Santo Spirito Square

The Augustinian Hermits settled in 1250 in an Oltrarno area enclosed by the 1173 walls, a development of fundamental importance to the district. During the thirteenth century, helped by three new bridges, the Oltrarno expanded greatly around its two principal religious centres, Santo Spirito and the Carmine church. From 1269 the Basilica of Santo Spirito was rebuilt and enlarged with municipal funding, and the square took shape towards the century’s end. Its architecture has since changed profoundly: Brunelleschi’s rebuilding of the church, whose interior marked the culmination of his artistic career; enlargement of the convent; renovation of noble palaces; and especially the eighteenth-century plastering of the church façade created one of the city’s most distinctive, lively and popular squares. Numerous markets take place here, including the Fierucola on the third Sunday of each month. To the left of the basilica façade is the entrance to the Santo Spirito refectory, the Fondazione Salvatore Romano, a small museum of considerable interest. Besides its central fountain, the square is adorned by a nineteenth-century statue of Marquis Cosimo Ridolfi, the noted Italian politician and agronomist.