Piazza degli Scacchi Historical Timeline

Origins

The square developed as the market and civic space of the walled town below the castle, and the Castello Inferiore forms one side of it.

Turning points

Four centuries of Venetian rule from 1404 left the winged lion of St Mark on its column here, as in every mainland town Venice governed.

Influential people

In 1954 Mirko Vucetich devised the living chess game, based on a local legend that in 1454 two suitors for the castellan's daughter were made to settle the matter at chess rather than by duel.

Cultural evolution

The board was laid into the paving to make the event possible, and has stayed. The legend is undocumented; the tradition is now seventy years old and entirely real.

Present-day significance

The game is played on the second weekend of September in even-numbered years, and the square is otherwise an ordinary market place.