In 1016, a male monastery was established by a monk called Bono who came from an abbey in the Emilian region of northern Italy. After the building was completed, the monk marvelled at the structure, which was ‘so perfect with none better in the whole of Tuscany’. From the outset, the monastery played a fundamental role in the development of Pisa’s eastern suburbs, as it was the first to transcend the boundary of the city’s ancient walls. It helped in the pastoral organisation of a growing population, alongside the nearby Parochial Church of Santa Cecilia founded in 1102 and the Church of San Jacopo del Mercato. The latter was demolished in 1775 but some of its remains are still visible in the junction between Via Rigattieri and San Jacopino.