The Tabernacles of Florence

Especially in the historic center of Florence there are many traces, sometimes unnoticed, that take us back in time, allowing us to get to know our city more deeply. This is the case, for example, of the Tabernacles.

At some Canti (crossroads), facades of palaces, churches, public buildings it is easy to come across some sacred images, within architectural frames or temples .. This particular type of "street furniture" spread from the 13th century, in a period of struggles against heretics, and had a strong impulse following the plague of 1348, when the tabernacles were enriched, in some cases, with a table in order to guarantee the celebration of liturgical functions in the open air.

Behind each of these tabernacles there is a story, a miracle, a legend, which makes them different from each other. For example, there are numerous tabernacles along the path of the condemned to death, almost stations of a via crucis between the prison (Bargello or Le Stinche) and the place of execution: Porta alla Croce, the current Piazza Beccaria, which was reached originally passing, not surprisingly, from via de 'Malcontenti. In other cases the tabernacle was built on the site of an alleged miracle, as a sort of ex voto, or as an invocation for protection: this is the case of the so-called Madonna of the disease (in Oltrarno, via del Leone), which Giottino admirably frescoed after the terrible plague of 1348. On other occasions, still, we find them along important routes, to protect the journey of wayfarers and pilgrims.

Below we propose an itinerary to discover the most significant tabernacles, focusing on those of the historic center.