Oltrarno

Florence’s left bank, the Oltrarno, is relatively small, squeezed in between the Arno and the hills, but it manages to seem more green and serene than the dense stone canyons that characterize the right bank. Its streets were fashionable in the 12th and 13th centuries, when the feisty nobility lived in tower houses during the violent scrums between the Guelphs and Ghibellines.

Afterwards, wealthy merchants and bankers developed the neighbourhood – the Bardi clan, most notably, who bought up a whole street of a slum known as Borgo Pigiglioso (‘flea pit’) and made it into the Via de' Bardi lined it in almost its entirety with family palazzi. Once in fashion, the Oltrarno never really fell out, especially once the Grand Dukes took up residence in the Pitti Palace.

Today the Oltrarno is central Florence’s last real residential neighbourhood, the streets lined with bakeries and barber shops instead of boutiques and restaurants. It is also now a really sought-after area to live in (property prices in Santo Spirito are among the highest in Florence) and has become increasingly trendy in the past 10 years, so there are also lots of bars, restaurants and nightspots here too.