This time we visit a building transformed over the centuries … a great testimony present in the area in question: it is the hospice called Orbatello I recommend not Orbetello and is located between via degli Alfani and via della Colonna. Perhaps on the design of Agnolo Gaddi was founded in 1372 thanks to the left of the banker-Mecenate Niccolò degli Alberti. The building takes its name from the orbades (from the lat.orbus- without) or women who had had deaths in the family, so much so that it is no longer self-sufficient. The hospice was large compared to the frequent city, it consisted of a hundred small “two -room apartments” and a small common cuisine, while the structure reserved for medical assistance was prepared for a few tens of beds. The entire complex also had spaces dedicated to cultivation and a church dedicated to the Annunciation, a space currently occupied by the Art History Library of the University of Florence. Thanks to the testamentary provisions of Niccolò degli Alberti, the institution always remained active, in the early fifteenth century the captains of the Guelph part took the management of the whole property. Towards the early eighteenth century, the mothers girls were also welcomed, this created a renovation for dividing the latter from the widows and the elderly. During the nineteenth -century period, the syphilomio was established, then ophthalmic hospital and clinic dermatology under the direction of the hospital of S.Maria Nuova and finally photo -therapy institute. The facade of the oratory is dedicated to S.Maria di Orbatello while the underlying area or the bezel is depicted an Annunciation attributed to Sebastiano Mainardi covered by a canopy. Composed of a single nave and a raised presbytery, the environment is illuminated by trilobate monofor windows, the roof consisting of wooden trusses are decorated with floral motifs. The entrance on the side of via della Pergola is composed of a large portal with a large rustic bundle to whose top bears the coat of arms of the captains of the Guelph part. In the small courtyard we can see a nineteenth -century tabernacle depicting the Madonna and Child perhaps inspired by the master of the Holy Orsanmichele.
Our guide are very happy to share other secrets corner of Florence that not many people know in our town, secrets jam that only official tour guide of Florence knows. we are running from Santa Maria Novella square our official Florence Free Tour. If you want discover more secrets about our city come with us. please book your tour and show up in time.
