Holy Spirit Square

Piazza Santo Spirito is a square in the Oltrarno district of Florence. The square was formed in the 13th century, like other squares in front of important religious buildings, to welcome the crowds attending the prayers of the Augustinians, the owners of the Basilica of Santo Spirito. Frequently a site for markets and fairs (a daily market takes place every morning, while others are held on weekends), it is rich in restaurants and nightlife venues, artisan shops, and artist studios. The square is dominated by the Basilica of Santo Spirito (which gives it its name) a Renaissance church, the last masterpiece of Filippo Brunelleschi, who here, just two years before his death, wanted to create new architectural experiments, which were only partly implemented by his successors in charge of the construction sites. The church belonged for centuries to the Augustinian order. To the left of the facade is access to the small museum of the Romano Foundation, located in the Cenacolo of Santo Spirito. A part of the original convent is now part of the Military District of Florence, at the northwest corner of the square. The importance of the church quickly grew, and by the end of the 13th century, the municipality acquired the adjacent houses to demolish them and create a square that for many years was the largest in the city. Among the numerous 15th-century houses surrounding the square, the Palazzo Guadagni stands out in the southeast corner, built for the Dei family around 1505 by Cronaca, which features a loggia on the upper floor, a characteristic that was then innovative and was copied by many other aristocratic palaces in the city. The windows have particular frames with drop-shaped keystones. Once decorated with white graffiti on a black background on the first and second floors, a work by none other than Andrea del Sarto, these unfortunately have been lost. On the ground floor, in 1914, the first municipal library of Florence was inaugurated, which still exists. The fountain dates back to 1812, when the architect of the Grand Ducal court, Giuseppe del Rosso, moved it here from the first cloister of the convent of Santo Spirito to the center of the square. In 1556, a first fountain had already been built, beside the cenacolo, but in the 19th century it was unfortunately demolished along with the entire wall on which it rested, which internally contained the precious Cenacolo of Orcagna. The fountain that is admired today in the square has a large octagonal basin made of sandstone, with a gracefully shaped vertical marble element in the center, with two smaller concentric basins, from which a jet of water flows. On the side in front of the church is an external basin, used as a drinking trough, with a lunette decorated with the bas-relief of a Medusa head from which the water flows. In 1869, during the Risanamento, the entire square was paved, and a garden was built, which was destroyed in 1938 during Hitler’s visit to the city, and which was reconstructed in the post-war period as we see it today, with smaller flower beds for the market and various events. The monument to the agronomist Cosimo Ridolfi, founder of the Accademia dei Georgofili, dates back to 1898, a work by Raffaello Romanelli situated at the southern end. In 1976, the center of the square was repaved with ancient stones. Since 1987, the square has been closed to traffic, and in 1999, nighttime lighting was enhanced as part of a project for the Jubilee of 2000. At the corner with Via del Presto di San Martino, there is a small Baroque tabernacle with a plaster statuette of the Madonna framed by volutes, restored in 1998. At the base of the statue is depicted the coat of arms of the Vettori-Capponi family, once the owners of the palace on which the sacred edifice stands. A second tabernacle is located at the corner with Via delle Caldaie, on the palace of the Dati family, and depicts a Madonna with Child, a copy of a work in Palazzo Pitti. At the beginning of the 20th century, there was a 15th-century stucco bas-relief with a similar subject here, which was lost and replaced by the current image in 1909. Piazza Santo Spirito, like other large Florentine squares in front of the churches of mendicant orders (Piazza Santa Croce, Piazza Santa Maria Novella, etc.), has been one of the city's venues for celebrations, games, and events since the Middle Ages. Particularly important for its role as the center of religious, economic, and social life in the Oltrarno district, the square has always hosted not only city-wide events but also celebrations related to the neighborhood. Among these, the most important was the festival of San Rocco, the patron saint of Oltrarno, which took place on August 16 and was celebrated by preparing a dinner in the square for the local residents and their guests. Here, the important San Martino fair was held, dedicated to wool fabrics, which extended also into the nearby Via Maggio. A tradition that has been preserved to this day is the square as a place of exchange; it indeed hosts the neighborhood market daily and, with a monthly frequency, craft and antiques markets.