Original core of the medieval “cittadella”, it has also been called "Piazza del giuoco del pallone" since the XVII century, because it was frequently used for this popular pastime.
Westward it is delimited by Palazzo Pio facade; Northward by Loria factory for chip manufacture, an industrial archaeology building now used as library. Eastward the Pieve della Sagra (of Santa Maria in Castello) with the annexed palace and the XV century Castelvecchio. The square area, originally, was totally covered with buildings and constituted the centre of the city. In the porphyry flooring, a double row of cubes traces the perimeter of the old church, partially demolished in the XVI century by order of Alberto Pio III. The Piacenza paving stones, arranged in a regular way, have the dimension of the Carpi arm (52,47cm) which was the local measure unit before the metrication .The distance among the stones creates a grid of 6,8,12 arms and reminds the measures used to build the pieve and the medieval houses that used to occupy the square area.
