Pisa, Tuscany, Italy v1.0
Pisa was founded on the Tuscan coast as a Roman colony and naval base in the 2nd century BCE. After the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century, Pisa quickly became the principal urban centre of Early Medieval Tuscany. By the 11th century, the Pisans had become one of the major maritime powers of the Mediterranean, rivalling the republics of Venice and Genoa, and playing an active role in bankrolling and providing logistics services for the Crusades. Pisa’s golden age came tumbling down when it was defeated decisively by the Genoese at the Battle of Meloria in 1284. It also didn’t help that accumulated silt from the Arno River had compromised Pisa’s sea-access by the 14th century. With this loss of maritime advantage, Pisa turned inwards and developed a booming wool and textile industry, and it was in this period that Pisa’s famous duomo and its campanile, colloquially known as the Leaning Tower of Pisa were constructed. However, in 1406 internal factional struggles rendered the Pisans vulnerable to occupation by the Florentines, under which they stayed for most of the next 300 years. It has declined in political and economical importance since. Today, it is a vibrant university town and a tourist hotspot.
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