While at first the idea of having hundreds of episodes dedicated to a relatively small region sounded preposterous, the more we delve into Tuscan history, the more surprises we bump into. Take, for example, a place like Pisa: I've gone to college there and almost every day I went into one of Italy's best piazzas, Piazza dei Cavalieri. Little did I know that the small church right next to the imposing Palazzo della Carovana hosts a veritable treasure trove for history buffs like yours truly. Inside this richly decorated church there is the largest collection of war banners from the other side of the Mediterranean. How did they end there? Well, they were the spoils of war of a very weird chivalric order that, for a couple of centuries became rich and powerful by capturing ships and ransoming their captains. Their story is as incredible as little known, also by locals. That's why this week What's Up Tuscany will bring you to the city of the Leaning Tower to tell you everything there is to know about one of its best kept secrets, the Chiesa di Santo Stefano dei Cavalieri, the church of the pirate knights. If you listen to the full episode I will tell you the remarkable history of the order created by the Medicis to avoid another nationalist uprising in Pisa, how it became powerful enough to play a crucial role in the battle that pretty much decided the future of Europe and how carrying there the war flags of the captured ships became an important tradition. There will be also space to look at the most beautiful of those flags, their symbolism and also the many souvenirs of the days where the ships from Pisa fought the infidels on the Mare Nostrum are kept both inside the church and in the palace next door that now hosts one of Europe's top academic institutions. Next time you come to Pisa, take some time to explore this amazing part of town. It has much more to offer than Piazza dei Miracoli: you only need to know where to look. Email: [email protected] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/larno.it Twitter: @arno_it / @WhatsupTuscany LINKS TO SOURCES (ITALIAN ONLY) https://altmarius.ning.com/profiles/blogs/le-bandiere-ottomane-come-bottino-da-guerra-a-pisa-le-icone-delle http://www.antropologiaartesacra.it/ALESSIO_VARISCO_PISASantoStefanoDeiCavalieri.html https://alleanzacattolica.org/i-vessilli-della-battaglia-di-lepanto/ BACKGROUND MUSIC Pipe Choir - Bom Bom Breakthrough (Instrumental) Pipe Choir - Ignite to Light (Instrumental) Mike Chino - Calm and Harmony Pipe Choir - Children of the Son (Instrumental) Cityfires - Blood Problems Pipe Choir - A Slave to Nothing (Instrumental) Wayne John Bradley - Blues Rock Original Instrumental All released under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License https://soundcloud.com/pipe-choir-2/pipe-choir-bom-bom-breakthrough-creative-commons-instrumental https://soundcloud.com/pipe-choir-2/pipe-choir-ignite-to-light-creative-commons-instrumental https://soundcloud.com/argofox/mike-chino-calm-and-harmony https://soundcloud.com/pipe-choir-2/pc-one-children-of-the-son-creative-commons-instrumental https://soundcloud.com/ljayofficial/blood-problems-instrumentalby-cityfires https://soundcloud.com/pipe-choir-2/pipe-choir-a-slave-to-nothing-instrumental https://soundcloud.com/ayneohnradley/blues-rock-original-instrumentalcreative-commons http://www.pipechoir.com/