Try and imagine the scene...

Seventy thousand small lamps - in Pisan dialect they are called lampanini - on the façades of the churches, palaces, towers and villas of Pisa along the banks of the River Arno, the street lighting is suddenly switched off and... the reflection in the water gives you the illusion of seeing two towns.

The so-called Luminara di San Ranieri is held every year on the night of June 16th and attracts many tourists to the town.

The legend goes that just before turning 20 Ranieri Scacceri, the son of a rich Pisan merchant, decided to relinquish wealth and live in poverty. Back in Pisa from a journey to the Holy Land, he retired in the monastery of San Vito, where he lived until his death, on June 17th 1161. When he died, all the bells in Pisa began mysteriously to ring by themselves. San Ranieri was made the patron saint of Pisa in 1284, following the debacle of the Pisan fleet in the battle of Meloria.

The spectacular Luminara is not the only homage Pisa pays to San Ranieri.

On the following day the town quarters vie with each other in the Palio (for more information on this regatta read the following chapter of this tourist guide).

If you do not want to miss these two spectacular and amusing events, we suggest you not to stay just one night in the town and to look for a holiday villa in Pisa and its surroundings among the many ads for holiday rentals in Tuscany.