Palazzo delle Vedove (Widows Palace), Pisa

The Italian nobility often lived in “palaces”, even if the buildings were no more than huge town houses looking very much like the houses on either side of it. This is the case with the Palazzo delle Vedove. Sadly the palace has suffered over the years and if you don’t know its there, you would walk past without a second glance. It was built on the corners of via Santa Maria and via Trento for the Bocci family and at the time wasn’t a palace. Construction was long as each successive member of the family who lived there added things on or had them pulled down. Building started in the 12th century and it was finally finished in the 14th.

On via Trento you can see part of a particularly fine example of four medieval mullioned windows, but renovation during the late 16th century partly covered them with rectangular plaster and blind windows above. The building was purchased by the Medici family and they changed the name to the Palace of Widows. The elderly female members of the family lived there – the widows. The archway and corridor above it in via Santa Maria joins the palace to the Torre de Cantone and from there another arch lead to the Chiesa San Nicola. These corridors were used by the ladies so that they could visit the church without having to walk through the streets.