The Florence Oltrarno Art & Food Tour will introduce you to the left bank of the Arno river, the most typical, genuine and less touristy part of Florence. Many craftsmen still have their shops here today (actually, why not combining this with the tour of the artisans of Florence?). A short walk and we will arrive to Santo Spirito district, where we can’t miss the Augustinian Church of Santo Spirito, last creation by the Renaissance maestro Filippo Brunelleschi. Our second stop is San Frediano district, where we will discover the marvel of the Renaissance Brancacci Chapel. Oltrarno is a pretty quiet neighborhood, where many Florentines live. It is the less touristy part of the city. Here we will discover together Florence’s small culinary traditions in the many shops, cafés, wine bars, and gelato shops in the area. If time allows, we will head to San Niccolò district, an area known for its nice restaurants, artisans’ workshops and art studios. Here we will visit the studio of a street artist, who’s a little institution now in Florence.
The Florence Oltrarno Art & Food Tour features Santo Spirito Church. It was constructed over the ruins of an Augustinian convent from the 13th century and later destroyed by a fire. Filippo Brunelleschi designed the project for the new building around 1428. Construction was carried on by his colleagues after his death in 1446. The church has 38 magnificent side chapels, which contain a noteworthy amount of artworks (don’t worry, we will just see a couple of them!). When Michelangelo was seventeen years old, he could make anatomical studies on the corpses coming from the convent’s hospital in exchange for sculpting a wooden crucifix which was placed over the main altar. Today the crucifix is still here, in the octagonal sacristy.
Our Florence Oltrarno Art & Food Tour also includes the Brancacci Chapel. It was commissioned by Pietro Brancacci in 1386 in the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine. It’s sometimes called the “Sistine Chapel of the early Renaissance” for its painting cycle, among the most famous and beautiful of that period. It was painted by three different artists, Masolino, Masaccio e Filippino Lippi. However, Masaccio is the one who made a radical break from the medieval artistic tradition by adhering to the new Renaissance concept of space dominated by the geometrical perspective. Last but not least, in this neighborhood we will have a few food stops to taste some pecorino cheese, bruschette, schiacciate, charcuterie, all paired with a good Chianti Classico wines! Furthermore, we will be off to discover some wine windows, now so iconic! There’s no better way to round off our Oltrarno Art & Food Tour than with a delicious gelato!
