Florence Free Tour
Florence Free Tour
Florence Free Tour

The wealthy cloth trader and banker Geri Spini commissioned the construction of the palace in 1289 on properties he had purchased from the Santa Trinita monks following the Arno River disaster in 1288.

It rivaled in scale the modern Palazzo Vecchio, the Republic’s seat of government, and was the biggest privately held palazzo in Florence at the time. A group of architects, notably Arnolfo di Cambio or Arnolfo’s father, Lapo Tedesco, are credited with designing Palazzo Spini Feroni. Ghirlandaio’s frescoes in the Sassetti Chapel of the nearby church of Santa Trinita preserve the building’s original appearance.

Constructed during the city’s violent medieval century, which was characterized by family strife, the palace is a stone block that resembles a fortress. It has street-level arches in a towering first floor and a jutting cornice with merlons on top.