The State Archive of Pisa was instituted by a decree of the Provisional Government of Tuscany on February 22, 1860. It united the archives of the Republic of Pisa, of the Commune of Pisa under the rule of the Republic of Florence, and those of the two grand-ducal dynasties. Inaugurated on June 4, 1865 in its first headquarters at the Loggia de’ Banchi, today a subsidiary headquarters, the Archive contains a rich documentary patrimony with texts starting from the 8th century. In addition to a rich collection of public acts, the original nucleus also included the archives of the Ospedali Riuniti, Opera della Primaziale, Pia Casa della Misericordia and of the Knights of Saint Stephen. It grew thanks to the acquisition of documents that had belonged to the suppressed convents of Pisa and of holdings of various origins. Among these, outstanding for scientific interest are the fourteenth-century registers concerning the sale of iron from Elba Island and the files of the Canals Office, which document the activity of this institution in charge of the hydrographical reclamation of the city of Pisa and of its outlying countryside from the 15th to the 19th century.

The main headquarters of the Archive today is located in the historical Palazzo Toscanelli, which inside presents iconography tied to Galileo Galilei. One can admire, in particular, The Triumph of Galileo Galilei, which depicts the Pisan scientist holding a telescope.