Celebrations start Sunday 24^th March, the historical centre of Pisa becomes the stage for shows and musical improvisations and able flag-wavers colour city roads with their heralds while musicians announce the New Year in piazza XX Settembre at 6 o’clock. In the evening, like every decent new year’s eve, the end of the year dinner is celebrated with a medieval dinner followed by the «Teatro vagante» (Vagrant theatre).

Monday morning at 11 o’clock celebrations continue with the celebration in the Duomo dell'Annunciazione. Through a circular window placed at the base of the San Ranieri cupola, filters a ray of sun which every year falls in the same spot, exactly on a shelf in stone placed above Giovanni Pisano’s pulpit: it is the sign marking a new year. At this point the historical parade follows of the horsemen of S. Sepolcro along the Pisa roads from the Chiesa di San Giorgio to reach on the Duomo.

The tradition of the Pisa New Year derives from the use of a calendar used in Tuscany in the XII century, then in 1749 the Grand Duke of Tuscany, forced the population of Pisa as well as the Florentine one to adapt to the Gregorian calendar. The calendar used for about 500 years in the city of Pisa marked the beginning of the year the day of the Annunciation, that is exactly 9 months before Christmas day.

March.2002

Municipality of Pisa (In Italian)