Porta a San Frediano - Life Beyond Tourism

ITINERARY 4
OLTRARNO / SAN NICCOLO` NEIGHBOURHOOD
As with all our itineraries, this is a practical guide to some of the less visited sights and monuments in and around Florence. To get the most out
of the tour, you will need a good guide book to provide you with the historical and artistic details that lie outside the scope of our itineraries.
The tour starts at the southern end of the Ponte Vecchio, one of the eternal symbols of Florence. Notice the famous Corridoio Vasariano that
crosses the bridge above the goldsmiths' shops, on over the Via Guicciardini and then disappears momentarily from sight. It is a suspended
corridor built by artist and architect Giorgio Vasari in the 16th century to link the two Medici residences of Palazzo Vecchio and Palazzo Pitti,
thus allowing the ducal family to move from one residence to the other without having to brush shoulders with the hoi polloi. Vasari's Corridor
creeps around a tower at the southern end of the bridge, rather than passing through it. The Mannelli family, who owned the tower, refused to
allow Duke Cosimo to bully them into letting him drive his private corridor through their property, so Vasari was forced to put the corridor out on
stilts around the tower just for this short stretch. After admiring the statue of Bacchus by Giambologna in the Rossi-Cerchi tower on the corner
diagonally opposite (now the Pitti Palace Hotel), carry on up Via Guicciardini. Almost immediately, you will see a small square across the street
with a column in it, and behind the column a church façade with Vasari's Corridor running in front of it. The square is Piazza Santa Felicita, and
the column in the middle (patiently pieced together again after its destruction in World War II) commemorates St. Peter Martyr's endeavours to
extirpate the Patarene Heresy in the 13th century.
Passing under Vasari's Corridor, you now enter the church of
1 - Santa Felicita
Despite appearances (it was rebuilt to a design by Ferdinando Ruggeri in 1736), this is one of the oldest centres of Christian worship in
Florence, built next door to what recent excavations have shown to have been a cemetery for the city's first Christian communities. Armed with
sufficient € 1 coins to keep the illumination working, look to your right the moment you enter the church. The Cappella Capponi (architecture
maybe by Brunelleschi?) contains Pontormo's masterpiece, the Deposition, painted for this very chapel in 1526 and still in situ. It has been
called one of the greatest paintings in the world. Above your head as you admire the Pontormo painting, is the Medici grand dukes' private
viewing gallery, leading off the inside of Vasari's Corridor. From here the ducal family could take part in the religious services, again without
having to mix with the masses. Totally different, but not to be missed, is the former Chapter House, the only remnant of the medieval convent,
with its frescoes by Niccolò di Pietro Gerini; and if you can successfully bribe the sacristan, you may even be lucky enough to visit the
underground passages containingh a remnant of the original Roman Via Cassia, metres below the present-day street level. It was along this
major consular road linking the Roman colony of Florentia to the capital, Rome, that Syrian merchants set up shop in the 4th century, outside
the colony's walls and over a wooden bridge close to where the Ponte Vecchio stands today. They brought Christianity with them, and their
community's cemetery lies under what is left of the cloister of Santa Felicita.
Leave the church and turn right when you emerge from the porch. Turn right again, walking along the north side of the church into Piazza dei
Rossi, and then start the climb up what may well be one of the steepest hills in Florence, Costa San Giorgio. About halfway up, you see on your
right
2 - San Giorgio (Romanian Orthodox Church of St. George)
This ancient church was rebuilt in its present Baroque form by Giovan Battista Foggini in the 18th c. and contains several good pictures by
Gherardini, Dandini and Passignano, as well as by Foggini himself, all worth seeing if the chuch is open (which is unlikely). But the most
interesting thing here is the former monastery with its cloisters and conventual areas intact. It was used as a barracks until only a few years
ago, and a battle is currently raging over what to do with this splendid space now the armed forces no longer need it. A luxury hotel? A cultural
centre? The offices of the Fine Arts and Cultural Assets Superintendency? Who knows? By the time you visit it, a decision may have been
reached, so if it is open and you can get inside, don't miss it!
At the top of the hill, walk out of the small Medieval gate called the Porta San Giorgio.
Turning right, you come immediately to the
3 - Forte Belvedere
Belvedere means "beautiful view", and when you enter this fortress, built by Bernardo Buontalenti from 1590 and 1595 for Grand Duke
Ferdinando I, so he could keep an eye on his edgy subjects, you'll see why it has that name. The view from the garden is very possibly the
most spectacular view of Florence available -- leave Piazzale Michelangelo and Fiesole to the coach tours! You can almost reach out and touch
the towers and domes.
