Palazzo della Carovana, also known as Palazzo dei Cavalieri, is the former palace of the Knightly Order of St. Stephen in Pisa, which today houses the City’s High Normal School.
The palace was built in 1562-1564 by the famous architect Giorgio Vasari especially for the knightly order. To be precise, Vasari did not build, but radically rebuilt the previously existing Palazzo degli Anziani – the Palace of the Elders. Only small fragments have survived from it, which are visible on the sides of the building. 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. The current paintings date however to the 19th-20th centuries.
