Florence Ghost Tour, a tour of mysterious Florence

Forget romantic strolls and the view from Piazzale Michelangelo: on Emadion even holidays are horror! I am starting this new section with a Florence ghost tour, devoted to the mysteries and misdeeds of the city and its surroundings: ghosts, murders, torture and mysteries in a mysterious Florence waiting to be discovered!

The mystery of 4 July 1442

Let’s start from the Basilica of San Lorenzo, easy to reach on foot from the railway station. In this basilica, in the small dome above the altar of the Old Sacristy, Brunelleschi’s masterpiece, you can admire a mysterious painting of a starry sky. It was probably painted by Giuliano d’Arrigo, known as il Pesello, following the instructions of the cosmographer Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli.

It is not just any sky, but exactly the one that could be seen on the night of 4 July 1442.

Some scholars examined the fresco and discovered not only that it depicts the sky of that specific day, but also that it shows it from that very point of view. This is how the sky must have looked on 4 July 1442 directly above the dome, and nowhere else.

This painting is even more mysterious when you consider that there is an identical one in the Pazzi Chapel, in the first cloister of the Basilica of Santa Croce, commissioned however by the rival family, the Pazzi, enemies of the Medici who had funded San Lorenzo.

What led them to make such a precise painting? What great event could bring two rival families together?

Scholars have put forward two hypotheses: the arrival in Florence in 1442 of René of Anjou, the king of Naples ousted by Alfonso of Aragon, or 6 July 1439, when with the bull Laetentur coeli the Council of Florence sealed the reunion of the Greek and Latin Churches. That day, at around 10:30, the Sun and Moon were exactly where they are shown in the painting.

You can try to solve this mystery as you walk towards the Pagliazza Tower.

The Pagliazza Tower, a medieval women’s prison

The Pagliazza Tower stands in the small Piazza Sant’Elisabetta, a stone’s throw from the Duomo. It is considered one of the oldest buildings in Florence to have kept its original appearance: it dates back to the 6th or 7th century and was built on the foundations of a Roman building, perhaps a bath.

We are interested in it, though, because it housed a prison, where the inmates were certainly not treated well.

Or rather, the female inmates: the tower is mentioned as a prison as early as 1268, and in 1285 it was reserved exclusively for women. Where does its name come from? From the “beds” the prisoners were forced to sleep on, made only of straw (paglia).

The executions at the Bargello

Today the Bargello is a splendid museum where you can admire works by famous artists. Before that, however, it was the seat of justice, and criminals were executed right in front of it, by hanging or beheading, just as happened to the murderer of Caterina Canacci.

In the Middle Ages you could even see the bodies of criminals hanging from the building’s windows.

In one corner stands the Volognana tower, whose bell rang on sad occasions, such as calling young men to arms or when someone was about to be executed.

The tombs of the Basilica of Santa Croce

A short walk from the Bargello is the Basilica of Santa Croce, where you can see the other fresco depicting the night of 4 July 1442. Important figures are also buried in this church, including Galileo Galilei, Ugo Foscolo and Girolamo Segato.

The ghost of Via Ghibellina

Now head to Via Ghibellina, number 14. In this building, in 1867, a ghost appeared. Its victims were a young married couple who had just moved to Florence and who, after settling into the flat, began to hear strange noises.

At first they did not pay much attention, but when objects started flying around the house and the dishes shattered on the floor, they immediately realised something was wrong.

So they called a priest who lived downstairs to bless the house. Although the clergyman was sceptical, he had to change his mind when, during the blessing, an entity appeared right under his nose.

The couple left the flat, but the landlord took them to court (which is how this account has reached us), accusing them of lowering the value of the house with their “tall tales”. The court, however, acquitted them.

The walking dead of Via dei Malcontenti

How did those condemned to death feel on their way to the scaffold? What thoughts went through the minds of these criminals or, very often, of these poor wretches? I hope you never find out, but in Via dei Malcontenti, parallel to Via Ghibellina, you can walk the same route that many of the condemned took to meet their death.

The street’s name comes from the condemned, who were certainly not happy (malcontenti), led from the prisons of the Bargello or the Stinche to the scaffold, often amid the insults and blows of the crowd.

The night before the execution they were watched over by the Company of Santa Maria della Croce al Tempio and the Battuti Neri, who then accompanied them in procession. Along the street, tabernacles with sacred images were placed, some of which are still visible, to give the unfortunate some comfort and allow them to repent.

The scaffold was set up on the Prati della Giustizia, outside the old Porta della Giustizia, near the Torre della Zecca, and later at Porta alla Croce, both, of course, a stone’s throw from Via dei Malcontenti.

La Specola Natural History Museum

Near the Boboli Gardens, full of alchemical symbols, is La Specola Natural History Museum, where you can see 5,000 animals and 1,400 anatomical waxes. By booking, you can also visit the Hall of Skeletons.

The Florence ghost tour continues

If you have another free day to devote to the Florence ghost tour, I recommend visiting the hospital in Figline Valdarno, reachable from Firenze Rifredi station, where the ghost of Veronica Cybo is said to roam. Enjoy your mystery tour!

Sources

• Sagrestia Vecchia – Wikipedia (Italian)
• Cappella Pazzi – Wikipedia (Italian)
• Torre della Pagliazza – Wikipedia (Italian)
• Via dei Malcontenti – Wikipedia (Italian)