Le ragazze di San Frediano - San Frediano Girls

"The district of Sanfrediano is on the other side of the Arno, it is that large heap of houses between the left bank of the river, the Carmine Church and the slopes of Bellosguardo; from above, similar to buttresses, Palazzo Pitti and the Medicean bastions surround it; the Arno flows there in its most relaxed bed, it finds there the sweet, ample and marvellous curve that laps the Cascine. How perfect, in a civilisation that has itself become nature, the terrible and fascinating stillness of God's smile, envelops Sanfrediano, and exalts it. But not all that shines is gold. Sanfrediano, by contrast, is the city's most unhealthy quarter; in the heart of its streets, populated like anthills, are the Central Garbage Depot, the Public Dormitory, the Barracks. Much of its fondaci are home to rag-pickers, and those who cook cattle entrails for trade, along with the broth they make from them. And that it is tasty, however, the people of San Frediano despise it but they eat it, they buy it by the flaskful."

This is how Vasco Pratolini (a Florentine author) begins one of his most famous novels and representative of a part of post-war Florence, Le ragazze di San Frediano. The neighbourhood, despite being poor and humble, has always concentrated aspects and traits typical of Florentine life, the strength of mind and spirit of its inhabitants, industriousness, courage and exuberance.

Since ancient times, San Frediano, a popular and densely populated district, has encompassed economic handicraft activities that have defined the vocation of the city and its citizens to work masterfully in the field of applied arts and art. A boundless number of workshops and handicrafts were born and have been handed down from generation to generation in one of the neighbourhoods that have best represented Florence in the collective imagination, including abroad. Due to the existence and importance also of the city's first factories, the San Frediano district became an incubator of those socialist and anarchist ideas that were the foundation and the reason why the Oltrarno played a central role in the Resistance and anti-fascism.

A monument in Piazza Tasso commemorates the massacre perpetrated on 17 July 1944 by republican soldiers against the population; five people died, including an eight-year-old boy, Ivo Poli. 

We propose an itinerary that highlights female entrepreneurship and is emblematic of the strong personality of San Frediano women, just like the famous 'girls of San Frediano'.

This itinerary is part of the European project Crafts Code.