In the ancient times this square was the center of the roman city, the place where cardo and decumanus intersect. Now a column rise in this exact point to remember the past, and it’s called Colonna dell’Abbondanza (column of abundance).
From the year 1000 this square hosted the old city market.

The present appearance of Piazza della Repubblica is the result of the city planning done after the proclamation of Florence as the capital of Italy (1865-71). In this years large parts of the city centre were demolished to create the large squares and streets that a capital needed.

The decision to enlarge the square needed the destruction of several historical important buildings: medieval towers, churches, the corporate seats of the Arti, palaces, craftsmen's shops and thousand of houses.
The demolition was presented as a necessity, as the area's insanitary conditions were to be improved, but was in reality led above all to building speculation and to legitimization of the will of the emerging middle-class, protagonist in the events that bring Italy to unification.

The big arch in Piazza della Repubblica, called Arcone, remember with an inscription the huge demolition of the 19th century:

L’antico centro della città
Da secolare squallore
A vita nuova restituito

"The ancient centre of the city

restored from age-old squalor

to new life"

Colonna dell'Abbondanza, the exact place where cardo and decumanus used to meet in the roman city of Florence

the old carousel in Piazza della Repubblica

the big arch, with the commemorative inscription, called "Arcone"

the big arch of Piazza della Repubblica from the back

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Here’s a list of the best vintage shops in Florence: here you can find clothing, jewellery, handbags, shoes and more, from the twenties to the eighties, and you can also find some incredible vintage masterpieces of the best Italian super-fashion griffes, as Gucci or Armani...
Don't forget to hang around piazza Ciompi flea market too!

Pitti Vintage – vintage clothing and accessories
Sdrucciolo dei Pitti 19/R
Florence, Italy
50125
Phone: +(39) 055 230 2676
http://www.pittivintage.com/

Beggar Len – vintage clothing
via R. Giuliani 106/R
Florence, Italy
50100
Phone: + (39) 055 417 028
+(39) 335 543 0252
http://www.beggarlen.com/

Anna – vintage jewellery (from twenties to eighties)
Borgo Allegri
50100 Firenze

Pennylane – vintage clothing and accessories (sixties and seventies)
Via Verdi 53/R
50100 Firenze
Phone: +(39) 055 248 0498
http://www.pennylanevintage.com/

Officina Vintage – vintage clothing and accessories
Boutique
Via del Giglio 41/R
50100 Florence (historical center)
Tel. +(39) 055 215 828
http://www.officina-vintage.com/

Showroom
Via F. Botticini 20
50143 Florence (Legnaia zone)
Tel./Fax +(39) 055 719 1340

Nadine Shop – vintage griffes clothing and accessories (Pierre Cardin, Balenciaga, Chanel, Dior, Hermes, Gucci, Fendi, Ferragamo, Valentino, Pucci, Saint Laurent...)
Lungarno Acciaiuoli, 22/R
50123 Firenze
Tel.: (+39) 055 287 851
http://www.boutiquenadine.it/

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What about spending some time hanging around the stalls of a market to breathe the genuine atmosphere of a city?
In Florence there are a lot of markets where you can buy almost everything; here is a list of the main markets, the ones that are strongly recommended if you’re planning to visit the city.
Florence is famous for leather products, and sure for meat, cheese and food in general; you can find all those things at the market at very reasonable prices.

Market of San Lorenzo
In front of the church of san Lorenzo, in piazza San Lorenzo and via dell’Ariento, this is the main market of the city. Outside you can find clothing, leather shoes, belts, bags, souvenirs, and more. Inside de building there are the food stalls, selling meat, vegetables, fruit, cheeses… Always very crowded.
Opened from Tuesday to Saturday, externally all day long, inside from 7 to 14.

Market of Sant’Ambrogio
In piazza Sant’Ambrogio, this is the right place if you’re looking for the best food at the best price in Florence! Less crowded than San Lorenzo, here you find less tourists and more locals; in this market there is also the restaurant Rocco, where you can stop for a tasty traditional Tuscany lunch. Outside the market some stalls sells clothing, house ware, books, dvds, and more.
Opened every day except Sunday, from 7 to 14.


Le Cascine Market
In the biggest park of the city, Le Cascine, on the Arno riverside, every Tuesday morning a very big market takes place: food, clothing, house and kitchen ware, collectibles, vintage stuff, you can find almost everything here! Don’t forget to take a walk in the park after shopping ;-)

Flea Market- Piazza dei Ciompi
In Piazza dei Ciompi, opened every day except Sunday, from 9 to 19, there’s the flea market of Florence. The stalls sell furniture, books, comics, records, prints, paintings collectibles, jewels, old coins and much more. This market is really charming, with its retro atmosphere!

