Buy tickets & tours:GetYourGuide Piazza dei Miracoli, officially known as Piazza del Duomo, is the most important artistic and religious space in Pisa. Located in the north-western part of the historic city, the square brings together the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, the Baptistery of San Giovanni, the Leaning Tower, the Camposanto, and two major museums. The popular name “Square of Miracles” comes from the admiration inspired by the complex. Gabriele d’Annunzio famously described the area as the “Prato dei Miracoli” in his 1910 novel Forse che sì forse che no. The expression later spread widely, especially after the Second World War and during mass tourism. Since 1987, Piazza dei Miracoli in Pisa has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The recognition is based on the exceptional artistic value of the complex, its influence on medieval architecture, and the way its monuments express the religious, civic, and cultural identity of medieval Pisa. Piazza dei Miracoli is mostly pedestrian and covered by a large lawn, which gives the marble buildings a striking visual unity. Its current open appearance is not entirely medieval. It was shaped especially in the 19th century, when several later constructions were removed and the monuments Read more [...]
All Squares in Tuscany
Piazza dell’Anfiteatro
Piazza dell’Anfiteatro is an enclosed elliptical square in the northeastern part of Lucca‘s historic center, within the city’s Renaissance walls. Its unmistakable outline follows the footprint of a Roman amphitheater whose surviving structures were gradually incorporated into later houses, shops and passages, creating an exceptional example of continuous urban reuse. Unlike a conventionally planned square, Piazza dell’Anfiteatro was shaped by an ancient building that had already occupied the site for centuries. The present open space corresponds broadly to the former arena, while the surrounding ring of buildings stands over the amphitheater’s seating structures and preserves its Roman geometry within the medieval city. The square is entered through four vaulted passages positioned around the ellipse. These narrow approaches conceal the interior until visitors pass beneath the buildings and emerge into the open area. This arrangement gives Piazza dell’Anfiteatro its distinctive enclosed character, while the surrounding façades emphasize the unbroken oval perimeter inherited from antiquity. Today, the ground floors around Piazza dell’Anfiteatro contain shops, cafés and restaurants, while the upper levels remain part of the residential fabric of central Lucca. The square also functions as a public gathering place and occasional event space, continuing the site’s long-standing role as a collective urban Read more [...]
Piazza del Campo
At the heart of Siena – a city perched among the hills of Tuscany – lies the magnificent shell-shaped square known as Piazza del Campo. This medieval piazza is not only the symbolic and civic center of the city, but also one of the most beautiful and architecturally coherent urban spaces in Europe. With its distinctive downward slope, brick pavement, surrounding historic buildings, and the soaring bell-tower that watches over it all, Piazza del Campo offers a unique blend of history, design, urban poetry, and vibrant living tradition. Over centuries, it has borne witness to markets, civic gatherings, dramatic events, and – twice each year – the incomparable spectacle of the Palio. Whether you stroll its bricks in the soft glow of dawn, sip a drink beside the fountain at dusk, or feel the thunder of horses under the stars, the square remains a living, breathing center of community and memory. Short History of Piazza del Campo Origins and Medieval Transformation The open area that would become Piazza del Campo existed well before the 13th century, on a sloping site where the three hill-communities that formed early Siena converged. It served informally as a gathering ground for local people. Read more [...]
Piazza Grande
Piazza Grande is the main historic square of Arezzo and the architectural center of the city’s medieval district. It lies on the upper section of the old town, behind the Romanesque apse of Santa Maria della Pieve, and is distinguished by a trapezoidal plan laid across a visibly sloping surface. The pronounced gradient is one of the square’s defining physical characteristics. Its pavement descends from the Vasari Loggias toward the lower medieval buildings, while the arrangement also helped rainwater drain away. This unusual topography gives Piazza Grande a spatial form that differs from the level, geometrically regular civic squares found in many Italian cities. The buildings surrounding Piazza Grande date from different historical periods. Medieval tower-houses stand beside Gothic and Renaissance architecture, while the long Palazzo delle Logge creates a unified upper frontage. The result is not a single-period ensemble but a documented record of Arezzo’s political, commercial, religious, and architectural development. Piazza Grande is also the principal setting of the Giostra del Saracino, or Joust of the Saracen. The competition is held twice each year: a night edition in June and a daytime edition in September. During the event, four historic quarters compete through mounted jousters carrying lances toward Read more [...]
Piazza della Repubblica
Piazza della Repubblica is one of the main squares in Florence, located in the historic center of the city, within the UNESCO-listed area. The rectangular square measures about 75 meters by 100 meters, covers roughly 7,500 square meters, and stands around 250 meters from the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. The square is one of the clearest examples of how Florence changed between ancient times, the Middle Ages, and the late 19th century. Its modern appearance belongs mainly to the Risanamento, the large urban redevelopment that transformed the old central market area after Florence became capital of the Kingdom of Italy. Today, Piazza della Repubblica is a pedestrian and commercial space, bordered by historic cafés, hotels, shops, porticoes, and 19th-century buildings. It is crossed by central streets such as Via Roma, Via degli Speziali, Via degli Strozzi, Via dei Brunelleschi, Via Pellicceria, and Calimala. Short History of Piazza della Repubblica The Roman Forum of Florentia Piazza della Repubblica has been connected with the center of Florence since Roman times. In ancient Florentia, this area corresponded to the Roman forum, the main public space where the city’s most important civic, commercial, and religious functions were concentrated. The Roman layout Read more [...]
