City streets,  Italy,  Street photography

Gallery: on the streets of Florence

December 19, 2025 / 36 Comments

The marvels of daily life are exciting; no movie director can arrange the unexpected that you find in the street

Robert Doisneau

It has been said that the whole city of Florence is one art gallery. And it’s true that not only its palaces and museums are full of art, so are its streets. But Florence is also home to nearly a hundred thousand residents, not to mention the close to ten million people who visit each year. And as with any busy city, its streets are full not only of art but also the small details that speak of everyday life. A life lived out against a very special backdrop, nevertheless.

I want to wrap up my series of travel posts about the city with a selection of photos taken while walking its streets. Some are candid shots of residents or tourists, some are historic details and some are simply fun images I spotted as we walked.

My feature photo is of the Complesso di San Firenze, a 17th century Baroque building which combines church, oratory and palace. This is the entrance to the church and features sculptures of Faith and Hope.

The Tabernacolo dell’Annunciazione di G. Balducci, 1560, on Via de Pandolfini (heavily repainted)

The Tabernacolo di Sant’Ambrogio (Tabernacle of Saint Ambrose) corner of Via de’ Macci and the Piazza Sant’Ambrogio

The plaque below commemorates the passage of Pope Pius VII in 1805 as he returned to Rome from France after crowning Napoleon 

Above the entrance to the Church of Sant’Ambrogio

Palazzo Ramirez-Montalvo (now an auction house) on Borgo degli Albizi

The coat of arms of the Wool Merchants Guild on the façade of the Palagio dell’Arte della Lana, on Via Calimala

On Via Matteo Palmieri

The Strozzi coat-of-arms on a building on the Via del Proconsolo

A Madonna dating from 1596 on a corner in the Piazza di San Pier Maggiore

On the Borgo dei Greci

A glimpse into the courtyard of the 16th century Palazzo Tanagli on Borgo degli Albizi

Artist in the Piazza del Duomo

Shop window display on Borgo degli Albizi

In a souvenir shop on the Via del Proconsolo

(friends maybe, but Florentine for the most part not!)

On the Via dei Macci

(I can never resist a washing line, especially one as harmonious with its background building as this one is!)

Riding the carousel in the Piazza della Repubblica

Carousel horse, Piazza della Repubblica

Detail of the Fontana del Porcellino in the Mercato Nuovo (a modern copy of a bronze by Pietro Tacca)

Legend has it that if you rub the nose of the boar (the eponymous porcellino and the main feature of the fountain) you will return to Florence; it seemed to me that people had happily been rubbing all the smaller creatures featured too!

And who wouldn’t be happy to return to Florence?!

Parked on the Via Giuseppe Verdi

I visited Florence in October/November 2025

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