Historical San Lorenzo Market

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

The Historical San Lorenzo Market, the “Central Market”, is a magical place where the past meets the fast pace of modern life.

It’s a place very dear to the Florentines, who show their appreciation for the quality products sold in the market every day. The quality is savored as in the old days, choosing among the 100 shops on the ground floor.
All the products on offer come from the Florentine plain, including small rarities that are difficult to find in modern shopping centers.
The Central Market has become a meeting place. Here the human factor is as important as the quality of the goods sold. In fact, experienced operators offer customers recipes and advice that come from the Florentine cultural tradition, handed down from generation to generation.

What We Love About This Place

The Historical San Lorenzo Market is an ensemble of scents and colors, tastes and traditions that come together in the streets of a building with 19th century charm, in the heart of Florence, a stone's throw from the Duomo. It is a unique building, inaugurated in 1874 and built with materials that were modern at the time: iron, cast iron and glass, an impressive design that still fascinates tourists and residents alike. The voices, scents and colors that fill the internal streets create an unmistakable atmosphere that can only be experienced in the Mercato Centrale. The Central Market is a space of memory, where the daily life of the city meets the know-how of the countryside. Here, individual tastes and stories are mixed in the search for authenticity, which is not only the quality of the product, but also the expression of a collective history that shows no signs of fading, while remaining modern in its means and methods. A place where you can still taste the real Tuscan cuisine, buying the quality of products that often come from those in the countryside who produce them and sell them in the market; like the Tuscan olive oil, which juggles a thousand nuances and contaminations, it is a place where you can be sure to find the real traditional product in the hands of those who have harvested, processed and bottled it.

This Place is Important Because

Today, the nineteenth-century building is still used for commercial activities, especially on the ground floor. The aim is to preserve the characteristics of a traditional food market and to offer tourists an authentic cross-section of Florentine and Tuscan food culture. Over the years, the structure has been modified with the creation of a second floor where today food service and tasting activities take place, completing the offer of products for daily food shopping, the most important in our city. In fact, there are 100 shops that are spread out along the alleys and corridors of the ground floor, without any particular order, preserving the layout of all markets that leave the choice of purchase and comparison to the consumer. 150 years of history and stories lived under the splendid structure commissioned by architect Mengoni. A history that is part of that of one of the most popular districts of Florence: the Medici district par excellence, since both the Medici church of San Lorenzo and their residence, Palazzo Medici Riccardi, are a short distance away. A district where important artists and writers such as Lorenzini (Collodi's Pinocchio) and artist Vinicio Berti lived. Despite its proximity to the main railway station, the district has maintained its proud character and a social cohesion that sees the market as a reference.

Special Tips

In the course of the years, new projects and events have been created that show the life of the market in situations that are not commercial, but that emphasize its history and culture, which have always been rooted in the city. The citizens are very attached to it and respond positively to the activities of a modern market that is always in step with them. Events such as "INZUPPIAMOCI" or "La festa dell'uva", which happen throughout the year, show the market in an unusual evening dress. Festivals that embrace the district and become a meeting point between the historical activities of San Lorenzo and the inhabitants of the city, who on these occasions can taste traditional dishes prepared by the historic restaurants of the district, in the exclusive setting of the central market, open in the evening and dressed up in an exceptional atmosphere.