Pisa

A Tuscan river city whose maritime empire had faded but whose university endured. Galileo was born here in 1564, studied medicine here, and returned as a young professor of mathematics: where, by the famous story, he dropped weights from the leaning bell tower to show that heavy and light fall together, and timed the cathedral lamp's swing against his own pulse.

Pisa had been a sea power until its harbour silted and Florence took over, leaving a university and a set of magnificent buildings standing on soft ground. Galileo was born there in 1564 and sent to study medicine, which he abandoned for mathematics after wandering into a geometry lecture. He taught there briefly and unhappily on a small salary. The story about dropping weights from the tower comes from his student and biographer, and Galileo never mentions it himself.