Piazza Della Repubblica (Republic Square), Livorno

In 1575, Francesco I de Medici commissioned Bernardo Buontalenti to put forward a plan to turn Livorno from a glorified fishing village into a fortified town with a promising future. Buontalenti's solution encompassed the Old Fort and the original village. He presented a pentagonal system of walls, bastions, and canals.

In 1844 there was a need to connect the Buontalenti Pentagon of 1575 with the eastern part of town, which stretched well beyond the Royal Canal. The project would require the demolition of the city gate and modify the Royal Canal. Architect Luigi Bettarini had an idea: cover the canal.

Bettarini's concept was to put the canal in a vault. The vault cover is 789 feet long and 296 feet wide, and it became a public square. The waterway would still be navigable and would pass under the square. The popular name of the new place was Vault Square (Piazza del Voltone). In 1850 it was called the Square of Grand Dukes (Piazza del Granduchi). In 1859 it was named for Carlo Alberto, a leader of the first War of Independence.

In 1946, the square became the Republic Square (Piazza della Repubblica). It is furnished with 52 marble benches and 92 pillars reminiscent of hitching posts. There are two statues on opposite sides of the square; one of Grand Duke Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and another of Leopold II, son of Ferdinand III and the last reigning Grand Duke of Tuscany.

Also located in the square is the Cisternino, a neoclassical structure of the 19th century built to provide the city with water.