Florentine crafts: the workshops you don't expect (and yes, they still exist)

Florence, which in the spring season makes itself known in its most intense and attractive forms and nuances, has the particularity of being a city of a thousand facets. A city that one can choose to visit and learn about through a variety of aspects: historical-artistic, cultural, gastronomic, even legendary.

Today, for example, with this article, we go in search of an almost "hidden" Florence, and for that reason full of charm.

In fact, we will talk about the city that for decades, with historic craft and trade workshops, has still been handing down the sense of crafts and true Made In Italy. A "slow," industrious Florence, dedicated to holding high, with great passion, the pride of manufacturing and craft traditions that only those who decide to look at it with curious eyes will be able to discover.

Are you ready to begin this journey?

The center of Florence: not only brand

Walking through the historic center of Florence, especially in the pulsating streets of shopping and the most relevant international brands, you will have the feeling that you can actually find everything you could want: from luxury to fast fashion, from hi-tech to the hottest and most popular food and beverage chains.

If, however, we accept "the risk" of going off the most renowned paths, if we give ourselves the chance to "get lost" and let ourselves be guided by the most authentic Florentine character, we will discover small gems of local craftsmanship that have become great excellences all over the world.

Sometimes these are tiny stores, hard even to find, with still "old fashioned" signs: sincere stores that inside contain ... wonders.

How precious you are, Florence:

In the heart of the special neighborhood of San Frediano, for example, you will find the Antico Setificio Fiorentino, which since 1786 has been guarding a priceless legacy, a heritage of knowledge and beauty that has become an object of worship around the world.

Changing sectors completely and immersing yourself in art with a capital A, we absolutely recommend getting lost in the workshop of the Rigacci Brothers on Via De' Servi: canvases, paints and everything you need to paint surround a shop/laboratory that has been a meeting place for artists, a creative forge, a pure stimulus of passion and creativity.

On Via del Parione, on the other hand, is the Alberto Cozzi bookbinding shop, established in 1908. Everything you would like to see and know about restoring antique books...will be provided here: indeed, this is a unique place where the traditions of the craft are handed down through the generations without ever losing originality and care.

If we then move further into a more "shiny" sector, we cannot fail to mention a name also recognized as a prestigious Florentine Historical Establishment, namely Argenterie Pagliai.

This valuable business present in Borgo San Iacopo, founded by Orlando Pagliaia and carried on by his son Paolo and granddaughter Stefania, is synonymous with class, quality and excellent craftsmanship.

A journey among Florentine workshops:

If what you are looking for is a tour that is different from the usual, that is, a once-in-a-lifetime experience through knowledge and knowledge that is distant in time but adapted to contemporary times through the ingenuity of creative minds, take a tour of the oldest Florentine workshops and let yourself be transported into a world of wonderful creations.