Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, piazza del Duomo

Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta (Opera Primaziale pisana)

The Pisan New Year: inside the Cathedral, near the string course above Giovanni Pisano's Pergamum, there is a shelf supported by a ovum: on 25 March, at 12 noon, it is hit by a ray of sunshine that enters from a small window on the southern transept. This event determines the passage from the old to the new year in Pisan style, i.e. respecting the ancient ab incarnatione calendar, which calculates the days of the year starting from the day of the Annunciation of the Virgin and the ancient Equinox. Therefore, Pisa enters the new year 9 months early. This custom, today celebrated with great fervour, is documented at least since the 10th century and was abolished in 1749 by Grand Duke Francesco Stefano di Lorena, as it created many confusions in public documents.

The legends:

The devil's nails: according to a legend, the devil noticed the majestic Cathedral and tried to destroy it, but he did not succeed and all that remains today of that attempt, engraved on a block of bare marble on the northern side of the church (5 arches from the façade towards the transept), are its claws: counting the row of small holes several times, the result obtained is never the same. Another version argues that achieving the same result leads to death.
The lizards of the students: according to a legend, by touching the two bronze lizards, placed between the leaves of the main portal of the façade, on the left, more or less at one meter and twenty in height, the students succeed in passing the exams.
The column of women: again on the façade, on the second level of walkable loggias, on the right, there is a red porphyry column, which when observed gives the guarantee to all women to be protected from the betrayal of their partner for at least 24 hours.