At the centre of the triangle whose vertices are Piazza Santa Maria Novella, Piazza del Duomo and Piazza San Marco is the quarter of San Lorenzo.

That part of Florence that in the past was considered the quarter of the Medicis owes its name to the homonymous square, on which opens one of the most important Florentine buildings of worship: the Basilica of San Lorenzo (if you want to know more about it, read the chapter of this small tourist guide dedicated to "Other Churches of Florence").

The quarter is characterised by a maze of narrow streets; the Mercato Centrale (an iron, cast iron and glass market hall which was inaugurated in 1874 on the occasion of the International Agricultural Exposition) and the many stalls selling leather clothes and souvenirs that during the day spread in front of the palaces and apartments of this part of the town are its pulsing heart.

This is certainly the quarter in which you can better breathe the typical Florentine atmosphere!

Among Florence markets and squares, the market of Sant`Ambrogio is worth a mention. Situated between Piazza Ghiberti and Piazza Sant`Ambrogio, in the quarter of Santa Croce, this structure, too, was realised in the 1870s based on a design by Giuseppe Mengoni.

If you have rented an apartment in Florence during your holidays you could go at the discovery of the sole confectioner in the neighbourhood of Piazza Ghiberti specialised in stars-and-stripes cakes: brownies, cookies, apple pies...