The two historical quarters of this side of the city, Mezzogiorno, are divided by a very lively street: Corso Italia, the High Street of Pisa.
An ideal walk can begin from the Central Station, which was built in 1863 and then refurbished after the bombing of the Second World War.
Actually, this part of the city still has very clear signs of the atrocious bombings of 1944 when Pisa was attacked for 45 consecutive days: 57 bombings, over 3000 civilians killed and 50% of the buildings were destroyed.
This tragedy is evident walking from the station towards Corso Italia. All the buildings are modern or have been rebuilt.
Walking through via Gramsci, we arrive at an elliptical square, quite chaotic because of the traffic: this is Piazza Vittorio Emanuale, represented by the statue in the middle. Remember this square: most of the city busses stop here, there will soon be a major underground parking garage and the central Post Office is located here.
The buildings in the square are neo-gothic in style and were built with the square in 1872 after the demolition of part of the city walls and the old Gate of San Giulio.
Also located in this square is the church of Sant’Antonio, which gives its name to one of the quarters. The church was rebuilt after the bombing with the exception of the façade, which is in the typical Pisan style.