The arcaded market square three minutes from the river is the working heart of Pisan student life. Mornings bring a small produce market under the loggia; by evening the same square fills with students sitting on the steps eating focaccia and drinking spritzes from the surrounding bars. The architecture is straight 16th-century Tuscan, four sides of identical arcaded buildings around a flat paved space.
It is the best place in the city to feel that Pisa is a real university town rather than a tourist conveyor belt. Come on a Friday or Saturday evening for the full effect; daytime is calmer but pleasant. Several of the cheapest student-friendly trattorias in town hide in the alleys leading off the square.