Legends and Mysteries in Florence: audio walks

Florence's legends are part of the way its streets are seen. This theme gathers stories attached to places and people while keeping their origins in view. The pleasure comes from hearing what is told and being able to distinguish a popular tradition from a documented account of the past, as you move between locations.

In “Legends of Florence”: You finish with the wheel of the Mercato Nuovo, the boar whose snout, according to Andersen, children polished as they drank, the Virgin of the Grain at Orsanmichele, whose miracles not even the friars believed, and the face carved beside the door of the Palazzo Vecchio.

In “The Duomo and the Baptistery”: Every legend is told as a legend, and you can hear it all from the square.

In “The Medici in San Lorenzo”: You start at the Mercato Centrale, the great iron-and-glass market that Florence began building in the few years when it was the capital of Italy, and walk on to the bare façade of San Lorenzo, the one Michelangelo never clad in marble.

Choose from 3 independent walks in Florence. Open the one that interests you to see its map, stops and approximate duration before deciding. You don't need to do them all or follow this selection's order; each walk has its own starting and finishing points.