Leaving the fortress, walk straight ahead down Via San Leonardo for a taste of what the outskirts of Florence must have looked like until just
before World War II. You soon come to the delightful Medieval church of
4 - San Leonardo di Arcetri
This church's charm is due almost as much to its tranquil country surroundings, so close to the city, as to its heavily restored Romanesque
simplicity. Alongside several fine 15th c. paintings, it also houses the 13th c. pulpit from the former city centre church of San Piero Scheraggio,
partially demolished to make way from the Uffizi. Both Dante and Boccaccio are said to have spoken from this pulpit, while it is known to have
been used by Saint Antonino for his sermons. Further along the Via San Leonardo, a plaque on the wall indicates the house where Tchaikovsky
stayed when visiting Florence in the winter of 1890.
Returning now to the Forte Belvedere, turn right just before the Porta San Giorgio and walk down the Via di Belvedere, skirting one of the last
remaining stretches of the city's medieval walls and coming to the gate known as the Porta San Miniato. Allegedly designed by Arnolfo di
Cambio, the architect responsible for the Cathedral and Palazzo Vecchio among other things, this city gate still has its 13th century wooden
doors. They were ripped off their hinges by the force of the furious flood of 1966, but in the end that proved to be the godsend they needed to
persuade the authorities to restore them.
Just inside the gate, you may want to stop for a "rasino" of Chianti in a genuine local watering hole, the Antica Mescita di San Niccolo` (Via S.
Niccolo`, 60r - tel: 055-2342836) with some of its tables in the 12th century crypt of the church of San Niccolo`. "Raso" in Italian means "full to
the brim", and when you ask for a "rasino" of red, you'll understand why! But you don't want to drink on an empty stomach, so a "crostino"
topped with traditional Florentine chicken liver pate` is the perfect accompaniment.
The bell-tower of the church of San Niccolo` next door, has an unusual claim to fame: Michelangelo, no less, hid in it from the victorious papal
and imperial armies after the siege of Florence in 1529/30. The church itself has kept its Medieval aspect, and in the sacristy there is a splendid
15th c. tabernacle attributed to Michelozzo, the Medici family's favourite architect. A short walk east down Via San Niccolo`, a fine example of
Florentine working-class housing, will take us to the Porta di San Niccolo`, the only Florentine city gate still standing to its full medieval height.
The others were shortened when artillery became a fact of life in the siege of 1529: The height that had previously offered the city's archers a
superior vantage point became a threat, with enemy cannon likely to blow the towers' tops off and shower the streets behind the gate with
debris! It is thought to have been built to a design by Andrea Orcagna in about 1327, but it was heavily restored in the 19th century when the
city walls and mill complex hemming it in were demolished to make way for the present Piazza Poggi. This piazza is named after Giuseppe
Poggi, the architect responsible not only for designing the piazza itself but also for building the boulevards that replaced the Medieval city walls,
and for devising the Viale dei Colli that winds up from the river to Piazzale Michelangelo. East of the piazza is a large totem by Giò Pomodoro
(1997) honouring the great scientist and astronomer Galileo Galilei.
Now turn back down Via San Niccolo`, passing in front of the church. A short walk will bring you to Piazza de' Mozzi, opening out on your right.
But first, let us pause before the looming bulk of Palazzo de' Mozzi on the left, facing the piazza and the river, a rare survival of a Medieval
palace and the setting for a couple of interesting episodes in Florence's Medieval history. The garden of this palace is, as you will recall, the
Giardino Bardini that we saw earlier on this tour. The Mozzi, who built this pile between 1260 and 1273, were extremely wealthy bankers, even
running the papal treasury. As the pope's bankers, they frequently played host to important personalities with the Roman Curia, particularly
during the period of the "Babylonian captivity" when the popes themselves resided in Avignon (14th c.). Pope Gregory X (the pope who blessed
the expedition in which Marco Polo travelled to China) lodged here himself in 1273, which suggests that it was the most splendid residence in
the city at the time. With the pope were Charles of Anjou, king of Naples, and Baldwin II, Latin emperor of Byzantium who had recently been
hounded out of his city. The pope, the king, the emperor, the governing council of Florence, and the leaders of the Guelf and Ghibelline parties
all met to witness the signing of a peace accord between the two warring factions. The accord was signed in the palace, and Pope Gregory laid
the foundation stone of the church and convent of San Gregorio della Pace (St. Gregory of Peace) on this very spot; the church and convent
survived until the late 19th c., but the peace itself lasted no more than four days. The pope left for Lyons in disgust, excommunicating the whole
city, and the ban was only lifted by Pope Innocent V three years later. A later guest at the palace was Piero, brother of King Robert of Naples
and also his envoy in Tuscany, who brokered the peace between Florence and Arezzo in 1314. It, too, was signed in this palace, and lasted a
bit longer! Another famous guest was Walter of Brienne, Duke of Athens, who lodged here in 1326 in his capacity as envoy of the Duke of
Calabria. His coat of arms (a gold cross on a red ground) can be seen on the facade of the palace.
