The ghost of Galileo: Ghostbusters at work in Piazza dei Miracoli!

Even the great Galileo Galilei was Tuscan. He was a Pisan, to be precise, where he studied medicine before devoting himself to science. Among his many discoveries there was the one concerning the 'motion of gravi’, that is the speed of falling objects of different materials. The Pisan scientist disputed Aristotle’s theory and it seems that to find evidence of his theory, he used the tower of Pisa. Legend has it that he dropped spheres of different materials from the top of the tower to show that they all fell at the same speed.

There is no historical evidence of these experiments, but the fact that in 2014 in Pisa ‘proper’ ghostbusters were called upon because of the presence of the great scientist's ghost could be a clue. Various people claim to have seen the ghost wandering around the tower, and some claim he even invited them for an appointment during the Christmas holidays! I know what you are thinking: it’s probably the usual prank by some Tuscan!

But in Pisa they did things seriously and even went through the trouble of calling a professional ghosthunter! Massimo Merendi is president of the National Ghost Uncover based in Riccione and in London, the second largest European group of Ghostbusters, the fourth in the world. Merendi and his faithful assistant wandered around Piazza dei Miracoli with their strange devices. What did they discover? According to them, the ghost revealed itself several times, so the lady from Pisa and the two Florentines who saw him apparently weren’t lying. Difficult not to think of the episode of ‘Amici miei' in which Tognazzi fears the imminent fall of the tower. The idea of the prank remains in the air. Despite the noble ghosthunters revelations, we will still keep the benefit of the doubt.

Do you have the guts and the desire to go under the tower to see for yourself if the ghost of Galileo really is around? It couldn’t be easier! Book one of our tours in Pisa and brace yourselves with lots of patience. Oh, and make sure you let us know if you discover something.