Pisa Museo Aperto

Location(s)

In the Middle Ages this square was called Piazza dei Cavoli (Cabbage Square), because here the fruit and vegetable market usually took place. For hygienic reasons, the medieval towns used different squares for different kinds of trade: one square for the cereal market, one for the meat market, one for fruit and vegetables (often called Piazza delle Erbe), and one for clothes. Piazza Cairoli stands on the right bank of the Arno, in the town centre, and had two fundamental functions: fruit and vegetable commerce, and also other foodstuffs apart from wheat (whose commerce took place in Piazza del Grano, under the administration of the Opera del Duomo), such as wine, fish, spices and cheese.

In the middle of the 1300s, the square was mentioned in the list of the degnità (places worthy of mention) of the district, as the “Piazza dei Cavoli, where a multi-purpose market takes place, and where farmers sell wood, linen, poultry, fruit and every type of legume.” 

At that time the square did not look onto the Arno, but onto a street which ran along the river as far as Ponte Vecchio and Via dei Setaioli. On the square were many different workshops: on one corner a fish-retailer, on another corner a spice-retailer, and next to him a cheese-retailer (caciaiuolo)…

Some of these shops were owned by the Opera del Duomo, which collected taxes on the sale of certain goods. The shops were generally situated on the ground floor, had one entrance looking onto the road and the back of the shop was used for storage, the first floor being used as living quarters. The square had a private jetty on the Arno, thus it was not necessary to go to the Piazza del Ponte (now Piazza Garibaldi) in order to use the main jetty next to Ponte Vecchio.

In 1550 Piazza dei Cavoli was modified, within the new urban plan laid down by the Medici. On the top of a column an elegant statue was placed, representing the Abundance (by Pietro da Vinci) which gave its name to the square, which from then on was called Square of the Abundance or Piazza della Dovizia. In the same period a loggia was built on the western side, in order to encourage trade activity. By using the conduits which carried water into town from the Monti Pisani, a fountain was also added, which is still visible at the foot of the column. This square continued for all of the modern and contemporary period to be a place of lively commercial activity. But, the name which was given to it and still remains brings to mind another function, that of a public pillory for those condemned for trivial offences. In fact, the modern name of Piazza di Berlina derives from the fact that here, besides the fruit and vegetables market, the public pillory was situated in the centre of the square.