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The
Sant’Antonio quarter covers an important Lungarno
(the part of the city along the river) called Gambacorti,
from the name of an important family that governed Pisa for a long time in
the XIV century, whose
Mansion-house is already along the river (Palazzo
Gambacorti).
One
of the important church in Lungarno Gambacorti is the Church of Santa
Maria della Spina (Church of Saint Mary of the Thorn), its name come from the thorn of the crown of
thorns of Christ that once was preserved there. It is a gem of Pisan
Gothica architecture and there we find a copy of the sculpture of Nino
Pisano Madonna del Latte (the original masterpiece is in the National
Museum of San Matteo).
The
other Lungarno is Sonnino, from the name of an important politician.
Along this site of the river we have the Convento
delle Benedettine (i.e. the nunnery of the Benedictine nuns).
A
beautiful church to see is the church of San
Paolo a Ripa D’arno of the XI century.
Near
the bus station there is another masterpiece the murales of Keith
Haring,
a representation of peace through the
problems of the human and animal life.
There
is also the house of the Rossini
family, where Mazzini stayed for a while under the false name of Mr Brown,
this house has been rebuilt after the bombing rade of 1943 and is now
called the DOMUS MAZZINIANA. Here the works of Mazzini are studied,
and a lot of documents about
him and his life are conserved, frequently also meetings and discussions
about him take place.
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