Florence's San Lorenzo

Florence's San Lorenzo neighborhood is actually two neighborhoods superimposed: The ecclesiastical neighborhood centered around the city's original cathedral, San Lorenzo (it was outside the city walls, and, according to tradition, was funded by a pious Jewish woman), and the commercial neighborhood centered around the mercatino, the street market, and the Mercato Centrale, the city’s major produce market. The former, with Brunelleschi and Michelangelo’s Sacristies, Pontormo’s paintings, Michelangelo’s sculptures, and the Laurentian Library (also designed by Michelangelo) is one of Florence’s intellectual cornerstones. Not so the latter; it likely came into being in the 1870s, following the construction of the produce market -- merchants probably began to set up their carts in the surrounding streets to sell goods to those coming to do their shopping. In short, a permanent version of the weekly markets that still take place in almost all Italian towns and city neighborhoods.

In the beginning San Lorenzo was a good place to buy things, clothing and leather especially, but with the opening of department stores in the 70s Florentines changed their shopping habits. As a result the mercatino changed its target, aiming squarely at the tourist trade, and the atmosphere changed; the bargains that drew the Florentines are mostly gone, and though one can find good quality items, there’s also lots of shoddy merchandise. And the market has an ample share of pickpockets and down-and-outs.

Why would you want to go to the modern markets (after visiting the masterpieces)? Well, if you like to shop you will be able to find bargains if you look, and so long as you keep an eye on who’s around you, you needn’t fear theft during the day (at night the area is decidedly seedy). Also, to see the Mercato Centrale. Giuseppe Mengoni built it between 1870 and 1874, possibly in part to provide an outlet for those who would be displaced by the renewal of the area around Piazza della Repubblica, which had hosted the city’s major vegetable market, and to give city residents a centrally located place to shop. At the opening it must have been magnificent, with elegant geometric motifs decorating the exterior, and a vast interior space, a cathedral dedicated to the commerce of the day. Unfortunately you won’t see that, because a second level was added at some point and now the ground floor is artificially lit, primarily at the whim of the various shopkeepers who own the stalls. So the experience is one of light and shadow, as it were.

What you will see is a fascinating selection of produce of all kinds, and if you enjoy exploring delicatessens you’ll be ecstatic. The best thing to do is simply wander; if you enter from the front (Via dell’Ariento), turn right and you’ll come to Perini, one of the finest delicatessens, with a tremendous selection of foods, everything from stewed boar and quiche to take home, to breads and cold cuts if you want a quick snack (they also accept credit cards). If you backtrack to the entrance, go in, and then left, you’ll come to another slightly less visually elegant delicatessen with a superb selection of cheeses, and also one of the finer vegetable stands, with truffles and porcini (in season) and all sorts of exotic things as well. The ground floor also hosts butchers and has some of the finest fish available in Tuscany. You’ll find the upstairs remarkably light and airy after the lower level; it has the vegetable and produce stands, and again you can find almost anything, from extraordinarily lush peaches (in summer) to perfect artichokes (in winter), and a host of exotics as well.

Alas, the same malaise that has struck the clothing market outside is striking the produce market as well; over the past 20 years many Florentines have defected in favor of supermarkets that have better parking, and much of the clientele is either immigrants living in the cheap housing of the nearby allies, or tourists.

What happens next will be the city government's call. If they leave things as they are, the Mercato will become steadily more marginal. However, with a thorough facelift it could become very nice -- it also attracts the professionals who work in the surrounding offices, some of whom come to buy a sandwich for lunch, and others to grab something before they head home – for example portions of Perini’s quiche. And many come to have lunch at Nerbone’s, a trattoria that’s down the corridor from Perini – a Florentine institution where you take your place in line, get your food, and cross the corridor to sit at a marble table if a seat’s available, or eat standing at a high marble table. It's well worth a visit, and if the city were to support others who decide to launch similar ventures in the Mercato, we could have something very nice indeed.