An Itinerary of “La Cerchia Antica”
walk "the antique Circle" of Dante from the year 1078
As you begin to explore the squares, monuments and churches of Florence, it will be impossible not encounter the remains of the city “walls” and “doors”. Sometimes there is a physical reminder and sometimes just the name of the streets which will recall what once surrounded the area.
The walls were responsible for protecting the growing city and were an important piece of its first defence: walls sometimes 10 meters high with guard towers every 100 meters, surrounded by a moat from a local river and drawbridges to small urban areas just outside the protective ring. When you follow these traces, you can get a different perspective of Florence over the years.
Though there is some discussion on exactly how many times Florence rebuilt its walls (4 or 6?), for the purpose of our exploration we will concentrate on the walls from the year 1078, named “La Cerchia Antica” by Dante.
Below we give you not just a path to follow, but a few tidbits of info that may help you imagine how the walls and doors have been absorbed into modern architecture, and hopefully just enough history to tease you into visiting some of the wonderful museums in Florence which will help you fill in the missing pieces of the puzzle that the walls present.
La Cerchia Antica
between Charles the Great and Countess Matilde di Canossa
When seen from above, it is easy to see the Roman imprint on the construction of the city walls. The straight lines follow the ancient Roman buildings, which over time have been transformed into homes and municipal buildings from the time period during Charles the Great (early 800’s) and the impressive female ruler, Countess Matilde di Canossa (late 1100's).
The expansion of the new walls reached towards the Arno river, to encompass the growing population and defensive castles. The instability of the land and the health hazards of living too close to the water made it so that the Arno river was not included in the city walls - but the walls were built close enough so that the busy ports had easy access to the city.
From here you will have Santissima Annunziata to your back and you will be looking upon the mammoth marble covered structure which wasn’t even in the planning stages when the first city walls were constructed. What used to stand here was known as the church Santa Reparata. It was among the largest early Christian complexes of Tuscia, which is the name the Romans gave the territory under Etruscan influence before they incorparted them in their reign.
On my roof top tour of the Duomo, which included a visit to the Crypt of the older church (Santa Reparata) we had a glimpse of what was left of the walls that bordered right along the far north wall.
Santa Maria Maggiore
Some say has this church was founded in 580 by Pope Pelagio, though there is nothing to confirm this claim. However we do have documents from the years 931, 1028 & 1078 that demonstrate that it was already standing before the final walls were built. There are numerous legends that surround this church, but not one of them takes place at the time of the walls.
I would be remiss however, if I let you walk right by without at least mentioning one of my favorites stories: the face of Berta, (as the Florentines call her.) Her petrified face adorns the bell tower in white marble (look up). She apparently taunted and teased a man condemned to death, who then cursed her provoking the petrification of her face...never to leave the tower.
The river Mugnone once ran along the walls, and served as a defensive moat. This river is no longer visible in the heart of Florence, but only because its route has been artificially changed several times throughout the centuries. There is lasting proof of its passage here, just look at the street name, in fact the name via Panzani (the road that runs towards the train station) comes from the word “pantano” a word that means “land with low and stagnant water, mud and slime.”
At one time the Mugnone river wrapped itself around the city walls and emptied into the Arno river close to where we find Ponte Vecchio. The river was deviated and later included in Fortezza da Basso which once had a bridge to cross its tumultuous currents.
At one time this was the outline of the city's Roman walls and then later, in the early Middle Ages, this road ran along the Mugnone river. The name Tornabuoni came much later, in this period it was called Via Larga dei Legnaiuoli and Via dei Belli Sporti. Today it passes along the prestigious Palazzo Strozzi, known as one of the finest examples of Renaissance domestic architecture and Florence's largest temporary exhibition space hosting modern and contemporary art shows.
The fact that it is a popular shopping street came much, much later. As you walk down this road I encourage you to engage in a bit of window shopping...and maybe even some real shopping!
Porta di San Brancazio
The Gate of San Brancazio, is actually a distortion of the name Saint Pancrazio, and the nearby monastery that held his name. The church is now the home to the Marino Marini Museum, an intriguing mix of historic and modern art and a great little corner of tranquility and quiet. You won’t find any physical reminders of the gate, but you can imagine it standing just about where the current Palazzo Strozzi sits which is more or less where the antique Roman gate once stood.