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Rocco is one of my favorite restaurants, when I want to eat in a very quick and cheap way.It's not a not a poor sandwich to eat standing, at Rocco you can have a complete meal with all the simple and tasy dishes of Florence tradition, drink a glass of red wine, and have a talk with Rocco, the owner and also chef of this restaurant. Rocco is located inside the market of Sant' Ambrogio, in piazza Sant'Ambrogio; is only opened at lunch and closes around 14-14,30 because has to respect market's closing time. Market of Sant' Ambrogio is perhaps my favorite one of Florence, less crowded than San Lorenzo market, and with foods of greater quality (I'm talking about meat, fruits and vegetables), i recommend you a visit to taste some great Tuscany food.

Rocco is not link a common restaurant, with small tables, separated kitchen, etc. we say that it is more a widened kiosk, seems a train wagon, with small tables at sides, and a free central space where the waiters pass away. The kitchen is at the bottom of the " wagon" , and it is at sight. In the central space there's also a big container with food trays, so you can see what you're going to order.

Atmosphere is pretty informal: vintage prints representing old Florence, memories of a whole century... on the table a yellow paper, napkins and glasses are made of paper too. Rocco is a perfect host, he laughs, play tricks, sings traditional songs... The service is really quick, in a few minutes your meal is served, infact I would say that it' s more a fast-food-trattoria then a restaurant.

I really like Rocco's dishes: all the simplest traditional recipes typical of Florence, like steaks, chickpea soup, ribollita, beans soup, boiled tripe, and much more, always served with his own red wine.
All the dishes cost less than 4 euro, so the price for a complete meal, with 3 main dishes and beverages is about 15 euro... really inexpensive, but also really tasty... You won't go away with empty stomach or empty pockets!

I just love this place, everyone eats here, from tourists to italian businessmen, once here I even met some celebrities like football players of Fiorentina, the Florence football team.

Inside the market of Sant'Ambrogio

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Every tourist visiting Florence has to take a tour of San Lorenzo market, the big and famous market whitch sells just everything, clothing, accessories, souvenirs of Florence, but above all they are specialized in artigianal leather products: coats, handbags, purses, belts, gloves, etc. Take a tour of the external stalls, then penetrate in the covered market!

The market of San Lorenzo is very close to the dome and train station, right in the center of the city, it is just impossible impossible not to find it. The building, built between 1870 and 1874 is one of first in Italy to being realized with modern techniques (for the age…), materials are iron, glass and cast iron, and it has been planned from Mengoni, who designed also the other market of Florence (sant' Ambrogio, a smaller one but also pretty and much less chaotic) and the gallery Vittorio Emanuele II of Milan. The base of the buildinf is monumental, made in stone, very suited to the Florence context, with large round arches; the upper part is light and transparent thanks to the glass a decorated with a metallic structure. The big glasses make the inside of the covered market very lightful.

Externally the market is surrounded with loggiati of classical arches, that turn around along the roads surruonding the building; in these roads you'll find all the external stalls.

The walk among the stalls is usally pretty stressful, the road is often overcrowded, and sometimes covering just 300 meters can take a long time… the stalls are selling just everything, mostly cheap leather accessories, but also t-shirts, souvenirs of Florence (some of them are really kitsch and funny!), clothes... there are also some vintage clothing and some craftsman's shops.

But what I most like of San Lorenzo are the benches of the food market, those situated in the inside. There are butcher's shop benches with wonderful pieces of fresh meat (Tuscay and Florence are well known for it's fine quality meat). Not to mention the benches of the cheeses… Some benches sell jars of the best conserves, like peppers, dried tomatoes, etc... others sell dried beans and cereals in bug raw cotton bags which are so beautiful to see… I love the scents of San Lorenzo, the smell of the fresh blood of the meat (it's a bit creepy but i like it!), the scent of seasoned pecorino cheese and the tasty smell of spices…

I suggest you to visit the market in the early morning, it' less crowded and all the shops are open (food shops are cloesed after 14.oo pm). If you're hungry taste the tipical Florence fast food: bread with "lampredotto" at Nerbone's (inside the market), hot boiled tripe and other offals served in a piece of bread and red wine.

Here are two videos taken from Youtube of the market of San Lorenzo, enjoy!

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