The story of via Borgognona, in the beating heart of Florence, is wrapped in an aura of mystery and transgression. Once known as Via de ‘shameful,” Vergognosa ” the road was the nerve center of the night, a crossroads of destinies and secrets that only the moon knew. It was the era in which the street was bordered with modest houses, illuminated by oil lamps that threw a trembling light on the figures that moved in the shadows. The women of via Borgognona were enigmatic figures, cloaked not only of thirst and velvety, but also of mystery and melancholy. They were the so -called “women of life”, prostitutes who with their presence defined the ambiguous and vibrant character of the road.
One of these women was white. Young and extraordinary beauty, Bianca had not chosen that life for passion or despair, but out of necessity. Orphan as a child, he had been raised by an old lady who, without too many laps of words, had introduced her to the profession that she should have kept both. The night when Bianca’s story intertwined irreparably with that street was a winter evening, when a young count, Leonardo, lost among the fogs of alcohol, came across his ethereal figure under the porch of an old house. Leonardo, son of one of the most respectable families in Florence, found himself fascinated and then completely captured by the young woman. Initially, their relationship was one of those that the company hid with disgust, but Leonardo saw something in white that went beyond its role imposed by the need.
He saw his loneliness, his intelligence and his indomitable spirit. He began to meet her no longer as a client, but as a secret lover, bringing her to places far from the judge Florence, where they could simply be a man and a woman, far from the pitiful looks. But Florence was a city of whispered words and stealthy looks. He did not spend much time before the relationship between the Count and the Bianca became the topic of gossip. Isolated from society and denied by his family, Leonardo was forced to make a choice. Under the pressure of the family and society, he decided to end their relationship, leaving the poor girl with a broken heart and an uncertain future.
Over time, the name of via de ‘shameful became Borgognona, perhaps in an attempt to erase the past or perhaps simply to adorn memory. Bianca, however, never forgot the count. He continued to live in the same road, becoming over time a sort of legend, the gentle lady with a painful past, who still at night, in the slightest light of the lanterns, seemed to wait for something or someone. Today, via Borgognona is a place where the past and the present merge, where every stone and every corner could tell stories of love and perdition, stories of women like Bianca, who lived in hope and shadow.
If you like this article come to visit the city with us, we are running a free walking tour in Florence. You can book your tour on our website Florence Free Tour. Our meeting point it’s in front of Minerva Hotel next to the Church of Santa Maria Novella.
