While you are in Florence either for a long stay or just for a quick trip, the city center offers many opportunities to enjoy the florentine craftsmanship: yes, that craftsmanship which made the Renaissance…
Shopping in Florence city center: when centuries of history come in handy…
The city center of Florence has probably the highest “artistic density per square meter” in the world. Just a few minutes walk makes you feel like having the ability to travel through time: from the Early Christianity times of the Santa Maria Del Fiore (the Florence Cathedral) crypt to the Tuscan – Gothic facade of the Santa Maria Novella Basilica, from the stern rusticated stonework of Palazzo Vecchio to – back to Santa Maria del Fiore – the Brunelleschi’s Cupola, the dome of the Cathedral, the very symbol of Florence and Renaissance.
So: it is quite a lot of arts and monuments (enough to possibly become the cause of a psychosomatic disorder, the Stendhal syndrome), but, in the cobbled narrow alleys of Florence, you can still find artisan shops which have all the flavour of a glorious past.
Some examples?
Artistic bookbinding: bloc notes, diaries, copybooks, but hand bound, with superior quality paper and artistic covers in leather, wood or fabric. Think of Harry Potter’s The Monster Book of Monsters or the weird Necronomicon (well: no leather from human skin available): your next diary can be a unique florentine one.
But if you want to bring your shopping experience of Florence to a higher level, the antique shops in via dei Fossi are a must see: old prints, rare books, coins and even statues and paintings!
Food of another time
The long history of Florence imbues even its food culture, so you can have medieval treats such as the ‘brigidini’ (aniseed-flavored crispy waffles); the ‘cantuccini’ (almond biscuits); the ‘lampredotto sandwich’, a panino stuffed with boiled and seasoned cow’s stomach (the abomasum)…