From Acciaiuoli to Zecca Vecchia – the Street – Names of Florence researched and written by Mark Roberts.

This little known book is a treasure-house for anyone interested in the history of Florence – all these Vias, Borgos, Piazzas, Vicolos and Valtas hold their history in their names – and Tuscany more than anywhere else that I know , except perhaps Ireland ,  loves to give people and places descriptive nicknames!

Many of Florence’s key streets are named after the people who lived there in their grand Palazzi  – The Acciaiuoli family giving their name in the 17th Century to the embankment stretch between the Ponte Vecchio and the Ponte Santa Trinita – this first example is a great one as these people made some of their money from steel ‘Acciaio’ – so their name is derived from their occupation – although like most of the prominent Florentine families they were also Bankers.

Other streets named after famous – and rich – Florentine families were the Borgo degli Albizi, Via degli Alfani, Piazza Antinori, Via de Bardi, Chiasso dei Baroncelli, Via de Benci, Via dei Canacci, Piazza de Cerchi, Via de Conti , Borgo di Greci, Lungarno Guicciardini.

The portrait below is of  Francesco Guicciardini 1483-1540 . He was  a  friend and critic of Niccolò Machiavelli, who lived in a Palazzo on the opposite side of this street, which was sadly destroyed by the departing Germans in 1944 in their attempt to stop the advance of the Allies without blowing up the Ponte Vecchio – although they blew up all the other beautful bridges across the Arno.

Guicciardini is considered to be one of the major political writers of the Italian Renaissance and his family named a long and important street.

The family names continue with Via de Medici,  Piazza de Nerli, Lungarno Torrigiani , Via Tornabuoni, Via di Sassetti, Piazza de Pitti  – and the delightfully named Sdrucciolo de Pitti opposite the Palazzo – a steep little lane down which one might slip….you have been warned!

image of Luca Pitti – bankrupt banker

Other street names come from the activities practised there – The famous shopping strip Via dei Calzaioli was named in relation to the hosiers who made the strange pointed footwear portrayed in 14th and 15th century paintings –

Piazza della Calza up near the Porta Romana ( gate towards Rome) had a more complicated path to it’s name –  the word Calza was used to describe the white hood worn by the lay brothers of the church in that square that was dedicated to St Justus – it was so long that it seemed more like a stocking than a hood so Calza (stocking) became the slang term for the Piazza, and it has remained the Piazza della Calza even after Pope Clement IX suppressed the monastery in 1668 for producing and selling distilled alcohol from their pharmacy!

Other occupation based names include Via dei Banchi – the road where the street traders set up their stores – and incidently if they went bust they had to chop their bench in-half – indictating Bancha -rotta(broken) which means bankrupt.

Ladies of the night lived in the Via delle Belle Donne, and Condemned men were led by Black Hooded man called Compagnia dei Neri from the Bargello Prison along the Via dei Malcontenti – as no doubt they were , as they walked the final mile to the scaffold, pausing only to say their final prayers to the Virgin Mary at this tabernacle.

One of the  sweetest names is Via Gomitolo dell’Oro – or Golden Elbow Street – a crooked street full of goldsmiths spinning the precious metal into golden thread and winding it into balls known as ‘gomitoli’. Incidently our English phrase ‘Elbow grease’ is known as Oilo di Gomito!

There are also street named after what was grown, living or sold there – Via della Vigna Vecchia – the old vineyard and Via della Vigna Nuova for the new vines planted at the now de-consecrated church of  San Pancrazio which since 1808, has served the seat of the city’s lottery, a tribunal, a tobacco factory and currently the museum showing the sculpture of Marino Marini.

The strangest story applies to the innocuous sounding street name of Porta Rossa – the red door or gate – which was the entrance to the Vallombrosan Monastery of Santa Trinita.  Not only was the door probably painted red – or it could have been un-plastered brick – but there was also , apparently, a bright red phallus painted on the keystone of the arch?

Shape also has a bearing on the name – Via Torta – is not a cake shop but a crooked street , which is unusual in Florence,  and is believed to follow the outline of the original Roman Amphitheatre.

The last street defined is Lungarno della Zecca Vecchia , which means ‘ Old Mint’  – what better way to end a book about the City that invented the Florin?

Mark Roberts book is sold at the Paper Back Exchange and the BM Bookshop in Florence but is difficult to find through the usual sources like Amazon etc.

If you have trouble sourcing a copy please contact me and I will try to help.