Wednesday, March 25 Pisa, according to tradition, enters 2027.

The beginning of the Pisan Year is marked by a “solar clock”. In the Cathedral of Pisa, a ray of sunlight entered through a window called “Aurea,” striking an area near the high altar precisely at noon. Over time, this clock ceased to function due to the extensive modifications made to the Cathedral during the 17th century. The solar mechanism was later restored between the 19th and 20th centuries, using a different window and establishing as its target a small egg-shaped shelf placed on the pillar next to where Giovanni Pisano’s pulpit was reassembled in 1926. The ceremony of the ray of sunlight was revived in the late 1980s.

As per a tradition introduced in recent years, on March 25 the municipal buildings will be decorated with the historic banners of Pisa; the Ponte di Mezzo will be adorned with the banners of the ancient medieval districts of Ponte, Mezzo, Foriporta, and Chinzica. New this year will be two illuminated inscriptions placed on the external balustrades of the Ponte di Mezzo, which will light up the Lungarni and the Arno River from March 24 to 29. This year as well, the tradition continues of promotional posters created from the paintings of the Pisan artist Renzo Galardini.

PROGRAM 

MARCH 19, 2026 - 10:30 a.m.
Feltrinelli Bookstore (Corso Italia)
Conference "PISAN NEW YEAR, A MATTER OF STYLE" curated by students of the Zerboglio and Battisti schools, with the collaboration of the Nobile Magistratura di San Martino, the Associazione in Stile Pisano, and the Balestrieri di Porta San Marco.
During the meeting, the reproduction of the 18th-century historic flag of the Nobile Magistratura di San Martino will be presented.

FROM MARCH 20 TO 29; FROM APRIL 2 TO 6 AND FROM APRIL 9 TO 12 - 10:30 a.m.-6:00 p.m.
Fortilizio della Cittadella
Exhibition “MINIATURES OF PISA” by Mario Ragusano and Claudia Ciampa.
Free admission with access to the Torre Guelfa.

FROM MARCH 21 TO 26 - 9:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m.
Church of Santa Maria della Spina
“ANNUNCIATION FLOWER FESTIVAL” – free admission.

MARCH 20, 2026 - 4:30 p.m.
Municipal Library SMS
Presentation of the book “CERAMICS IN PISA BETWEEN THE 19TH AND 20TH CENTURIES” by Giuseppe Favilli.

MARCH 24, 2026 - 5:00 p.m.
Municipal Library SMS
Conference “SANTA MARIA DELLA SPINA: HISTORY OF A CHURCH ‘REBUILT’ ON THE BANK OF THE ARNO” organized by the Rustichello Cultural Circle, speaker Lucia Casarosa.

MARCH 25, 2026 - 11:00 a.m.
HISTORICAL PROCESSION OF THE PISAN NEW YEAR for the liturgy of the Annunciation, the ceremony of the ray of sunlight, and the offering of candles from Palazzo Gambacorti to the Cathedral.

MARCH 25, 2026 - 5:30 p.m.
Sala delle Baleari (Palazzo Gambacorti)
Presentation of the book “THE PISAN CROSS” by Giovanni Giovinazzo.

MARCH 27, 2026 - 9:30 a.m.
Sala delle Baleari (Palazzo Gambacorti)
Presentation of the volume “MEDICEAN FOUNTAINS IN PISA” curated by Italia Nostra Pisa.

MARCH 28, 2026 - starting from 10:00 a.m. - PISAN NEW YEAR FESTIVAL
Bastione Sangallo and Arena of the Giardino Scotto

• 10:00 a.m.
  opening of the Bastione Sangallo and the section of the walls from the Sant’Andrea tower. Guided tours of historical sites specially opened to the public;
  opening of a static exhibition of medieval musical instruments by the Associazione Musikantika;
  opening of a static exhibition of birds of prey curated by Falconeria Sunrise;
   
• 3:30 p.m. - departure of the historical procession from Vicolo del Moro, Via San Martino, and Giardino Scotto;
   
• 4:00 p.m. - greeting by the Flag-wavers and Musicians with presentation of the first flag performances;
   
• 4:30 p.m. - extraordinary crossbow tournament of the Magistratures of the Gioco del Ponte of Pisa; shooting exhibition by the Archers of San Paolino within the dedicated area.
  At the same time, a high-altitude flight and hunting display by Sunrise’s birds of prey and interactive games with the audience involving the animals.
   
• 5:00 p.m. - flag performances and musicians of the Flag-wavers and Musicians of Porta Pisana. Exhibition of medieval musical instruments.
   
• 5:30 p.m. - start of the performance by the musical group H.E.R.P.E.S. During the intervals, awards ceremony for participating groups and winners of the crossbowmen and archers’ shooting competitions.
   
• 7:00 p.m. - end of guided tours of the walls and the bastion.

MARCH 28, 2026 - 11:00 a.m.
Bastione Sangallo
Presentation of the new “GIOCO DEL PONTE BOARD GAME” conceived and created by Daniele Cionini.

MARCH 28, 2026 - 5:00 p.m.; 7:00 p.m.; 10:00 p.m.
Streets of the historic center
Traveling show "AN IRREVERENT MUSICAL JOURNEY BETWEEN SACRED AND PROFANE" by the street band Opus Band

MARCH 28 - 11:00 p.m.-11:15 p.m.
Ponte di Mezzo, Lungarno Mediceo, Lungarno Galilei
Drone show "FROM TRADITION TO IDENTITY: THE SYMBOLS OF PISA"

MARCH 29 - 4:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m.
Streets of the historic center
Historical reenactment show and procession "VEXILUDI - PISAE RECIPIT ANNUM 2027 S.P." curated by the association Musici Sbandieratori Città di Pisa.

Historical notes

New Year in Pisan Style. Since the 10th century, the Pisans aligned the beginning of the year with the Annunciation (and therefore the Incarnation of Jesus), that is, 9 months before December 25. Thus was established the Pisan Year ab Incarnatione Domini (or Christi). The first document dated in Pisan Style attesting this dates back to 985. This start-of-year date remained in force for centuries also in the territories belonging to the Republic of Pisa: the coast between Portovenere and Civitavecchia, Gorgona, Capraia, Elba, Pianosa, Corsica, Sardinia, the Balearic Islands, Gaeta, Reggio Calabria, Tropea, Lipari, Trapani, Mazara, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Palestine, Syria, the city of Azov (in the sea of the same name, at the mouth of the Don River), and Constantinople, where the Pisans were the only Westerners able to settle, together with the Venetians.

Ceremony of the ray of sunlight. Different from the traditional one is the moment of transition to the new year, which does not correspond to midnight but to noon, when from a window in the central nave of the Cathedral a ray of sunlight illuminates the egg-shaped shelf placed on the pillar next to the famous pulpit by Giovanni Pisano.

Revival of the tradition. The New Year in Pisan Style lasted until November 20, 1749, the day when the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Francesco I of Lorraine, ordered that in all Tuscan states the first day of the following January would mark the beginning of the year 1750. Therefore, Pisa too had to conform to the use of the Gregorian calendar. Only in the 1980s did people begin again to speak of this recurrence, and since then the New Year has once again been celebrated with cultural initiatives ahead of the rest of the world. The merit of the modern revival of the Pisan New Year is due in particular to two Pisans who recently passed away: Umberto Moschini and Paolo Gianfaldoni.