Pisa - Santa Maria della Spina

The Church of Santa Maria della Spina, on the left bank of the Arno to the west of the Palazzo Gambacorti, is perhaps the best known of the smaller churches of Pisa. In its original position close to the river it suffered severe damage to its foundations, and in 1871 it was pulled down stone by stone and rebuilt higher up. Originally a small oratory, it was rebuilt in the Gothic period as a richly decorated church. It owes its name to its possession of a thorn (spina) from Christ's crown of thorns, brought to Pisa from the Holy Land.

The west front is surmounted by three gables and has two doorways, with small rose-windows in the gables above. In the center is a baldachin with a statue of the Virgin and Child with Saints by G. di Balduccio. The south side of the church has a series of arches enclosing doorways and multiple windows and, higher up, an aedicule (niche) with figures of Christ and the Apostles. The building is crowned by tabernacles containing statues, some of them now replaced by copies (originals in the Museo Nazionale): for example, the "Virgin and Child" by Nino Pisano and the figures of Apostles by pupils of Giovanni Pisano. The famous "Madonna del Latte" inside the church is also a replica.