Piazza dei Cavalleggeri

This square - piazza dei Cavalleggeri - opening onto the Arno at Lungarno alle Grazie is dominated by the imposing mass of the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale. 
Actually, history tells us of a property of the convent of Santa Croce, later ceded to Grand Duke Ferdinando I dei Medici, who built a barracks for the cavalry here, hence the name that still remains.

The barracks were destroyed when the building site for the National Library was begun in 1911. The name of the square, however, has remained. 
In addition to the river and the Library, the square is bordered by Corso Tintori and Via Magliabechi.