It is situated on a very flat coastal plain (Arno Plain) surrounded by Pisani Mountains to the NE, Leghorn and Pisa hills to the S, and the Tyrrhenian Sea to the W. The Arno basi n developed after the Late Tortonian in response to the opening of the Tyrrhenian Sea and the counter-clockwise migration of the Apenninic foredeep-foreland system. The basin fili consists of about 2500 m of upper Miocene to Holocene deposits. The history of Pisa started in the 5th century B.C., as an Etruscan settlement. Afterwards, in the 2nd century B.C. it became Roman when Portus Pisa nus was built. In the Middle Ages it was known as an important commerciai and politica l centre obtaining the status of Mariti me Republic similar to Venice, Genoa and Amalfi . The history of Pisa was strongly influenced by many factors of local landscape. It emerged at the confluence of two large rivers Arno and Auser (a branch of the Serchio), that no longer exists. They used to be a resource for shipping (e.g. coal, construction materials coming from Pisani Mountains, woods) but they involved al so the needs of continuous hydraulic works ( embankments an d an artificial system of channels) to defend the town from floods and avoid wetland formation. The building of a marina (Portus Pisanus) and riverine harbours led Pisa to become an important Marine Republic during Late Middle Ages with commerciai influence o n the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea, Corsica, Sardinia and the Balearic Islands even though siltation and catastrophic events, that occurred during different ages, caused abandonment or destruction of many harbours. The Pisa coastal plain was characterized by wide and numerous wetlands. Different to other surrounding areas, they didn't always result in a sanitary emergency (malaria) or complications for transport and agriculture development but were rather a socio-economie resource (e.g. waterways, fishing, hunting). In any case, a close-knit network of artificial canals was built to partially drain these wetlands in arder to limit their expansion. Foundation problems that have continuously affected Pisa (e.g. "Leaning Tower"} originate from the nature of the subsurface, characterized by a clay layer 7-10m thick, highly plastic (''pancone") at the depth of about 10m from ground level. Although local landscape undoubtedly influenced the history of Pisa, its development was a Iso strongly addressed by socio-economie and socio-political conditions
The influence of landscape and geology on the development of Pisa up to the Middles Ages
SARTI, GIOVANNI;BINI, MONICA
2009-01-01
Abstract
It is situated on a very flat coastal plain (Arno Plain) surrounded by Pisani Mountains to the NE, Leghorn and Pisa hills to the S, and the Tyrrhenian Sea to the W. The Arno basi n developed after the Late Tortonian in response to the opening of the Tyrrhenian Sea and the counter-clockwise migration of the Apenninic foredeep-foreland system. The basin fili consists of about 2500 m of upper Miocene to Holocene deposits. The history of Pisa started in the 5th century B.C., as an Etruscan settlement. Afterwards, in the 2nd century B.C. it became Roman when Portus Pisa nus was built. In the Middle Ages it was known as an important commerciai and politica l centre obtaining the status of Mariti me Republic similar to Venice, Genoa and Amalfi . The history of Pisa was strongly influenced by many factors of local landscape. It emerged at the confluence of two large rivers Arno and Auser (a branch of the Serchio), that no longer exists. They used to be a resource for shipping (e.g. coal, construction materials coming from Pisani Mountains, woods) but they involved al so the needs of continuous hydraulic works ( embankments an d an artificial system of channels) to defend the town from floods and avoid wetland formation. The building of a marina (Portus Pisanus) and riverine harbours led Pisa to become an important Marine Republic during Late Middle Ages with commerciai influence o n the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea, Corsica, Sardinia and the Balearic Islands even though siltation and catastrophic events, that occurred during different ages, caused abandonment or destruction of many harbours. The Pisa coastal plain was characterized by wide and numerous wetlands. Different to other surrounding areas, they didn't always result in a sanitary emergency (malaria) or complications for transport and agriculture development but were rather a socio-economie resource (e.g. waterways, fishing, hunting). In any case, a close-knit network of artificial canals was built to partially drain these wetlands in arder to limit their expansion. Foundation problems that have continuously affected Pisa (e.g. "Leaning Tower"} originate from the nature of the subsurface, characterized by a clay layer 7-10m thick, highly plastic (''pancone") at the depth of about 10m from ground level. Although local landscape undoubtedly influenced the history of Pisa, its development was a Iso strongly addressed by socio-economie and socio-political conditionsI documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
