Piazza dei Cavalieri (Knights Square), Pisa (must see)

Knights’ Square has long been one of Pisa’s most important civic spaces. In medieval times, it served as the city’s political center, and even earlier it was likely the site of the Roman Forum. The city remained an independent maritime power until 1406, when mercenary commanders Angelo Tartaglia and Muzio Attendolo Sforza occupied the city and ordered its annexation to Florence — a turning point closely linked to Knights’ Square, then the political center of Pisan authority.

In the 16th century, Cosimo I commissioned the architect Giorgio Vasari to redesign the square in Renaissance style and dedicate it to the Knights of Saint Stephen. This military and religious order had been created to defend the Tuscan coastline from Ottoman and North African pirate raids. At the center of the square stands a statue of Cosimo I, installed in 1596, marking his role in transforming both the space and the institution it represented.

Several important buildings surround the square. The Carovana Palace, once the headquarters of the Knights of Saint Stephen, is known for its richly decorated façade covered with painted allegorical figures, zodiac symbols, and portraits of the Tuscan grand dukes. Nearby, the Clock Palace is associated with the tragic story of Count Ugolino, who was imprisoned and died there—an episode later immortalized by Dante. Today, the building houses part of the university library.

Other historic institutions also line the square, including the Putean College, founded in the early 17th century, and the Church of the Knights of Saint Stephen, designed by painter and architect Giorgio Vasari. Inside the church, captured naval banners recall the order’s maritime campaigns. Together, these buildings reflect the square’s evolution from political center to Renaissance ceremonial space, and now to an important part of Pisa’s academic life.