Palazzo Salviati

The 14th century coats of arms that decorate the facade of this palazzo belonged to the first owners, the Ciampolini family, very rich Pisan merchants. In the mid 1400s, the Salviati family bought the building and installed a branch of their bank.
The social and political rise of the family dates from this time. Their company, with interests in trade, cloth manufacturing and banking, become well known in Florence and Pisa. During the 16th century it grew internationally with banks in London, Bruges, Lyons and Antwerp. In the second half of the 1700s, most of their immense fortune was invested in real estate, among others, their sumptuous palace in Florence in via del Palagio, the feather in their cap, while the palazzo in Pisa was only second best.
Carved on the lintel above the door are the words Averardus et Antonius Philippi Salviati fecerunt, with the date of construction 1594. Since then there have been no alterations. The Ciampolini family created the “U” shaped plan by linking several medieval case-torri together, traces of which are visible in vicolo Sismondi. A marble scroll reminds us that when the Salviati became the owners in 1472, they transformed the building into a palazzo, on plans by Jacopo Piccardi da Rovezzano: they created a new facade with the Salviati coat of arms, rusticated corners and doorway, sandstone cornices and triangular pediments above the door and kneeling windows on the ground floor. Inside are two porticos and a courtyard with a well. Chambers, reception rooms and a chapel complete the rooms. The main staircase and first floor were redesigned in the 1700s,