Pisa, virtual tours and guided tours to learn about the buildings in Knights' Square

Officially unveiled is the Cultural Enhancement Project of the historical and artistic heritage of Piazza dei Cavalieri in Pisa, born from the collaboration between Scuola Normale Superiore and Fondazione Pisa. Starting next spring, everyone will have the opportunity to learn more about and more easily visit the spaces and buildings that overlook Piazza dei Cavalieri, designed by Giorgio Vasari in the second half of the 16th century as the headquarters of theOrder of the Knights of St. Stephen.

Key words of this project are research, promotion and popularization: soon thousands of images, many previously unpublished, and hundreds of fact sheets on the Piazza with literary, historical and art-historical content will be available to an audience of specialists (and not), through a bilingual (Italian/English) website and an App that the agency Zaki is working on. Virtual tours of some of the interiors of its buildings, in-depth information, reconstructions, biographical profiles, as well as simple curiosities, will be available thanks to these new tools, aimed at enhancing the multidirectional and multimedia Piazza. The new applications will also provide access to in-depth cultural opportunities by Scuola Normale students on various aspects of this urban context, and guided tours, open to the public, are also planned.

Formerly the beating heart of medieval Pisa and now home to a prestigious academic institution, the Piazza thus reaches its version 2.0. The project is curated and under the scientific responsibility of Professor Lucia Simonato, of the Scuola Normale, with the contribution of research fellows Vittoria Brunetti and Enrico Fantini, and sees the collaboration of various institutions, including the Soprintendenza Archeologia Belle Arti e Paesaggio for the provinces of Pisa and Livorno and the State Archives of Pisa. The presentation was attended by the Director of the Scuola Normale, Luigi Ambrosio, the President of the Pisa Foundation, Stefano Del Corso, and the President of the Palazzo Blu Foundation, Cosimo Bracci Torsi.

Piazza dei Cavalieri

The Piazza degli Anziani or delle Sette Vie, as it was called in the Middle Ages, was the heart of the political life of the Republic of Pisa and a symbol of the city’s freedom; in 1562 it was designated by Grand Duke Cosimo I dei Medici as the main headquarters of the Order of Santo Stefano, to which members of the nobility were admitted to become Knights, or soldiers whose task was to defend Christendom. The current appearance represents a singular scenic and at the same time celebratory solution to urban space conceived by Giorgio Vasari.

In a first phase, the Palazzo della Carovana (1562-1567), the church of Santo Stefano dei Cavalieri (1563-1572) and the Canonica (1566-1594) were built. The completion of the work, after the demise of Cosimo I and Vasari, was mainly due to Ferdinando I, who had the side of the square including the three residential houses built (1594-1598) and the church of San Rocco, incorporated into the building block between 1604 and 1612, encouraged the renovation of the Palazzo dei Priori (finished in 1603 and later became the seat of the Council of Twelve), promoted the construction of the Palazzo del Buonomo (1605-1608) and the facade of the church of Santo Stefano dei Cavalieri (1598-1599). And the statue of Cosimo I, by Pietro Francavilla (1594-1596): the grand duke, with the air of a Roman emperor, leans on his left leg, while his right rests on the head of the dolphin, an attribute of Neptune, to symbolize the Florentine state’s lordship over the sea.

Many were the protagonists of culture who evoked or visited the Piazza. Many were the events it hosted, welcoming them to the spectacular urban theater conceived by Vasari. Immortal is the fame of Dante’s famous Canto, set in his Torre dei Gualandi. Since 1846, the Palazzo della Carovana has become the headquarters of the Scuola Normale Superiore. From that date to the present, most of the buildings facing Piazza dei Cavalieri are part of the Normale.

Pisa, virtual tours and guided tours to learn about the buildings in Knights' Square

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