{"id":27653,"date":"2024-10-22T16:23:08","date_gmt":"2024-10-22T14:23:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dimorestoricheitaliane.it\/?p=27653"},"modified":"2024-11-28T14:17:57","modified_gmt":"2024-11-28T13:17:57","slug":"strolling-through-the-heart-of-florence-and-discovering-its-historical-residences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dimorestoricheitaliane.it\/en\/strolling-through-the-heart-of-florence-and-discovering-its-historical-residences\/","title":{"rendered":"Tuscany &#8211; Strolling through the heart of Florence and discovering its historical residences"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Leave the car behind and opt for a pair of comfortable shoes for an itinerary designed to be experienced entirely on foot, with only a final taxi ride needed to reach the last residence we recommend visiting. This is Florence, and driving a car around here isn\u2019t only tricky when it comes to finding a parking space, but it could also result in unexpected fines, which might drop through your letterbox several months after your return home. The chances of unintentionally entering a ZTL (Limited Traffic Zone) area are quite high in the \u2018City of the Lily\u2019, as this Tuscan capital has been named since the Middle Ages<strong>. <\/strong>The best way to start your Florentine tour is by taking a high-speed train to Santa Maria Novella, one of Italy&#8217;s most centrally located railway stations. On arrival, either check into your hotel or, alternatively, store your luggage at KiPoint, an extremely handy service which is available in most major train stations. You can then head straight over to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smn.it\/en\/\">Basilica di Santa Maria Novella<\/a>, conveniently positioned just across the street. This basilica has historically held great significance for the Dominican Order, established here since 1221. It was originally known as Santa Maria delle Vigne (\u2018Saint Mary of the Vineyards\u2019), because vineyards used to flourish in this area at a time when it was outside the city walls<strong>. <\/strong>The Basilica is a treasure chest of remarkable artistic works, housing famous paintings such as Masaccio&#8217;s Trinity and Giotto&#8217;s Crucifix, and sculptures including Brunelleschi&#8217;s Crucifix. The Great Cloister of the basilica opens onto Via della Scala, where our first historical residence, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dimorestoricheitaliane.it\/en\/structures\/casa-howard\/\"><strong>Casa Howard<\/strong><\/a>, is located. This charming guesthouse from a bygone era boasts a prime position close to the train station while still being in the heart of the city. Right next door to it is the <a href=\"https:\/\/eu.smnovella.com\/\">Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella<\/a>, a pharmacy and perfumery founded by the Dominican friars, who first began crafting their scented waters within the convent in 1381. Today, the former Chapel of Saint Nicholas serves as the grand salesroom for all the products of the Santa Maria Novella brand, with perfumes both for personal use and home fresheners, plus liqueurs, soaps, scented candles and herbal remedies<strong>.<\/strong> To return to Casa Howard, this exclusive boutique hotel is named after Jenifer Howard Forneris, who personally conceived and designed each of the rooms, and has been welcoming visitors since 2005. Continuing on towards Porta al Prato, near <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stazione-leopolda.com\/en\/\">Leopolda Station<\/a>, which is now a venue for trade fairs and conventions, your steps will lead you to Via Curtatone and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dimorestoricheitaliane.it\/en\/structures\/terrazzino-reale\/\"><strong>Terrazzino Reale<\/strong><strong> sul Prato<\/strong><\/a><strong>,<\/strong> or Royal Terrace at the Hotel Executive. A wooden stand was commissioned here by the Grand Duke of Lorraine at the point where the road leading to Porta al Prato and the Parco delle Cascine formed an open angle, thereby offering a broad view. The Royal Loggia terrace, designed by architect Luigi de Cambray Digny, replaced an earlier wooden structure and served as the place where the Grand Duke\u2019s court would gather during the Berber horse races, an old Florentine tradition. The races began when the Grand Duke gave the starting signal for the races from this loggia, and it was from this same spot that he would also announce the name of the winning horse at the end of the event<strong>. <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Leave the car behind and opt for a pair of comfortable shoes for an itinerary [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":27608,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564,499],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-territories","category-toscana-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Tuscany - Strolling through the heart of Florence and discovering its historical residences | Dimore Storiche Italiane<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dimorestoricheitaliane.it\/en\/strolling-through-the-heart-of-florence-and-discovering-its-historical-residences\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tuscany - Strolling through the heart of Florence and discovering its historical residences | Dimore Storiche Italiane\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Leave the car behind and opt for a pair of comfortable shoes for an itinerary [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dimorestoricheitaliane.it\/en\/strolling-through-the-heart-of-florence-and-discovering-its-historical-residences\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dimore Storiche Italiane\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-10-22T14:23:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-11-28T13:17:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dimorestoricheitaliane.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Firenze-Cupola.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"940\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"470\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Alessandro D&#039;Agostino\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Alessandro D&#039;Agostino\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dimorestoricheitaliane.it\/en\/strolling-through-the-heart-of-florence-and-discovering-its-historical-residences\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dimorestoricheitaliane.it\/en\/strolling-through-the-heart-of-florence-and-discovering-its-historical-residences\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Alessandro D'Agostino\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dimorestoricheitaliane.it\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/44c5fbb58a9ff02a18beac7215decfd7\"},\"headline\":\"Tuscany &#8211; 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