A Very
Special Walking Tour of Florence
The most delightful book Strolling
Through Florence by Florentine Franco
Ciarleglio appeals directly to our interest in
the small, charming sites and strange stories that
can be found in this city. The major sites are
wonderful and interesting but often crowded and
difficult to appreciate, so we relish these 56
stories and love finding these little sights
sandwiched among the big ones. You can purchase the book in
Italy at any large bookstore.
Furthermore you can engage the author himself to
give you a two hour walking tour of the secrets and
legends of Florence. He will narrate the anecdotes
and stories he collected in his book giving you an
amusing and very human look at Florence and its
people over the ages. Florentines are famous for
their biting humor and you will witness this
institution first hand as Franco Ciarleglio himself
shows you insights through the streets, art, and
architecture of Florence.
The tour is available to people of all ages and
may engage children more than most tours. It can be
adapted to the interests of the participants. Details
below.
Franco's passion for his city is evident in the
following two stories taken directly from his book.
Story n. 12
On on the left hand side of Santa Maria del
Fiore, at the top of a supporting column, there is a
head of a bull sticking out from the cornice. In
actual fact, this is a really the head of a cow,
proudly displayed to honor all those beasts of burden
who have collaborated over the centuries in the
works for the Opera del Duomo (building of the
Duomo) by bearing the weight of the heaviest loads.
However the common folk recognized the head of a
bull in the sculpture and there is quite a saucy
story behind it.
Legend has it that the bull's head
was in fact placed in that exact spot by one of the master stonemasons who was working on
the building of the new cathedral. This man was the
lover of the baker's wife who had his shop not far
from the cathedral. The baker discovered their
relationship and flew into a rage threatening the
master stonemason and repudiating his wife for
adultery before the ecclesiastic court. The lovers
were found guilty and forced to stop seeing each
other. As an act of revenge, the master stonemason
decided to mount the head of a "cuckolded"
bull right in front of where the poor baker looked
out of his window so he would be face to face with
the memory of his wife's betrayal!
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Story n.18
Two patrician palazzos face onto Piazza
Santissima Annunziata. The one to the right, when
looking at the cupola of the Duomo that you can
glimpse looking down Via dè Servi, is now called
Budini-Gattai, but was once know as Palazzo Grifoni,
after the family that built and inhabited if for
several centuries.
The last window of the second floor [third floor
as counted in the US] always has the shutters
closed, but with the lower part open allowing anyone
inside the room to look down the piazza below.
Legend has it, in fact, that a few centuries ago a
very beautiful girl was given in marriage to one of
the Grifoni sons. She moved into the palazzo with
her husband with whom she was deeply in love, and he
with her. The happiness of the two newly-weds was
not destined to last, however, and several months
later the young Grifoni was called off to war together
with heirs of all the other noble and patrician
families of Florence. One sad day the beautiful wife
bid a tearful farewell to her husband, waving to him
from the small window as he rode away on his horse,
armed to the teeth and with his faithful equerry at
this side holding tight the gold standard with the
family's red crest.
The lonely wife spent most most
of her days sewing and embroidering on a bench next
to the window from where she glanced out every now
and then while awaiting the return of her husband.
The days passed by but there was still no news of
him and the tales brought into the city by merchants
and pilgrims regarding the progress of the war were
not reassuring. However she never gave up hope and
waited patiently day after day continuing to gaze
out of the window. The days turned in months and
months into years, and the wife, no longer young,
gradually began to accept her fate, even though she
still spent most of the day sitting by the window
with her memories of the happy yet brief period
passed together with the man she loved. In her old
age her favorite pastime was that of observing the
word below her window with the children play in the
piazza, the merchant selling their wares under the
arcades and the peasants arriving in the marketplace
with their carts. However, her mind always strayed
to the memory of her young armed knight riding off
to war with his standard.
She died right in this
room. When her body was carried away and they tried
to close the window all hell broke lose. Books
started flying across the room, furniture started
jumping about, the lamps turned off and on, pictures
dropped off the walls, and ornaments shifted about!
The members of her family were filled with fear,
however, as soon as the window was opened again,
peace returned to the room and ever since then this
window has been kept just as it was then, sufficiently
open to allow a view of the piazza below.
Won't it be fun to walk the streets of Florence
spotting and learning all these interesting and
amusing side stories?
Please email
us with your dates and the number of people in your
party for availability and price quotes that will
depend on whether you join others or book the tour
exclusively for your group.
Exclusive Tour Prices for 4-12 Participants
2.5 hour walking tour guided by Franco Ciarleglio
on weekends: €300
3 hour walking tour, itinerary taken from Franco
Ciarleglio's book, guided by licensed historical
guide €250
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their vacation in Italy and their experience with
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about your rental with us, please don't hesitate to
ask.
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