Piazza Santa Croce
Buy tickets & tours:GetYourGuide Piazza Santa Croce is a beautiful square in Florence, located in the eastern part of the historical center of the city. SHORT HISTORY On this area, in ancient times, there was an island formed by two arms of the Arno River. The Franciscans, who arrived in Florence around 1226, chose this isolated area for their settlement. Similarly to Piazza Santa Maria Novella, where the Dominicans settled, Piazza Santa Croce was born about a century later, to accommodate the crowds of faithful arriving on pilgrimage to the Basilica of Santa Croce. During the Renaissance, the rectangular shape of the square made it the ideal place for knightly jousting, games and popular competitions, such as Calcio Storico Fiorentino. In Piazza Santa Croce, took place the famous game of February 17, 1530, during the siege of the city. Around that time, the square was bordered by wooden barriers that permanently delimited the area destined for games. At the end of the 18th century, under the rule of Pietro Leopoldo, Grand Duke of Tuscany, the wooden barriers were replaced by stone pillars that can still be seen today. ARCHITECTURE The most important building in Piazza Santa Croce is, Read more [...]
Piazza Santa Maria Novella
Buy tickets & tours:GetYourGuide Piazza Santa Maria Novella is a beautiful square in Florence, located in the western part of the historical center of the city. SHORT HISTORY The square was built starting with 1287 on the initiative of the Municipality of Florence, and completed around 1325. Later, the square became, thanks to its size, the setting for competitions such as Palio dei Cocchi (a race with carriages), established by Cosimo I in 1563. The two marble obelisks, works of Bartolomeo Ammannati, were erected around the same time. Closed to traffic in the late 1980s, the square was recently restylized, and a new pavement was added. ARCHITECTURE The facade of the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella dominates the square. Completed in Renaissance style by Leon Battista Alberti in 1470, at the behest of the wealthy merchant Giovanni Rucellai, the beautiful facade of the church can be admired from any point in the square. On the southern side of Piazza Santa Maria Novella, there is the loggia of the Hospital of Saint Paul (Ospedale di San Paolo), founded in the 13th century and enlarged in the 15th century, with the addition of a portico. Today, the building houses Museo Read more [...]
Piazza della Signoria
Piazza della Signoria is the main square of Florence, located in the historical center of the city, about 400 meters away from the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. SHORT HISTORY It appears that the area of the square was populated since the Neolithic, and it constituted an important fulcrum of the city of Florentia during the Roman times. In the 4th century, a large Christian basilica was built here, which remained in use until the 7th century. In the 8th century, the basilica was replaced with a church dedicated to Santa Cecilia. The square began to take its present shape around the year 1268, when the houses of the Ghibellines that resided in the area were demolished by the Guelphs who won the Battle of Benevento. Only in 1385, the square was paved for the first time. During the same 14th century, Palazzo Vecchio and Loggia della Signoria were built, and the square became the center of the political life of the city. The interventions in the following centuries mainly concerned the sculptural decoration of the square, and culminated during the Grand Ducal period with the transformation of Loggia della Signoria into an open-air museum. The construction of Read more [...]
Piazza dei Cavalieri
Piazza dei Cavalieri is, after the more famous Piazza dei Miracoli, the second most important square of the city of Pisa. In ancient times, the square represented the center of civil power, while starting from the second half of the 16th century it became the headquarters of the Order of the Knights of Saint Stephen, commissioned by the Grand Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici. SHORT HISTORY Starting with 1140, Piazza dei Cavalieri became the heart of Pisa, with buildings and churches used by the different magistrates of the city. After the seizure of power by the Pisan people in 1254, Palazzo degli Anziani (Palace of the Elders), today Palazzo della Carovana, was built by merging pre-existing buildings. The Captain of the People (Capitano del Popolo) resided in the nearby Palazzo dell’Orologio, which belonged to the Gualandi family and incorporated the famous Tower of Muda or Della Fame, where in 1289 the Count Ugolino died. The works for the complete transformation of the square began in 1558, after Cosimo I decided to dedicate it to the Order of the Knights of Saint Stephen, founded with papal approval in 1562. Giorgio Vasari was comissioned to transform the square. The first reconstruction Read more [...]
