Market of San Lorenzo

A significant historical event is at the origin of the "Mercato Centrale di San Lorenzo": the transfer of the Italian capital city from Turin to Florence in 1860. To welcome the new Government, Florence undertook a restyling of the old part of the city (structured in the medieval style): entire buildings were transformed, some streets widened, new buildings in the Savoy style realized and the Roman part of the city (with the Mercato Vecchio and the Jewish area) cancelled.

New archeological discoveries were made. The restyling was planned by the architect Giuseppe Poggi. To him we also owe the knocking down of Dante's time walls, the alteration of the Lungarni and of Viale dei Colli, the realization of Piazzale Michelangelo.

Because of the increase in population three Markets rather than one were planned in the old "Camaldoli" area: San Lorenzo (the largest), Sant'Ambrogio (the so-called Mercato delle Erbe) and San Frediano. As there was not enough room for a market in San Lorenzo, a wide structure was planned elsewhere. Giuseppe Mengoni was entrusted with the task of its realization.

The work began in 1870 and finished in 1874, but the market began to work only two years later. Since then several generations of Florentine people have walked its streets (which make it look like a little town of workshops) to buy every kind of food and have considered it the best market for the quality of goods and the cheapness of prices.