Lungarni di Pisa

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About Lungarni di Pisa

The lungarni are the avenues that run along the two banks of the Arno River in central Pisa. The river makes a wide curve through the city and the palaces with façades in shades of yellow, ochre and pink form a continuous frontage on each side, one of the most typical scenes of Pisa outside the tower area.

The Ponte di Mezzo, in the middle of that stretch, connects the Piazza Garibaldi, at the end of the Borgo Stretto, with the Logge di Banchi and Corso Italia, the shopping street that continues to the station. On the last Saturday of June the bridge is the stage for the Gioco del Ponte, a historical contest between the two riverbanks.

On the Lungarno Gambacorti, on the south bank, is Santa Maria della Spina, a small Gothic church entirely in marble, covered with pinnacles and statues. It was built in the 14th century to hold a thorn said to be from Christ's crown and, in the 19th century, was dismantled and rebuilt further upstream to escape the river's floods. On the north bank, the Palazzo Blu hosts art exhibitions.

On the night of June 16, the eve of the feast of San Ranieri, the lungarni are lit for the Luminara: thousands of candles placed in wooden frames trace the façades of the palaces along the river.