Description
Piazza Cairoli, which Pisans call piazza della Berlina, is a square built by Cosimo I a few steps from the Arno, in the San Francesco district. It has a portico of arches, a statue on a column and a long history as a market: for centuries it was Pisa's pantry.
For centuries fruit and vegetables were sold here, but also wine, fish, spices and cheese. It was the piazza dei Cavoli, the "cabbage square." Grain was sold elsewhere, in what is now piazza delle Vettovaglie.
The square met the riverbank directly: a landing and entrance for those arriving from the countryside along the Arno. Boats unloaded their goods a few meters from the stalls, and the square served as the landing for the whole city.
It was commissioned by Cosimo I de' Medici around the middle of the 16th century, on the initiative of the provveditore Luca Martini. The work was carried out by Giovan Battista Cervelliera, already busy at the Duomo.
On the west side the shops were carved out of old medieval warehouses, with an arched portico on square pillars. At the center of the loggia, which belonged to the Opera del Duomo, is the coat of arms of Cosimo and his wife Eleonora of Toledo, with the collar of the Golden Fleece.
In the middle of the square, on a column, rises the Dovizia by Pierino da Vinci, the statue of abundance: the right symbol for a square that fed Pisa for centuries.
The name "della Berlina" recalls another function. The public pillory was held here: those who committed minor offenses were tied to the columns and exposed to the laughter of the city, among the market stalls.
The square has changed its name no fewer than five times, but on the map it is piazza Cairoli. Along the other sides there were wooden canopies, while only the side with the loggia was completed.
For centuries fruit and vegetables were sold here, but also wine, fish, spices and cheese. It was the piazza dei Cavoli, the "cabbage square." Grain was sold elsewhere, in what is now piazza delle Vettovaglie.
The square met the riverbank directly: a landing and entrance for those arriving from the countryside along the Arno. Boats unloaded their goods a few meters from the stalls, and the square served as the landing for the whole city.
It was commissioned by Cosimo I de' Medici around the middle of the 16th century, on the initiative of the provveditore Luca Martini. The work was carried out by Giovan Battista Cervelliera, already busy at the Duomo.
On the west side the shops were carved out of old medieval warehouses, with an arched portico on square pillars. At the center of the loggia, which belonged to the Opera del Duomo, is the coat of arms of Cosimo and his wife Eleonora of Toledo, with the collar of the Golden Fleece.
In the middle of the square, on a column, rises the Dovizia by Pierino da Vinci, the statue of abundance: the right symbol for a square that fed Pisa for centuries.
The name "della Berlina" recalls another function. The public pillory was held here: those who committed minor offenses were tied to the columns and exposed to the laughter of the city, among the market stalls.
The square has changed its name no fewer than five times, but on the map it is piazza Cairoli. Along the other sides there were wooden canopies, while only the side with the loggia was completed.