THIRD ITINERARY

Ponte di Mezzo
Palazzo Gambacorti
Logge di Banchi
Church of Santo Sepolcro
Church of Santa Maria della Spina
Arsenal
Church of San Paolo a Ripa d'Arno

Crossing the Ponte di Mezzo in the left bank, we find ourselves in Piazza XX Settembre. The square contains two monuments, Palazzo Gambacorti, whose façade faces the Arno, and The Logge di Banchi

This grandiose, yet elegant, mansion was built for a Pisan nobleman, Pietro Gambacorti, between 1370 and 1380. Originally the building was topped by Ghibelline crenellation, but it was torn down when Pisa came under Florentine rule. Remains of Roman columns are visible in the inner courtyard of the palace. Palazzo Gambacorti now serves as the Pisa City Hall.
The Logge di Banchi was commissioned by Gran Duke Ferdinando I° dei Medici in the early 1600s. It was built by Cosimo Pugliani, although the design is Buontalenti's , as a wool and silk market.
Tking Lungarno Galilei from Piazza XX Settembre, after a few blocks, we come a little square wich the church of Santo Sepolcro on the cast side.

The Templar Knights commissioned Diotisalvi, the architect of the Baptistry, to build Santo Sepolcro around the middle of the 12th century. The octagonal building has the appearance of a solid construction, with a plain façade broken up only by undivided windows and three portals. A pyramidal cusp surmounts the whole.
The eight pillars which create an ambulatory around the apse support the dome resting upon elegant pointed arches. The central plan is like that of the Templars' churches in the Holy Land. Beneath the altar is the Tomb of Maria Mancini Colonna, the favorite mistress of Louis XIV, the French Sun King, and niece of cardinal Mazzarino, who died in Pisa in 1715.