Category: Free Tour

Florence free tour
Jan 18, 2024

150 years of St. Ambrogio Market

Based on ideas drawn from the Halles Centrales market in Paris and the Covent Garden and Hungerford markets in London, Poggi proposed a system of covered marketplaces with a huge central market bordered by several smaller local markets. The new central market will be located in San Lorenzo's Camaldoli neighborhood, with additional sites in Sant'Ambrogio and San Frediano (now defunct). The construction of the San Lorenzo market was unpopular since many densely populated, decrepit buildings had to be expropriated and demolished, but this was not the case for the other two markets, where the chosen locations were primarily covered in vineyards or vegetable and flower ga

Free tour Trapani
Jan 17, 2024

Queen Elizabeth’s Salty Secret

The history of commerce is often hidden in plain sight, tucked away within the salt shakers on our dining tables. A fascinating English parchment dated November 16, 1564, reveals a unique privilege granted to a Florentine gentleman named Tommaso Baroncelli.

Florence Free Tour
Jan 16, 2024

Ex St. Paul Hospital in Florence

On the other side of the Basilica of S.M.Novella, we may view the vast edifice with the loggia of the former S. […]

Florence Free Tour
Jan 15, 2024

Palio of Cocchi in Florence

Since the Middle Ages, the square has been the site of festivals, rides, and other races. In 1563, Grand Duke Cosimo I […]

Florence Free Tours
Jan 14, 2024

Miracle’s broth of San Frediano

All this to introduce the famous Sanfrediano broth broth. What does the tripe broth have to do with it? It has to do ... it has to do with why, the only antidote for the above was the nourishment. This black hole in the food space was soothed by the hand of a saint: San Brodo di Trippa. Why San Brodo di Trippa? Well ... I am jokingly say this but, behind ... behind it is not a great petty thing this definition, since, if we consider saint who has made miracles and given love for others during his life, I am not so much outside if I call saint A substance, which gave all this

Florence Free Tour
Jan 13, 2024

Orsanmichele best church in Florence

Talking about Orsanmichele is usually reductive… The stories that pervade this structure, and the symbols that are sprinkled throughout it, are so many that an entire volume may not be sufficient to describe them. In the seventh century, a tiny church dedicated to San Michele Arcangelo was built on the site of the former female monastery dedicated to San Michele, which had huge plots of land cultivated with vegetable gardens.

Florence free tour
Jan 12, 2024

Andrea del Castagno was a killer?

We can be sure of one thing: at Vasari Andrea del Castagno was not nice, just at all. In his "lives of the most excellent architects, painters and Italian sculptors", in the chapter dedicated to Andrea del Castagno, Vasari indulges himself: he speaks of the bad character of the painter, calling him "...

Caffe in Florence
Jan 10, 2024

Starbuks in Florence

Starbucks has recently opened a location in Florence, Italy. In Via dei Cerretani in front of Santa Maria Maggiore church in the main street that is going from the train station of Santa Maria Novella directly to the cathedral of Florence with the iconic Brunelleschi Dome the biggest dome made in bricks.

Florence Free Tour
Jan 9, 2024

Berta’s Santa Maria Maggiore Church

The Church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Florence, Italy, is a historically important religious site. It is one of the city's oldest churches, with a long history extending back to the eighth century. The church is a combination of Romanesque and Gothic architectural styles that has been renovated multiple times throughout the years. Here its the place of Berta. The Florentines refer to her as 'La Berta', and it is a woman's visage around which legends have grown over the centuries.

Florence free tour
Jan 8, 2024

Coffee shop opened for 300 years in Florence

It's difficult not to notice them, next to one other in the middle of Florence, defining the edge of Piazza della Repubblica. I'm referring to coffee Gilli and coffee Paszkowski concert, which dominate the entire area with their windows and outdoor space. Two desks with desk buddies, rivals and allies at the same time, mirror and flag of an increasingly heated Florence who lives at the counter from morning to late evening.