Streets, Piazzas and Markets

Mercato Centrale

Via dell' Ariento 10-14.

Open: 7am-2pm Mon-Sat.
Underground carpark open 24hrs a day, seven days a week.

Right in the heart of the San Lorenzo street market is Florence's busiest food market, the bustling Mercato Centrale. It is housed in a vast two-storey building made of cast-iron and glass, which was built in 1874 by Giuseppe Mengoni. During restoration in 1980, a mezzanine floor was constructed and a car park was added in the basement. For reduced rate parking, have a market vendor stamp your receipt. On the ground floor there are dozens of stalls selling meat, fish, cheese and typical Tuscan takeaway foods, such as porchetta (roast suckling pig). Fruit, vegetables and flowers are sold on the top floor.

Piazza della Santissima Annunziata

The delicate nine-bay arcade on the eastern side of this elegant square was designed by Brunelleschi in 1419 and forms the façade to the Spedale degli Innocenti. Brunelleschi's round arches gave rise to the Classical style widely copied by Renaissance architects. In the centre of the square is an equestrian statue of Duke Ferdinando I, started by Giambologna towards the end of his career. It was finished in 1608 by his assistant, Pietro Tacca, who also designed the two stylized Mannerist bronze fountains in the square.

A fair is held annually in the piazza on the feast of the Annunciation, 25th March, when homemade sweet biscuits called brigidini are sold from the stalls.

Piazza di San Lorenzo

Open: 9am-7:30pm Tue-Sat.

At the western end of the piazza, near the entrance to San Lorenzo church, there is a statue of Giovanni delle Bande Nere, mercenary and father of Cosimo I, first Medici Grand Duke. It was carved by Baccio Bandinelli in 1540, and is almost hidden from view among the market stalls stretching all the way up the side of San Lorenzo church and into the streets leading off the piazza. The stalls closest to the church cater mostly for tourists, selling leather goods, t-shirts and souvenirs. In the streets around the market, everything from lentils to bargain-priced clothes is sold. The neighbouring shops have become an integral part of the market, selling cheeses, hams, home-baked bread, pastries, fabrics and table linen.

St. Regis

Westin

Hotel Kraft

Hotel Adler

Mediterraneo