Free audio walk in Florence
Oltrarno and craftsmanship
- 11 stops
- Free
Starts at Zuidelijke kop van de Ponte Vecchio
About this walk
A stroll through the neighborhood on the far side of the Arno, where Florence still works by hand and the workshops sit at street level.
The stops
Walk them in order; each story plays when you reach its pin.
- 1Stop 1
Beyond the River
A walk through the quarter where Florence still works by hand, on the far side of the river.
- 2Stop 2
The street that was sacrificed
Two medieval towers among younger houses, on the street that was given up to the bridge in 1944.
Read the story - 3Stop 3
Bianca's House
A facade covered in grey sgraffito, built for the Venetian mistress of a grand duke.
Read the story - 4Stop 4
The neighbourhood's square
The living room of the district, where the market stands every morning and where the city's first public library once took shape.
Read the story - 5Stop 5
The church without a face
A facade stripped of any detail, and a church that holds Brunelleschi's last and most austere design.
Read the story - 6Stop 6
Gold as thin as breath
Gold leaf that drifts away on your breath, and streets where the craft has passed from hand to hand for centuries.
Read the story - 7Stop 7
The chapel that survived the fire
The church burned almost entirely in 1771, and the one part left standing was the very chapel where half of Florence had learned to draw.
Read the story - 8Stop 8
The wool carder who became standard-bearer
A wool carder from this neighbourhood ran Florence for a few months in 1378.
Read the story - 9Stop 9
The gate toward Pisa
A fourteenth-century city gate that still holds its original wooden doors.
Read the story - 10Stop 10
What the Water Left Behind
After the flood of 1966, Florence had to learn how to rescue thousands of damaged works, and that knowledge lives in this quarter.
Read the story - 11Stop 11
Who still lives here
A neighbourhood trying to hold onto itself, with workshops tucked in among the new apartments.
Read the story
Ready when you are
Walk Oltrarno and craftsmanship with ROODS.
11 stops through Florence. Open ROODS in your browser, walk to the first pin and the story plays.
- Stories on a map, with narrated audio
- Walk at your own pace, stop where you like
- Runs in your browser. An app is optional.
