I might have known better； but，somehow，I had expected to see it，casting its long shadow on a public street where people came and went all day. It was a surprise to me to find it in a grave retired place，apart from the general resort，and carpeted with smooth green turf. But，the group of buildings，clustered on and about this verdant carpet： comprising the Tower，the Baptistery，the Cathedral，and the Church of the Campo Santo： is perhaps the most remarkable and beautiful in the whole world； and from being clustered there，together，away from the ordinary transactions and details of the town，they have a singularly venerable and impressive character. It is the architectural essence of a rich old city，with all its common life and common habitations pressed out，and filtered away.
我本应对斜塔了解甚详的，可是我想象中的斜塔却是这样的：它将倒影落在大街上，在那里人们终日来来去去。我惊讶地发现,斜塔是在一座荒旧的墓地里，这与一般的观光胜地不同；塔的四周有郁郁葱葱的草地；草地四周有一些建筑群,其中有斜塔、洗礼堂、大教堂、圣广场教堂。或许,圣广场教堂是世界上最雄伟的、最显著的建筑物。它们都坐落于此，远离世俗与城市的喧嚣，给人异乎寻常的庄严和肃穆。它们是绝经沧桑的古老城市的建筑精华，渗透并浓缩了老城中的平凡生活和平凡居所。