Hotel vicino a Piazza dei Cavalieri

Pisa is much more than the Miracles square, although the Leaning Tower is now universally recognized as its symbol.

In fact the city is extraordinarily rich in picturesque squares overlooked by decorated palaces.

Among these, one of the most visited is undoubtedly Piazza dei Cavalieri.

The square owes its name to the Grand Duke of Tuscany, who in 1561 settled the Order of the Knights’ seat in the Palace of the Caravan.

You will easily recognize it by the Renaissance style of the façade restored by Giorgio Vasari.

The adjacent tower served as a hospital and shelter for the Knights return from the Holy Land.

The name by which it is known, Tower of Hunger, however, tells a story even more ancient: legend has it that here took place the tragic episode of Count Ugolino, narrated in Dante's Divine Comedy.

Today the building houses the Scuola Normale Superiore, whose library is located right in the tower.

The school was founded by Napoleon Bonaparte as a branch of the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris, in order to allow the best students to deepen and refine their studies. Today it is still one of the most prestigious universities, and not only in Italy.

However, it seems bizarre to define 'normal' a school from which outputs the most extraordinary personalities of the Italian cultural scene as Enrico Fermi, Carducci and the former President of the Republic Carlo Azeglio Ciampi.