Pisa used to be an immensely powerful Maritime Republic and this ‘other’ New Year celebration is very much part of that history. Today Pisa may lie a few kilometres inland, but it was once a port, as was demonstrated by one of Italy’s most incredible archaelogical finds of recent years, an amazing collection of buried ships, all preserved to a remarkable degree – see here for a Newsweek article, and here for the official site of the ongoing dig. It is hoped that a museum will be open by 2015.
Pisans see out the old year with traditional celebrations on the night of the 24th, and on the 25th March it’s all eyes on a small spot on the wall inside the splendid cathedral (of which the famous Leaning Tower is the belltower, belfry, campanile). There is a small, round window, high up in the cathedral, that is so placed as to let in, precisely at midday on the 25th of March, a ray of light that always falls on a specific spot, a small marble egg on a shelf near the pulpit.
Below is a video showing the 2009 celebrations featuring the sunbeam hitting the spot and the locals wishing each other a ‘Buon Anno’, a Happy New Year that will be filled with good things because of the luck bought by the sunbeam: