Camposanto Monumentale di Pisa

Camposanto Monumentale
The Campo Santo
Map
Details
Established12th century
Location
CountryItaly
Coordinates43°43′26″N 10°23′42″E / 43.724°N 10.395°E / 43.724; 10.395
Size?
No. of graves?
Find a GraveCamposanto Monumentale
Part ofPiazza del Duomo, Pisa
CriteriaCultural: (i), (ii), (iv), (vi)
Reference395bis
Inscription1987 (11th Session)
Extensions2007

The Campo Santo, also known as Camposanto Monumentale ("monumental cemetery") or Camposanto Vecchio ("old cemetery"), is a historical edifice at the northern edge of the Cathedral Square in Pisa, Italy.

"Campo Santo" can be literally translated as "holy field", because it is said to have been built around a shipload of sacred soil from Golgotha, brought back to Pisa from the Third Crusade by Ubaldo Lanfranchi, archbishop of Pisa in the 12th century. A legend claims that bodies buried in that ground will rot in just 24 hours. The burial ground lies over the ruins of the old baptistery of the church of Santa Reparata, the church that once stood where the cathedral now stands.

The term "monumental" serves to differentiate it from the later-established urban cemetery in Pisa.