Originally this historic and somber church was on the outside of the walls, but in 1172 it was incorporated within the “Matilde Walls”. If you have the time to take a look inside you can see pieces of the original structure, before restyling in Gothic. Read our article for more information on this church.
In the square you will find a column carved from oriental granite, the only one found in pristine condition when they cleaned up the Caracalla thermal spa and the Roman natatio (pool) in Rome. It was gifted to the Medici family by the Pope Pio IV and crowned with a statue of Justice.
The history of Florence can easily be retold walking these walls, and one of the more gory stories would involve the Buondelmonti family. This building started as a tower-house called “torre degli Scali” and changed its name several times over the years. The fight between the Guelfs and Ghibellines was already in full swing at the time of the wall, however it was the events that took place nearby here that swelled it into a battle that would guide the politics of Florence.
Coined by the character Robert Langdon in Dan Brown’s Inferno as “Florence’s bloodiest murder”, Buondelmonte de’ Buondelmonti’s death is said to have taken place 1216. The suitor who was killed by the Amidei family after Buondelmonte broke his engagement to her to marry another woman. His murder exacerbated divisions between the Guelfs and Ghibelline factions in Florence, a conflict which continued for several decades.*
This church stands on the outskirts of what was once part of the Roman city (via delle Terme is only one street over and refers to the Roman thermal baths). And if you are inclined to believe any of the legends that surround the church it was a major player not only during the Romans reign but also during Charlemagne's rule (also known as Charles the Great), and even during a the Crusades and Michelangelo...
Read more about this church
The building before you now didn’t come along until the late 1500’s, so if you want to see what was here before you need to walk over to via della Ninna, where you can see the remains of the church of San Pier Scheraggio on the external wall of the Uffizi, while the central nave is part of the exhibition area of the museum.
For many locals, the name "via della Ninna" comes from a painting by Cimabue (Madonna della Ninna). It was thought that the Madonna was singing the baby Jesus to sleep in the painting. The phrase "ninna nanna" in Italian means "lullaby," thus the word ninna has stayed with us and the road is called via della Ninna - or the lullaby road. However, this is only one theory. Want to see more of this church, read here.
The life line that flows through Florence. This river has its origins in the Apennine mountains at the top of Casentino valley. It makes its way south towards Arezzo before turning north again, and was one of the major road ways for economic growth bringing wool, wood and more from the valley and monks that lived there. Though it was also a source of destruction with the various floods that have overwhelmed its banks, the latest in 1966, the Arno River is also a point of reference in the city. This area at one time was an important commercial port for the Arno River.
Galileo Museum & Castello d’Altafronte
The Castello d’Altafronte, once a fortified residence, was destroyed by the 1333 flood. Rebuilt as a private residence, this building had several roles until it finally became the home to the Galileo Museum. One of its many roles was the home to the Giudici di Ruota (magistrates or judges of the high court of the Grand Duchy) as well as housing the collections of manuscripts owned by the Biblioteca Nazionale for a while.
The restoration of the basement in 2002-2003, exposed four massive stone foundation arches of the ancient Castello d'Altafronte. Today it is the home to Museum of the History of Science featuring the tools used by Galileo.
At this point you are walking past the back side of the Palazzo Vecchio, which among the many things to visit includes a ticket for the Roman digs underneath the building. Here you will see remains of the antique city and amphitheater.
This is the last stop before meeting up with the starting point at the Duomo. Though many concentrate on the Duomo (and rightly so, it is magnificent!) as the main church in Florence - actually there are so many that existed before the now Duomo: San Lorenzo for example and Badia Fiorentina, which was built in 978 by Willa, Countess of Tuscany, in commemoration of her husband, and is recognized as one of the main buildings from the medieval times in Florence.
The original abbey stood at the edge of the first city walls and faced a different direction from the present building, with its façade to the west and three apses to the east.
Today, just about in front of Bargello, you will find two metal circles embedded in the road. These mark the spot where, during an archeological dig, they found the remains of the tower that guarded the door from the defensive walls from the year 1078.
Read Our Itinerary for other places to visit from the film Inferno