The 17 contrade

The Legend of la BEFANA

Passion of Christ on Palm Sunday

The Grassina Passion Play

Gothic Dream

The Race or Bravio of St. Reparata

Wish upon a star

Halloween

Bacco Artigiano at Rufina

And who was St. Zenobius?

A home from home through the year

More Tuscan history

The Scottish market

On the night of the shooting stars

The feast of St. Lawrence
[Susan Glasspool]

August 10th is the Feast of St. Lawrence, the Patron Saint of the Quarter of San Lorenzo. The date is also celebrated throughout Italy as the night of shooting stars and often combined with wine tastings, especially in winegrowing areas.

Almost all tourists or students who come to Florence find themselves sooner or later in the area of San Lorenzo. Some go there to visit the magnificent Medici Chapels with the sublime sculptures by Michelangelo, the Laurentian Library and the beautiful Basilica, one of Brunelleschi’s great legacies to the world. Others instead prefer to browse around the market with its variagated stalls selling leather and dresswear, bags, silks and other typical Florentine products, a motley and fascinating hotchpotch of languages, people, goods and cultures.

The more adventurous discover the Central Market inside the massive Victorian-style metal structure which, half hidden by the market stalls, often passes unobserved. Many Florentines like to do their shopping here among this riot of gastronomic products, meat, fish, tripe, cheeses, and where tastings are often on offer to attract passing clients.

It is a popular quarter, once dominated by the fact that the Medici family lived here (the “back door” Palazzo Medici Riccardi gives onto the square) and considered the Basilica their own family church.

So don’t visit San Lorenzo for your sightseeing and shopping in the daytime alone but come back again in the evenings, especially for the St. Lawrence festivities, to enjoy a Bohemian, colourful and culturally interesting atmosphere that is enjoyable for Florentines and tourists alike.

The festivities open with the colourful Procession of the Florentine Republic, when the city authorities, accompanied by colourful flag bearers and pageantry, offer celebrative candles in the Basilica. Initiatives include guided visits and special openings of the Medici Chapels. In the evening the whole neighbourhood participates in the traditional distribution of lasagna and water melon in the square, reminiscent of the ancient celebrations of the Guild of Bakers, whose feast day this once was.


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