its decoration and later additions. Differences in materials, forms and imagery can reveal successive periods of patronage, making the visit a way to understand how religious places evolved over time.