Description
The Torre della Pagliazza is a round tower in Piazza Sant'Elisabetta, in the oldest part of Florence. Many call it the oldest building in the city to have kept its original appearance. At its base is a small archaeological museum.
The oddity is its shape: a round tower is extremely rare among Florence's medieval towers. The reason lies underground. The excavations of the latest restoration discovered that it rests on the curved wall of a Roman building, the only one known in this part of the city.
It was perhaps a pool or a bath chamber of Roman Florentia, a secondary bathhouse after the main ones near the Ponte Vecchio. Whoever built the tower used those foundations and took on their shape, which recalls that of the ancient Roman walls.
Who built it, however, is not clear. Some say the Byzantines, in the 6th century, during the Gothic War, as part of a fortification. Others say the Lombards, a century later, as a simple tower house. Throughout the early Middle Ages nobody knows what became of it.
From the 13th century on, the records are certain. In 1268 it was a prison, and from 1285 a women's prison: the name supposedly comes from the straw mattresses of the inmates. It then became the bell tower of the church of Sant'Elisabetta, used until 1785.
The museum, open on request, displays the Roman remains from the excavations: the original brick floor, some ancient walls and a few shards from the time of the founding of Florentia, in the 1st century AD.
A display case highlights a gap: nothing from the early Middle Ages, then fragments of 14th-century maiolica with elegant decoration.
The excavations also yielded a great number of pieces, mostly from the 16th and 17th centuries.
It is Renaissance ceramics and later, largely from Montelupo: large plates with animals, views of towns and human figures, 16th-century bowls with rich geometric decoration, trays with coats of arms, the "scratched blue" decorations and the so-called "harlequins" of the early 17th century, with large painted figures.
From 1983 to 1988 a restoration considered exemplary freed the tower from the structures that hid it. You can see how it looked in the 15th century, with shops on the ground floor after the prison closed, and houses and warehouses above. Today the tower is part of a hotel.
Don't miss
• The round shape of the tower.
• The Roman remains.
• The Montelupo plates.
Did you know?
• The church of Sant'Elisabetta was first called San Michele alle Trombe.
• Near Via delle Terme another round structure remains, perhaps linked to the "Capaccio," the start of the Roman aqueduct.
The oddity is its shape: a round tower is extremely rare among Florence's medieval towers. The reason lies underground. The excavations of the latest restoration discovered that it rests on the curved wall of a Roman building, the only one known in this part of the city.
It was perhaps a pool or a bath chamber of Roman Florentia, a secondary bathhouse after the main ones near the Ponte Vecchio. Whoever built the tower used those foundations and took on their shape, which recalls that of the ancient Roman walls.
Who built it, however, is not clear. Some say the Byzantines, in the 6th century, during the Gothic War, as part of a fortification. Others say the Lombards, a century later, as a simple tower house. Throughout the early Middle Ages nobody knows what became of it.
From the 13th century on, the records are certain. In 1268 it was a prison, and from 1285 a women's prison: the name supposedly comes from the straw mattresses of the inmates. It then became the bell tower of the church of Sant'Elisabetta, used until 1785.
The museum, open on request, displays the Roman remains from the excavations: the original brick floor, some ancient walls and a few shards from the time of the founding of Florentia, in the 1st century AD.
A display case highlights a gap: nothing from the early Middle Ages, then fragments of 14th-century maiolica with elegant decoration.
The excavations also yielded a great number of pieces, mostly from the 16th and 17th centuries.
It is Renaissance ceramics and later, largely from Montelupo: large plates with animals, views of towns and human figures, 16th-century bowls with rich geometric decoration, trays with coats of arms, the "scratched blue" decorations and the so-called "harlequins" of the early 17th century, with large painted figures.
From 1983 to 1988 a restoration considered exemplary freed the tower from the structures that hid it. You can see how it looked in the 15th century, with shops on the ground floor after the prison closed, and houses and warehouses above. Today the tower is part of a hotel.
Don't miss
• The round shape of the tower.
• The Roman remains.
• The Montelupo plates.
Did you know?
• The church of Sant'Elisabetta was first called San Michele alle Trombe.
• Near Via delle Terme another round structure remains, perhaps linked to the "Capaccio," the start of the Roman aqueduct.