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Pisa at the time of the Medicis 2
The shipyards in the age of the Medici
Around the mid 16th century, one of the first things Cosimo de’ Medici cared of was to restore the Pisan shipyards. This made part of a larger programme of redevelopment which included the excavation of a channel, the so-called Canale dei Navicelli, linking the port of Leghorn with Pisa and the river Arno, the development of the city of Leghorn as the main port and trade center in Tuscany and the foundation of the Order of the Knights of Santo Stefano.
Location(s)
- R. Mazzei, Pisa medicea: l’economia cittadina da Ferdinando I a Cosimo III, Firenze 1991
- R. Mazzei, L’economia pisana e la dinamica del commercio internazionale nell’età moderna, 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. 293-297
- 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
- E. Tolaini, Le città nella storia d’Italia: Pisa, Roma-Bari 1992
Piazza delle Vettovaglie
During the Middle Ages this square was called Piazza dei Porci, the Pigs’ Square. It was located to the west of Via dei Notari (the notaries’ street), next to the Taberne Maggiori. The square was in the heart of the city centre, very close to the river and the bridge called Ponte Vecchio (today Ponte di Mezzo), but we lack information about its shape and extension.
Location(s)
- F. Redi, Pisa com’era: archeologia, urbanistica e strutture materiali (secoli V-XIV), Napoli 1991
- P.L. Rupi - A. Martinelli, Pisa: storia urbanistica, Pisa 1997
- R. Mazzei, Pisa medicea: l’economia cittadina da Ferdinando I a Cosimo III, Firenze 1991
- E. Tolaini, Le città nella storia d’Italia: Pisa, Roma-Bari 1992
Logge dei Banchi
In the Middle Ages many covered loggias, usually made of wood, were located in the S. Martino district, these loggias used to house the commerce of products coming from all over the Mediterranean area.
The Logge di Banchi were built at the beginning of the 17th century, by order of Grand Duke Ferdinando I. Bernardo Buontalenti, a Florentine architect, designed this covered loggia.
Location(s)
- O. Banti, Storia illustrata di Pisa, Pisa 2004
- P.L. Rupi - A. Martinelli, Pisa: storia urbanistica, Pisa 1997
- E. Tolaini, Forma Pisarum: storia urbanistica della città di Pisa: problemi e ricerche, Pisa 1992 (2a ed.)
- E. Tolaini, Le città nella storia d’Italia: Pisa, Roma-Bari 1992
Piazza Cairoli (Piazza della Berlina)
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.
Location(s)
Ponte di Spina (today Ponte della Fortezza)
The construction of this bridge began in 1261, and was completed twenty years later, in 1282. Up until then, to cross the Arno in that area, called Guatolongo, a bridge of boats was used. Its name “Ponte di Spina” derives from the name of the district on the right bank of the Arno, even thought later the inhabitants of Pisa called it Ponte della Fortezza (Bridge of the Fortress), named after the fortress (also called Cittadella Nuova), which was built by the Florentines opposite the bridge, on the eastern border of the city.