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Pisa at the time of the Medicis 1
Piazza Dante
Recent archaeological excavations brought to light the remains of a Roman villa of the early imperial age (the age of August, end of the 1st century B.C.) in the site of the actual Dante Square.
The presence of this villa proves that this part of the city, next to the river, hab been inhabited since the ancient times.
Location(s)
- M. Pasquinucci, Pisa romana, in Pisa e il Mediterraneo: uomini, merci, idee dagli Etruschi ai Medici, a cura di M. Tangheroni, Catalogo della mostra di Pisa (13 settembre-9 dicembre 2003), Milano 2003, pp. 81-85
- G. Garzella, Pisa com’era: topografia e insediamento: dall’impianto tardoantico alla città murata del secolo XII, Napoli 1990
- F. Redi, Pisa com’era: archeologia, urbanistica e strutture materiali (secoli V-XIV), Napoli 1991
- E. Tolaini, Le città nella storia d’Italia: Pisa, Roma-Bari 1992
The Botanical Garden
Pisa’s botanical garden was created by Cosimo I de’ Medici shortly before the middle of the 16th century. Yet the first botanical garden in Pisa was not in the same place where it stands now, that is next to Via Santa Maria and the cathedral square. It was located close to the Medicean shipyards, near the river and the Old Citadel (Cittadella Vecchia). The first director of the botanical garden, namely the prefetto, was Luca Ghini in 1543.
Location(s)
- E. Cavazza, E. Marchetti, Pisa fuori Piazza, Pisa 2000
- E. Tolaini, Forma Pisarum. Storia urbanistica della città di Pisa, Pisa 1979
Royal Palace
The Royal Palace, next to the Carrara Square, was built in 1555 on the project of the Florentine architect Baccio Bandinelli by order of Cosimo I Medici. It stands in the place of the ancient “Podestà Court” and of many private houses and tower-houses. This palace, large but sober in its almost undecorated style, was often inhabited by representatives of the Medici dynasty. Here princes and ambassadors were officially received and somptous feasts were held.
Location(s)
- R. Mazzei, Pisa medicea: l’economia cittadina da Ferdinando I a Cosimo III, Firenze 1991
- O. Banti, Storia illustrata di Pisa, Pisa 2004
- E. Tolaini, Le città nella storia d’Italia: Pisa, Roma-Bari 1992
- E. Fasano Guarini, Pisa nel Cinquecento mediceo. La città, il fiume, il mare, la campagna, in Pisa e il Mediterraneo: uomini, merci, idee dagli Etruschi ai Medici, a cura di M. Tangheroni, Catalogo della mostra di Pisa (13 settembre-9 dicembre 2003), Milano 2003, pp. 281-285
The Order of the Knights of Santo Stefano
In 1561 Cosimo I de’ Medici founded the Holy Military Order of the Knights of Santo Stefano, as a tribute to the patron saint on whose feast day Cosimo had defeated his enemies in the battle of Montemurlo (2 august 1554). According to the ambitious plans of Cosimo, who later was designated grand duke (in 1569 the title was assigned to him by the pope with a bull), the new military Order was to become a strong maritime force, loyal to the Medici dinasty and able to rebalance the European political power in the Mediterranean in favour of Florence.
Location(s)
- R. Bernardini, Breve storia del Sacro Militare Ordine di S. Stefano papa e martire dalla fondazione a oggi e dell’Istituzione dei Cavalieri di S. Stefano, Pisa 1995.
- M. Aglietti, La partecipazione delle galere toscane alla battaglia di Lepanto (1571), in AA.VV., Toscana e Spagna nell’età moderna e contemporanea, pubblicazioni del Dipartimento di Scienza della Politica della Università di Pisa, Pisa 1998, pp. 55-145