Facciata - Palazzo dei Cavalieri di Santo Stefano (G. Bettini, Comune di Pisa)In the Middle Ages, when this was the Piazza delle Sette Vie (Square of the Seven Roads), since this was the number of roads that converged here, the square was overlooked by the Palazzo degli Anziani (Building of the Elders), and the Torre Della Muda (where the eagles were kept during the moulting of their feathers) that today, together with what was once the Palazzotto di Giustizia (Justice Building), or of the CapitanoDel Popolo (People's Captain), forms the Palazzo dell'Orologio (The Watch Building). All around there were also numerous houses, tower houses and two churches from the 11th century: San Pietro in Cortevecchia and San Sebastiano alle Fabbriche Maggiori. In 1558, Cosimo I of the Medici family gave Giorgio Vasari the task of remodelling the square to make it the heart of his power and the seat of the Order of the Knights of Santo Stefano (1562), a military-chivalric order devoted to the defence of the Catholic faith called to fight the infidels in the Mediterranean. Today, it houses the prestigious Scuola Normale Superiore (Higher Education School)of Pisa.
