WANDERING AROUND THE OLTRARNO
Hunting for the Gonfaloni of old and the artisan workshops

There are a thousand different ways to visit and discover "the other Florence": the Oltrarno (other side of the Arno). The best way is on foot, crossing one of the four historical bridges: Ponte alla Carraia, Ponte Santa Trinita, Ponte Vecchio or Ponte alle Grazie. That's how to get to the quarter of Santo Spirito, symbolized
by a white dove with golden rays in a blue field. Originally, and up to the end of the 12th century, the urban territory of Florence was divided into quarters. When the city walls were enlarged between 1172 and 1175, the city had to be divided into six districts which also included the hamlets that had sprung up on the other side of the river, and which, with their many artisan activities, were to become a fundamental factor in the economic life of the city. These six districts included various peoples and groups and were then called Gonfaloni,
after the standards that identified the different districts and around which the inhabitants of the area gathered. In 1343 the Gonfaloni were reorganized since the city had grown considerably within the new circle of Arnolfo di Cambio's walls. The original six districts were replaced by a new subdivision into quartersnamed after the city's most important churches: San Giovanni, Santa Maria Novella, Santa Croce and Santo Spirito. The number of Gonfaloni was set at 16 and their functions gradually took on an administrative nature. The quarter of Santo Spirito was subdivided into 4 gonfalons: Drago, Ferza, Nicchio and Scala. Each gonfalon differed as to size, population and social fabric, but they were all characterized by spacious green areas within the 2 walls and by the prevalence of wool guild workers and craftsmen, especially in the Gonfalone of San Frediano Drago) and that of Santo Spirito (Ferza). Nowadays the Oltrarno is a living reality where the past is still alive in the "hum" of generations of craftsmen tenaciously attached to their ancient crafts. In the labyrinth of lanes in the Oltrarno one can still encounter artisans who preserve and hand down original and refined working methods, directly transmitted by the craftsmen who in past centuries enriched Florence with their handmade objects. The survival of these techniques is entrusted to the patience and diligence with which they ply their craft every day, producing unique pieces appreciated by those who know a fine craft object when they see it. For Antonio Paolucci the "true genius of the Italians" lies in their artisan talents, the fruit of "a conscious trans-mission of beauty, an ancient wisdom which flowers in the fantasy or in the intellect".

Quarter of Santo Spirito Rione of San Frediano - Antico Gonfalone del Drago

The Gonfalone of the Drago covers the entire area of the stretch of the Arno between the Ponte Santa Trinita and the Torrino di Santa Rosa, the ancient walls that joined it with San Frediano and Porta Romana (in great part still there along Viale Ariosto and Viale Petrarca), Via dei Serragli up to Via della Chiesa, Via delle Caldaie, Via del Presto di San Martino and Piazza Frescobaldi. It was one of the largest of the Gonfaloni, with a population that came mostly from the surrounding countryside, clustered around the numerous religious settlements. The best way to wander though this area and discover the charm of San Frediano and its most characteristic nooks and corners is to think of the long Via dei Serragli as the borderline with the neighboring Gonfalone.

The itinerary begins at the Ponte alla Carraia, dating to the early thirteenth century, destroyed in 1944 and rebuilt in the 1950s. From Piazza Nazario Sauro, where the Soderini owned numerous houses, walk along the Lungarno Soderini, once lined by the gardens of this illustrious family. Skirt the wall of the Seminario Maggiore, till you get to Piazza del Cestello, with a magnificent view of the church of Ognissanti across the way and the patrician palazzi on the right bank of the Arno. The western side of the piazza is closed by Cosimo III's massive "Granaio" or Grain warehouse, built in 1695.
The church of San Frediano in Cestello, with a bare stone and brick facade, was built at the end of the 17th century by Antonio Ferri who completed it with the elegant dome set on a drum and the small bell tower. It replaced the small church of Santa Maria degli Angeli which was part of the convent where Saint Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi had lived before the Carmelites were transferred from Borgo San Frediano to Borgo Pinti. Inside, the decoration and the stucco ornaments lend it a festive pleasant air. The various artists who worked here included Pier Dandini, Camillo Sagrestani, Alessandro Gherardini, Domenico Gabbiani, Matteo Bonechi, and Francesco Curradi. The rest of the south side of the square is occupied by typically Florentine modest houses Continue along Via del Piaggione, up to Via and Piazza del Tiratoio, a name that refers to the Wool Guild building in which the woolen cloths, spun, woven and dyed in the neighboring workshops, were hung to dry. After crossing Via Sant'Onofrio (patron saint of weavers), which leads to the A. Vespucci Bridge, turn into Via Lorenzo Bartolini, a rather anonymous street where the municipal slaughter house once stood. Various furniture restorers and well known artisan silk and silver workshops are located here. Fine silk fabrics are still made here in line with the traditions of the 15th century when Florence was in the fore in the working of brocades with as many as 83 workshops " of the art of sil  magnificent and of great worth, who make silk cloths and gold brocades, of the orient and velvet damasks and satins and taffetas..." In another "workshop" marvelous objects in silver are created, strictly by hand, worked in repoussé and chasing just as Cellini and the Renaissance
goldsmiths used to do.