Via dei Servi: The Pilgrims' Road
Why is it significant?
Halfway along this narrow street, stop and turn round. Behind you, the dome fills the far end of the street like a painted backdrop on a stage, so close that you can count the white ribs. Ahead, a bronze horseman and the arches of a church portico close the view the other way.
Key Facts
| Place | Via dei Servi: The Pilgrims' Road |
|---|---|
| Address | Via dei Servi 15, 50122 Firenze FI, Italy |
| Geo Coordinates | 43.77500, 11.25840 |
| Part of Walk | From the Dome to David: Brunelleschi, Ghiberti and Michelangelo in Florence |
| Generated | Generated |
Halfway along this narrow street, stop and turn round. Behind you, the dome fills the far end of the street like a painted backdrop on a stage, so close that you can count the white ribs. Ahead, a bronze horseman and the arches of a church portico close the view the other way.
The street takes its name from the Servants of Mary, the Servites, a religious order founded in 1233 by seven Florentine merchants who gave up their businesses to live in prayer. Their church at the far end, the Santissima Annunziata, became the best-loved shrine in the city, and this street became its pilgrim road. For centuries Florentines walked it with candles, prayers and promises.
The busiest day was the 25th of March, the feast of the Annunciation. Until 1750 that was also New Year's Day in Florence, so a document dated February 1500 by a Florentine notary actually belongs, by our reckoning, to 1501. Historians still trip over it. And every 7th of September the street fills again for the Rificolona: children parade with paper lanterns, remembering the country people who once walked into town by night for the fair at the Annunziata, while other children, armed with peashooters, try to set the lanterns on fire.
Just ahead, Via degli Alfani crosses the street. Turn right into it and on the corner of the next block you will pass a strange, many-sided brick building that seems to have stopped halfway. That is the Rotonda of Santa Maria degli Angeli, begun by Brunelleschi in 1434 as one of the first centrally planned churches of the Renaissance. The money, a legacy left for the purpose, was diverted to pay for a war against Lucca, and the walls stayed unfinished for centuries.
It is a very Florentine fate: a genius, a perfect plan, and a city council with other priorities. Keep following Via degli Alfani east to Borgo Pinti, turn right, and look for a gate opening onto a courtyard of slender columns.