Piazza Santissima Annunziata

The Piazza della Santissima Annunziata is characterised by the Renaissance aspect which Brunelleschi conferred in it with the construction of the colonnade for the Ospedale degli Innocenti (Museum). The elegant harmony of the hospital building conditions the entire square, and the colonnade itself is later repeated in the Loggiato dei Serviti, and in the façade of the church. As a result Brunelleschi’s design assumes a certain urbanistic importance, underlined by the fact that this square is one of the few points of the city from which one can see the cupola of the Cathedral, the monumental symbol of the fifteenth century city.

The square has also always played a significant role in the religious, cultural and economic life of Florence, which is closely related to the religious institute of the Servants of Mary. In fact the presence of an image of the Annunciation which is believed to be miraculous has made the church of Santissima Annunziata an important centre of devotion, and a destination for pilgrimages and processions. As well as this, the fact that in Florence the feast of the Annunciation (25 March) coincided up until 1750 with the start of the new civil year, made the square the obvious choice for the celebration of this holiday which was both civic and religious.

The square is dominated in the center by the equestrian monument of Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, by Giambologna and finished by his pupil Pietro Tacca, who was also responsible for the two side fountains (1629) depicting sea monsters. Also on the square, at the corner of the church facade, is the National Archaeological Museum of Florence, one of the most important in Italy, with valuable collections of Egyptian, Etruscan and Greco-Roman art.

​This square also hosts one of the most typical traditions, the Rificolona. This Florentine Feast is held every September 7th, the night before the Nativity of the Virgin Mary.