Piazza San Lorenzo & the Bistecca Legend

Why is it significant?

Make your way into the crowded square of San Lorenzo: leather stalls, the rough, never-finished stone face of the old church to one side, and on a tall carved pedestal by Baccio Bandinelli, a seated soldier in marble, Giovanni delle Bande Nere, father of the first grand duke.

Key Facts

Open the walk

Make your way into the crowded square of San Lorenzo: leather stalls, the rough, never-finished stone face of the old church to one side, and on a tall carved pedestal by Baccio Bandinelli, a seated soldier in marble, Giovanni delle Bande Nere, father of the first grand duke. Keep an eye on your bag, and an ear open for the stallholders.

Saint Lawrence, San Lorenzo, was a deacon of Rome martyred in the year 258, by tradition roasted alive on a gridiron. The legend says that halfway through he told his executioners to turn him over, because that side was done. With a story like that, it is no surprise that he became the patron saint of cooks. His feast falls on the tenth of August, and this neighbourhood still celebrates it in the square.

Now for Florence's favourite food legend. It is said that on the saint's feast the Medici had bonfires lit here and roasted great quantities of beef for the people. English travellers in the crowd shouted for beef steak, beef steak... and the Florentines turned the cry into bistecca. The word really does come from the English, though nobody can show it happened on this square.

A true bistecca alla fiorentina is a T-bone with the fillet on one side and the sirloin on the other, traditionally from the white Chianina cattle of the Val di Chiana. It is cut at least three fingers thick, often over a kilo, grilled over glowing embers until charred outside and red inside, and salted only at the end. Ask for it well done, and the waiter may look at you with real sorrow.

In 2001, when European rules against mad cow disease banned beef on the bone from older cattle, Tuscans staged mock funerals for the bistecca. It took several years before the T-bone returned to Florentine grills, and it was celebrated like a homecoming. Now walk up past the leather stalls to the great hall of iron and glass at the end of the street.