The palace at no. 1, Piazza de' Mozzi, is the:
5 - Museo Bardini (Bardini Museum)
The palazzo housing the museum was built by 19th c. antiquarian Stefano Bardini in 1880, on the site of the church and convent of San
Gregorio (a plaque on the wall commemorates Pope Gregory X's visit). Bardini left both the palace and its contents to the city when he died in
1922, and taken together, they give us an extraordinary insight into the eclectic tastes of cultured men of the period. The collection contains
works stretching from Roman times to the 18th c., including such masterpieces as Tino di Camaino's figure of Charity, Donatello's Madonna of
the Cordwainers, of Antonio del Pollaiolo's St. Michael, along with numerous ceramics, medals, small bronze statues, musical instruments,
oriental carpets and a small armoury (in the former chapel). The top floor is to house the Galleria Corsi, containing over 700 14th to 19th c.
paintings which Fortunata Carobbi Corsi left to the city in 1937.
We now stroll west down the continuation of Via San Niccolo`, which is known from here almost to the Ponte Vecchio as Via de' Bardi, although
in Medieval times it was called Borgo Pidiglioso or "Lousy Lane", the word "borgo" (or "sobborgo") indicating that it was a growing "suburb"
outside the city walls, and "pidiglioso" being the Medieval form of "pidocchioso" or lice-ridden! Immediately next door to the Palazzo de' Mozzi,
you see the entrance to the:
6 - Giardino Bardini (Bardini Garden)
This garden is effectively the back garden of Palazzo de' Mozzi next door. Recently restored, it is one of the few extant examples of the kind of
multifaceted garden many villas would have had from the Middle Ages right down to the last century.
On leaving the garden, turn left and at the first junction (note the tabernacle housing '"the smallest art gallery in the world" - at the time of writing
it contains one photo of... trees!), a short, if mildly strenuous, detour takes us up Costa Scarpuccia on our left, for some extremely photogenic
glimpses of the city. A short way up Costa Scarpuccia, take the first right up Via del Canneto, which has to be one of the most atmospheric
corners of "old Florence". At the top of the street, turn left up Costa de' Magnoli, then first left again down Costa Scarpuccia until you return to
the tabernacle on the corner of Via de' Bardi.
On your right as you set off down Via de' Bardi, you come to
7 - Santa Lucia de' Magnoli or Santa Lucia delle Rovinate (St. Lucy in Ruins)
This church's second, rather curious name is due to its position, under the rather unstable hill of Costa San Giorgio. First built in 1078 to serve a
hospice for pilgrims travelling to Rome (remember, we are outside the early Medieval walls here, on what was then the main road to Rome), it
was damaged by landslides from "across the street" on numerous occasions! All trace of the hospice (in which St. Francis of Assisi, among
many others, once stayed) has gone; but the church in its present, Renaissance form contains a fine picture of St. Lucy by Pietro Lorenzetti
(early 14th c.) and two late 15th c. panels by Jacopo del Sellaio, a sometime colleague of both Botticelli and Filippino Lippi, depicting the
Annunciation.
The main altarpiece, a splendid mid-15th c. Sacred Conversation by Domenico Veneziano, has been moved to the Uffizi Galley and replaced by
a rather drab offering by Agnolo di Donnino, nor is there any trace of a fresco cycle by Bicci di Lorenzo known to have once been here. As you
emerge from the church, note the small (relatively modern) tabernacle across the road commemorating St. Francis' visit.
No. 30, Via de' Bardi is the 15th c. Palazzo Larioni de’ Bardi, attributed by some to Michelozzo (note the courtyard), while Palazzo Canigiani
next to it is a fine example of the Florentine Neoclassical style, having been rebuilt in 1838.
At no. 36, Via de' Bardi, you fin the Palazzo Capponi delle Rovinate, again owing its name to the frequent landslides in the area (notice a plaque
on the wall opposite, dated 1565, banning any further building on that side of the street). This palace was built for leading early 15th c.
Florentine oligarch Niccolo` da Uzzano, apparently to a design by the young Brunelleschi, and its courtyard is considered to be one of the
earliest examples of the Renaissance style. It is still lived in by Capponi family today and so, sadly, is not open to the public.
Via de' Bardi ends at Piazza Santa Maria Sopr'Arno, with a fine view of the Uffizi across the river. The view, however, is relatively recent,
because this square was once dominated by the important parish church of Santa Maria Soprarno (or "on the Arno"), sacrificed for reasons of
space and safety when the river banks were built in the mid-19th c. Via de' Bardi soon leads us back to the Ponte Vecchio, past modern
buildings put up in the fifties and sixties to make good wartime damage caused when the Germans blew up the streets in this area and on the
other side of the bridge in 1944. When Field Marshal Kesselring was organizing his forces' retreat, he had all the bridges in Florence mined to
slow down the Allied advance, but Hitler himself, who had visited Florence in the thirties for talks with Mussolini, is reported to have ordered him
to spare the Ponte Vecchio. This, however, entailed the demolition, instead, of the wonderfully intact Medieval streets on either side of the
bridge in an effort to make it impossible for the Allies to use, or even approach, it. This stratagem delayed the Allied advance by one, miserable
week...
And this brings us to the end of the tour.