Via dè Tornabuoni
Renaissance-era boulevard of palazzo facades lined with historic luxury fashion boutiques.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to Via de' Tornabuoni in Florence centers on Salvatore Ferragamo, a shoemaker's son from near Naples who left for America as a teenager and ended up fitting stars like Mary Pickford and Rudolph Valentino in Hollywood. It also traces the medieval fortress behind him, Palazzo Spini Feroni, raised in twelve eighty-nine by a banker named Geri Spini for defense rather than commerce, long before it bore Ferragamo's name. Look up at its jagged battlements as you stand on the street below.
This audio guide was created using AI.
Similar places
Museo Ferragamo
Medieval palazzo museum showcasing wooden shoe lasts and iconic footwear made for film stars.
Strozzi Palace
Rusticated stone Renaissance palace built by an exiled banker rival of the Medici.
Medici Riccardi Palace
Renaissance banker's palace of deliberately restrained stone facades hiding a gold-leaf chapel of Medici portraits.
Fortezza da Basso
Pentagon-walled Renaissance fortress with a towering keep, built to intimidate a defeated city.
Palazzo Pitti
Renaissance banker's palace turned grand ducal residence, with vast galleries and gardens behind it.
Palazzo Vecchio
Fortified medieval palace and Medici seat, with soaring tower, grand halls and secret passages.