Piazza San Michele
Piazza San Michele is a beautiful square in Lucca, which gets its name from the imposing Church of San Michele in Foro. The square is also known as Piazza delle Catene, due to the numerous marble columns connected by metal chains which surround it. SHORT HISTORY The square corresponds to the ancient forum of the Roman city, and is tangent to the ancient roads of decumanus (east-west street) and cardo (north-south street). In the square, next to the Church of San Michele in Foro, once stood Palatium Civitatis (Public Palace), a building now gone. Later, the municipal offices were transferred to the Augusta Fortress, in Piazza Napoleone, which was also demolished in 1370. During the medieval period, a canal known as Fossa Natali surrounded the square. To get inside the Church of San Michele in Foro, you had to cross a wooden bridge known as Ponte al Foro. Piazza San Michele was paved for the first time in the 15th century, with bricks in herringbone pattern. In the 18th century, the square was paved with large gray stone bricks and bordered by numerous columns with chains. ARCHITECTURE The square is enclosed by medieval buildings with round and pointed Read more [...]
Piazza San Salvatore
Piazza San Salvatore, also known as Piazza della Pupporona or Piazza della Misericordia, is a square in Lucca, located about 60 meters away from Piazza San Michele and the Church of San Michele in Foro. SHORT HISTORY The name of Piazza San Salvatore derives from the presence of the homonymous church, built in the 12th century. At least one work in the church – the architrave of the side door, was attributed to Biduino, a sculptor and architect from the Romanesque period. The name of Piazza della Misericordia comes from Arciconfraternita della Misericordia (Archconfraternity of Mercy), which takes care of the Church of San Salvatore since 1818. The square is also called Piazza della Pupporona in homage to the Neoclassical fountain designed by Lorenzo Nottolini and built by Luigi Camolli between 1838 and 1840. The people of Lucca call pupporona to the statue of Naiade, which dominates the fountain, for its exposed breast. ARCHITECTURE The Church of San Salvatore, located on the eastern side of the square, was built before the year 1000, and rebuilt in the 12th century. The church was renovated in the 19th century, during the Bourbon rule of the city. On the southern side Read more [...]
Piazza Cittadella
Piazza Cittadella is a small square in Lucca, located between Via di Poggio and Via San Paolino, about 50 meters away from Piazza San Michele and the Church of San Michele in Foro. SHORT HISTORY Piazza Cittadella was initially called Piazza Di Poggio, due to the residence of the Di Poggio family, located in the square, one of the most powerful families of Lucca during the Middle Ages. In 1522, took place the Conspiracy of the Poggi, when the Di Poggio family challenged other patrician families of Lucca for power. The Di Poggio family was defeated, its members were exiled, and the name of the square was changed to Piazza del Grano. Subsequently, the square was named Piazza Cittadella, in honor of another powerful family of Lucca, the Cittadella family. Their residence, Palazzo Cittadella, located in the square, was known at the beginning of the 17th century for its large terrace with a hanging garden. ART AND ARCHITECTURE Piazza Cittadella is famous above all for the presence of the house, now a museum, in which the great composer Giacomo Puccini was born, located in the northeastern corner of the square. In the center of the square, there is Read more [...]
Piazza Antelminelli
Piazza Antelminelli, also known as Piazza dei Ferri, is a square in Lucca, located near Piazza San Martino and the Cathedral of San Martino. SHORT HISTORY The name of the square derives from the Antelminelli family, who owned some buildings in the area during the 13th century. The buildings were demolished in 1301, to make way for the square. Piazza Antelminelli, which was previously used as a parking lot for residents, became a pedestrian area in 2012, after the restoration of the pavement. ARCHITECTURE In the middle of the square, there is a circular fountain built in marble by Lorenzo Nottolini in 1832. The fountain is surrounded by marble columns joined by chains, from which the name of Piazza dei Ferri derives (ferri means irons in Italian). In the eastern side of the square, there is the small Church of San Giuseppe, the only remnant of the convent of the Jesuit nuns founded in 1518. To the west of the square lies Palazzo Micheletti, a palace built in the mid-16th century by Bartolomeo Ammannati, and to the south is the beautiful Cathedral of San Martino, built between 1060 and 1390. HOW TO GET THERE Piazza Antelminelli is Read more [...]
Piazza Napoleone
Piazza Napoleone, commonly known as Piazza Grande, is the main square of Lucca, the place where every year in July is held one of the most important music festivals in Italy, the Lucca Summer Festival. SHORT HISTORY The large Augusta Fortress (Fortezza Augusta) was built on this site during the 14th century, as the residence of Castruccio Castracani, Duke of Lucca. The huge complex, which covered about a fifth of the city, was destroyed by the population in 1370. Subsequently, the ruins of the Fortezza Augusta were restored by Paolo Guinigi, Lord of Lucca, at the beginning of the 15th century, to create a new defensive structure. The new architectural complex was called Cittadella di Lucca, but it was partially destroyed as well after the fall of Paolo Guinigi, in 1429. Finally, on the remains of the Citadel, Palazzo Ducale was built. The square was built in 1806, during the Napoleonic domination, by Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi, sister of Napoleon Bonaparte, and dedicated to the French emperor. Under the direction of the architect Giovanni Lazzarini and of the French Pierre-Theodore Bienimé, the square began to develop in the 19th century. The idea was to give greater importance to the Palazzo Read more [...]