Pisa Baptistery, Battistero di San Giovanni, shares grounds with Pisa Duomo, where the Leaning Tower is located. It took more than two centuries to complete. This amazing marble Baptistery is the largest one in the whole of Italy, and dates back to the 12th century. Pay your visit in the early morning to experience the amazing acoustics without the hum of the crowd. The Cathedral is an incredible work of art with more than a thousand years of history, and its design influenced many other buildings in the whole country.

Travellers who enjoy going slightly off the beaten track should not miss the Museum of Human Anatomy in Pisa. First opened in 1832, the museum collected thousands of pieces of highly accurate anatomical models made for educational-scientific purposes. Certainly an unusual and macabre attraction. A section of the museum is dedicated to anatomical paintings by Giovanni Paolo Mascagni, who was famed for his mind-blowingly intricate and accurate colour illustrations. Another section contains archaeological finds, such as funerary objects from pre-Columbian civilisations, with fabrics, vases and various utensils, mummies and sarcophagi.

Down from the Old Town by the riverbanks is the evocative Ostrov Slyoz, or “Island of Tears”. This is a memorial to Belarusians who lost their lives in battle, but particularly in remembrance of those that died in the Soviet Union’s war in Afghanistan in the 1980’s.