This is a preview of the content in our Florence Art & Culture app. Get the app to:
- Read offline
- Remove ads
- Access all content
- Use the in-app Map to find sites, and add custom locations (your hotel...)
- Build a list of your own favourites
- Search the contents with full-text search functionality
- ... and more!
Verrazzano
Birthplace of the Explorer
Verrazzano is a name New Yorkers will recognize at once thanks to Giovanni da Verrazzano, not the usual Chianti landlubber but a captain who, in the service of François I of France, discovered New York Harbour and Manhattan island in 1524. He disappeared on his second voyage to Brazil, but surely smiles down from heaven on the bridge named in his honour, so many miles away from Chianti.
His birthplace, the Castello di Verrazzano, is now an agriturismo and offers wines and olive oils.
Text © Dana Facaros & Michael Pauls
Image by Alfredo Borda, Creative Commons License