Built between the 13th and 14th centuries, Piazza Dante is the centre of Grosseto's old town. Also known as Piazza delle Catene (Square of the Chains), it often hosts concerts and cultural events.
The square is home to the Cathedral of San Lorenzo. As an inscription on the façade attests, it was built at the end of the 13th century to plans by the Sienese architect Sozzo Rustichini. Inside you can admire the famous work of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary with Angels by Matteo di Giovanni (1470) and a wooden cross from the mid-15th century attributed to il Vecchietta.
The square also features the 19th-century Palazzo Comunale (Town Hall), which houses the Town Council and the Municipal Administration, and the magnificent Palazzo Aldobrandeschi, also known as the Palazzo della Provincia (Provincial Palace). It was built in 1900 according to a design by the architect Lorenzo Porciatti in a neo-Gothic style inspired by the medieval architecture of Siena.
In the middle of the square stands the Monumento a Canapone by Luigi Magi (1846): it depicts the Grand Duke Leopold II of Lorraine (smilingly called "Canapone" by the people of Grosseto) crushing the head of a snake, a symbol of the malaria that threatened the population of the Maremma region.