This square, completed in the second half of the sixteenth century, was part of the Medicis’ grand plan of renovating the city. At the time, it was necessary to demolish numerous houses, shops and a church named San Bartolomeo degli Erizzi. The design of the square followed the one of the cloister of the St Francis monastery and of the courtyard of Sapienza. Between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, in order to guarantee general hygiene and cleanliness, a system for collecting rainwater through channels and cisterns was developed around the square.