CONFERENCE VENUE

Le Benedettine Complex - Pisa
The complex known as Le Benedettine, consisting of a church and monastery, was built in 1393 for the Benedictine nuns on the southern bank of the Arno River in Pisa. It stands in an area that, during the late Middle Ages, was known as tegularia due to the presence of brick and ceramic kilns—traces of which have been confirmed by archaeological discoveries within the monastery itself.

Over the centuries, the complex underwent substantial transformations. In the sixteenth century, after the nuns joined the Order of Santo Stefano (1565), and again in the seventeenth century, major renovations reshaped the structure. These interventions led to the creation of a simpler facade facing Piazza San Paolo a Ripa d’Arno and the construction of a quadrangular bell tower topped with a pyramidal roof. During seventeenth-century works, much of the fifteenth-century fresco cycle depicting the Stories of Saint Benedict was destroyed; only a fragment survives today.

In 1850, architect Domenico Santini redesigned the river-facing facade in Neo-Gothic style. The project introduced a decorative composition articulated into three dark red sections connected by yellow-toned surfaces adorned with terracotta elements. The use of flamboyant Gothic windows represented a notable departure from traditional Pisan architectural customs. Santini’s intervention was primarily aesthetic, as the building had already undergone structural restoration earlier in the nineteenth century.

Altars removed in the late nineteenth century are now preserved in the parish church of Navacchio. Today, the former monastery forms part of the activities of the University of Pisa and is used for conferences, training initiatives, and academic events. With its classrooms, auditorium spaces, terraces, porticoes, and garden, the complex represents a historically evocative and functional setting that combines heritage with contemporary academic use.