This was the first campaign of excavations in the area of Largo del Parlascio at Pisa, where monuments of different periods are preserved: among them, the so-called baths of Nero (only partially visible inside an archaeological park set up in the 1940s), and the medieval walls of Parlascio. The investigations aim to improve knowledge of the Roman monument (plan, room functions, and chronology) and more generally the development of this sector of the city through the centuries. Therefore, two trenches were opened, one next to the archaeological area (Area 1), and one at the base of the medieval walls (Area 2).

In Area 1, the identification of the edges of the excavations carried out in the 1940s provided the opportunity to document a complex stratigraphy running from the Roman to contemporary periods. The crests of the Roman walls emerged providing new data that increases knowledge of the complex’s layout. In particular, a room was identified that is situated on axis with the large central room in the archaeological area, already interpreted as a gymnasium but perhaps a frigidarium.

Thus, the first information about the post-Roman reoccupation of the building was documented: in the 6th century A.D., two infant burials were cut into the late antique stratigraphy. The infants were between 12 and 18 months old, probably members of a single family and buried next to each other.

To date there are no significant traces in this area for the subsequent centuries until th14th century. At this point, the Roman structures were still standing and new rooms with tiled floors were put in. These rooms remained in use until the mid 16th century.

In Area 2, the first evidence dates to the mid 12th century, when the new city walls and the Parlascio gate were built. Between the late 12th and early 13th century, a structure on several levels and with a pitched roof, was built abutting the city walls. This is identifiable as the building ‘della Gabella’.
During the 14th century, the building was restructured and the Parlascio gate was narrowed and partially rebuilt. At the same time, a new road leading to the gate was constructed.

At the beginning of the 16th century, the Gabella complex was demolished and then rebuilt with brick floors, a new entrance, and a cistern. In this area too, the building remained in use until the mid 16th century. The blocking of the Parlascio gate, substituted by the nearby Lucca gate following the Florentine conquest, probably rendered the complex useless. From this time onwards, the area, free of structures, was used first as a dump for building rubble and then as vegetable gardens.