The elegant Loggia dei Mercanti (Merchants’ Arcade) is opposite Palazzo di Monte. It is attributed to Nanni di Baccio Bigio and was built at the time of the Julius III pontificate.
It is made up of five round arches with corinthian columns and pillars placed side by side. Separate elements of the Di Monte’s coat of arms are reproduced on either side of the arches.
After the dying out of the family the arcade’s inner rooms served as granary and housed a pawnbroker (subsequently transferred to the Cassero) while the arcade itself provided a shelter for the cocoon market on rainy days and an appropriate location for the shops owned by the Jews in the 17th century.
