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Casa Torre Gaetani o della Verga d'Oro - Pisa in Tuscany

The building stands on the corner of Via Santa Maria and Via San Nicola. It has a rectangular plan and is built of Verrucana stone. The peculiar architectural structure of the tower allows it to be dated back to the second half of the 12th century, even though the original structure began to be altered as early as the 14th century, when the wooden galleries were knocked down and the openings between the pillars were walled up and pierced with mullioned windows. The building is believed to have been erected in this area in connection with the construction of the second bridge over the River Arno (called Ponte Nuovo, meaning new bridge).

The tower was initially called (1241) “Torre del Cantone” (corner tower) because it stood on the corner of the Church of San Nicola. In earlier times, however, the building was generally known as the “Domus” of the Dodi family, and is documented to have housed an “apotheca”, or shop. On the top of this tower Galileo Galilei conducted his first experiments with the telescope in the presence of the Grand Duke of Tuscany. It was not until the 19th century that the tower came to be commonly known as “Torre della Verga d’Oro” (gold bar tower), from the name of another no longer extant building standing on the south-east corner of the Via Santa Maria.

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