Pisa Museo Aperto

Luogo

This street, which today has arcades, is called Borgo Stretto, and dates back to the Middle Ages, when it linked two bridges which at that time allowed passage over the river Auser, to the north of the city, and over the Arno, to the south.

Initially, along this street modest workshops, often made up of only one room, were opened. These were over time enlarged in order to facilitate the commercial activities. This became the commercial centre of the city, and large arcades were built in Via di Borgo - these are still visible today – and were used to shelter goods and customers from bad weather, becoming in this way a true urban salon. Later storage rooms were built on top of the workshops, because it was impossible to excavate cellars due to the damp and unstable underground soil which was full of water veins. These buildings were and still are without foundations, and stand on piles.

Over time and with the progressive development of commercial activity in this area, the storage rooms became ever larger and capable of holding ever more goods until they occupied even the space over the arcades. Later the merchants decided to live next to their workshops, and built their houses on top of the workshops and storage rooms. They built essentially with good architectural taste and a certain amount of ostentation, as the frescoes, which decorate the vaulted roofs, and the stone flights of steps demonstrate. These frescoes and the residences still exist and are still private houses.