Palazzo del Collegio Puteano
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Knights' Square (Pisa)
The Knights’ Square is one of the most important landmarks in Pisa, Italy, and the second main square of the city. This square was the political centre in medieval Pisa. After the middle of 16th century the square become the headquarters of the Order of the Knights of St...
in Pisa
Pisa
Pisa is a city in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the right bank of the mouth of the River Arno on the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
.
The palace, located near to the Church of St Rocco, was built in the present form between 1549 and 1598, by joining a group of previous houses.
In 1605, it was given in perpetual rent to the Knights of St Stephen, to host some students from Piedmont
Piedmont
Piedmont is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,402 square kilometres and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital of Piedmont is Turin. The main local language is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the Occitan Valleys situated in the Provinces of...
, by order of Archbishop Carlo Antonio Dal Pozzo
Carlo Antonio Dal Pozzo
Carlo Antonio Dal Pozzo was an Italian prelate, who was archbishop metropolita of the Pisa Diocese.He came from the noble family of Dal Pozzo Della Cisterna of Biella...
, from whom the name Puteano is derived.
Between 1608 and 1609 the façade was decorated with allegoric fresco
Fresco
Fresco is any of several related mural painting types, executed on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Greek word affresca which derives from the Latin word for "fresh". Frescoes first developed in the ancient world and continued to be popular through the Renaissance...
es by Giovanni Stefano Marucelli
Giovanni Stefano Marucelli
Giovanni Stefano Marucelli was an Italian painter and architect of the Baroque period, active in Tuscany, including Florence and Pisa.His name is also written as Maruscelli, Maruscielli, or Marscelli...
. After the suppression of the Knights, the college was closed in 1925, but it opened again in 1930 when the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa
Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa
The Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, also known in Italian as Scuola Normale , is a public higher learning institution in Italy. It was founded in 1810, by Napoleonic decree, as a branch of the École Normale Supérieure of Paris...
used the building as Home of the Student of the University.