Santo Spirito

Piazza Santo Spirito is the centre of Oltrarno life. Sleepy in the morning, except for a few market stalls under the plane trees and a quiet café or two, in the evening the bars fill until the early hours with people who meet and chat in the piazza and on the steps of Santo Spirito.

The original church and monastery were begun by the Augustinians (who are still in situ) in 1252 when the Oltrarno was sparsely populated. It soon became a centre of learning, a Studium generale and ran a home for former prostitutes in the 14th century. It also held regular gatherings of early Humanists, including Greek scholar Leonardo Bruni, a good friend of Cosimo il Vecchio and Bocaccio, who left his library to Santa Spirito when he died.

When Florence defeated Milan in 1397 during the second Milan war on St Augustine's feast day (28 August), the city fathers decided to celebrate the victory by rebuilding the church. A few decades later, Brunelleschi was chosen for the task. More land was purchased, but his dreams of having the church overlook the Arno fell flat when some property owners refused to sell.