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Ghost in Florence legend of a Renaissance City




Did you know that one of the oldest churches in Florence has a stone head protruding from part of the wall?

Have you heard the story behind the perpetually open windows in Piazza Santissima Annunziata?

Is the name Baldaccio d'Anguari familiar to you?


Visiting a city with over 100 years of history is always a great pleasure, and when you add to that the spooky stories, secret corners and unsolved mysteries, it becomes a truly unforgettable experience. Read on to find out more about the dark side of Florence!

Every day, thousands of tourists flock to Piazza della Signoria, most of them unaware of its dark past. On September 6, 1441, he was ambushed, shot in the back, thrown out a window, dragged into Piazza della Signoria, and finally beheaded.

560 years later, .......

In 2001, on a summer evening, a boy and a girl took a romantic stroll through Piazzale Michelangelo and took a picture. The next day, they were looking at the images on their computer when they noticed an eerie face staring back at them from one of the pictures. Upon further investigation, paranormal researchers concluded that the image was of the ghost of Baldaccio d'Angiari, who naturally could not find peace. According to another legend, his ghost wanders the rooms of Palazzo Vecchio.

Piazza della Signoria and Palazzo Vecchio have been the scene of other horrific stories.

On April 26, 1478, the ringleaders of the Pazzi conspiracy (a failed attempt to depose the Medici in which Giuliano was killed and Lorenzo wounded) were hanged from the windows of the Palazzo Vecchio. The escaped conspirators were later captured, tortured and murdered. Some of the bodies were said to have been dragged naked through the streets and eventually thrown into the Arno River.

Exactly 20 years later, the Dominican priest and preacher Girolamo Savonarola was arrested for heresy, imprisoned in the Arnolfo Tower, tortured and publicly hanged and burned at dawn on May 23, 1498 in Piazza della Signoria. His ashes were scattered in the same river Arno.

A short distance from Piazza della Signoria we come to the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore (8th century). Few of the locals and tourists who walk along Via Celestani every day notice the stone head sticking out of the church wall. It is a strange and disturbing sight, just like the legend of its origin. A man accused of witchcraft and sentenced to death is dragged to Piazza Santa Croce, while a woman looks out of the church window.

In Piazza Santissima Annunziata, not far from Santa Maria Maggiore, is the former Palazzo Budini-Gattai, formerly known as Palazzo Grifoni. The rightmost window on the second floor of this building is always open, because the ghostly woman is still waiting for her husband's return. Centuries ago, one of the sons of the Grifoni family was called to war and had to leave his young bride. The furniture began to shake, books flew off the shelves and paintings fell from the walls. Since then the windows have never closed!

The last haunted spot is the Ponte Vecchio, one of Florence's top tourist attractions.

In July 2005, an American traveler took photographs of the bridge at dusk. On his return, he was shocked to realize that he had filmed a translucent image of an old man with a white beard looking at him from the bridge window. There is also a video recording.




Whether real or fake, something was happening behind that window!

The past is not dead in Florence and many more stories, mysterious corners and illusions will spice up your holiday!

If you want discover more mystery behind the city of Florence come with us to visit Florence with our Florence free tour every day we are starting from Santa Maria Novella square, next to the obelisk

you can find our meeting point here

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