The legendary Porto Pisano was a vast natural lagoon system sheltered by the Meloria shoals, serving as a strategic hub since Roman times as Portus Pisanus. It became the beating heart of the powerful Maritime Republic of Pisa, a formidable “gateway to the sea” defended by imposing towers, such as the famous Magnale Tower, and secured by massive chains to protect the fleet that dominated the Mediterranean.

Its slow decline, triggered by the defeat at Meloria against Genoa (1284) and the progressive silting of the basin, ended dramatically in 1406 with the Florentine conquest of Pisa. The Florentines inherited a dying port and ultimately decided to shift their strategic focus to the nearby village of Livorno, building the new Medicean city upon the vestiges and fortifications of the ancient Pisan harbor.