Palazzo della Carovana

Palazzo della Carovana (also Palazzo dei Cavalieri), presently housing the main building of the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa. It was built in 1562–1564 by Giorgio Vasari for the headquarters of the Knights of St. Stephen, as a renovation of the already existing Palace of the Elders. The name, meaning "Palace of the Convoy", derives from the three-year period undertaken by the initiates of the Order for their training, called "la Carovana".The façade is characterized by a complex scheme with sgraffiti representing allegorical figures and zodiacal signs, designed by Vasari himself and sculpted by Tommaso di Battista del Verrocchio and Alessandro Forzori, coupled to busts and marble crests