Palazzo della Carovana

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Palazzo della Carovana (also Palazzo dei Cavalieri)
Piazza dei Cavalieri (Knights’ Square)
Pisa, January 2013

“At the end of February, 1562, Giorgio Vasari presented Cosimo I with the model for Palazzo della Carovana. In accordance with the principle with which the architect had rethought the whole square, the building was to use as fully as possible the older structure called Palazzo degli Anziani, respecting its preexisting spaces while unifying them behind an elegant façade. This solution was as technically difficult as it was financially advantageous: the Palazzo degli Anziani was inhomogeneous, composed of sections which were stylistically and chronologically different. In fact, it was composed of an older part on the right, called ‘palazzo vecchio’, dating from 1286, and a newer part on the left, called ‘palazzo nuovo’, dating from 1327, and these two parts themselves were composed of different structures. But Vasari quickly finished the main structural work and at the same time the new building of the loggia at the back of the building and of the side which now faces Via Consoli del Mare. The Knights could already move into their rooms by 1564, with the Grand Prior, given the importance of his position, occupying an apartment with various rooms.” (Palazzo della Carovana, Scuola Normale Superiore)

See also: Palazzo dell'Orologio