Piazza dei Cavalieri
Piazza dei Cavalieri is one of the narrated stops on the self-guided Pisa audio walking tour in Gingerguide. Plan about ~30 min here. Press play at the spot for its two to three minute story, or ask the AI guide anything about it.
- Type square
- Suggested visit ~30 min
- Pisa Pisa guide
About Piazza dei Cavalieri
Pisa's medieval political centre and the second most important square in the city, dominated by Giorgio Vasari's magnificent Palazzo della Carovana facade (1562) and the Torre della Muda where Count Ugolino was starved to death, immortalised by Dante.
Piazza dei Cavalieri is the historic political heart of Pisa, the medieval city's main civic and governmental square, completely separate from the religious Campo dei Miracoli. In the medieval period, this was where the principal civic buildings stood, the town council, the courts, the mint, and where the chief magistrates governed the city.
The square takes its current name from the Knights of Saint Stephen (Cavalieri di Santo Stefano), a military order founded by Grand Duke Cosimo I de' Medici in 1561 after Florence conquered Pisa. The magnificent façade of the Palazzo della Carovana, the knights' headquarters, was designed by Giorgio Vasari, the great Florentine architect and author of Lives of the Artists. The clock tower, the sgraffito decoration, and the zodiacal reliefs make it one of the most distinctive Mannerist buildings in Tuscany.
Dante's Inferno immortalised Count Ugolino della Gherardesca, who was locked with his sons in the Torre della Muda on this square in 1289 and starved to death. The story, told in one of the most harrowing passages of the poem, established this square's literary fame for eternity.
Did you know? Dante placed Count Ugolino of Pisa in the deepest circle of Hell, frozen in ice for treason, in one of the Inferno's most harrowing passages, Ugolino describes hearing his imprisoned children die of starvation one by one.
How long should you spend at Piazza dei Cavalieri?
Plan about ~30 min at Piazza dei Cavalieri. That is enough to take it in and hear its narrated story; stay longer if it grabs you. The tour is self-guided, so there is no rush.
Is Piazza dei Cavalieri worth visiting?
Piazza dei Cavalieri is one of the 18 sights the Gingerguide team researched and narrated in Pisa, so it earns a place on a self-guided walk. Its story explains why it matters, and you can ask the AI guide anything the story leaves open.
Nearby stops in Pisa
Hear the story of Piazza dei Cavalieri
Preview the Pisa tour free in the Gingerguide app.