In Cairoli Square you'll find several eateries overlooking the river Arno, serving a variety of great local and non-local produce, bringing back tastes and smells from the past, when the square was known as Dei Cavoli – square of Cabbages – after the fruit and vegetable market which was held here.

The Rigattieri – scrap merchants – sold second-hand clothes, carpets, silk, and so on. Most of these items were war booties or came from ports and emporiums belonging to the Maritime Republic. Until the 80s there were silk sellers and goldsmiths, while today the street is peppered with shops selling clothing, linen, fabric and toys, but there are also pastry shops, pizzerias, bars, piadinerias (a piadina is a thin Italian flatbread), estate agents, beauty salons and herbalists. Most of these shops can also be reached from the the Lungarno.

In Rigattieri Street there are other tower-houses from which the inhabitants would defend their city. The ground floor used to be for the workshop, whilst the upper floors were used as a living space. The last floor was used as a storage room for water and food, as it was the most ventilated part of the house.

Remains of an ancient church are still visible on Rigattieri Street, known as San Jacopo of the Market or of the Poultry, because this is where they held an open market. The pre-existing church dated back to 1198 and was pulled down in 1775. The Piazza del Pozzetto – the Square of the Well – was a yard surrounded by four tower-houses. People had to pay a tax to come in and stock up on water which was filtered through stones.

The Well was destroyed in the bombings of 1943 and its pieces were thrown away. It was reconstructed and rebuilt in a villa in Calci. Named after the well, the spot has been converted into a restaurant.