The Craft. 📜
Since the Middle Ages, this neighborhood has supplied the palaces across the river. You can still watch masters at work through open doors.
Marbled Paper
*Carta Marmorizzata*. It's mesmerizing. They float ink on water, comb it into patterns, and dip the paper. Visit **Il Papiro** or **Giulio Giannini e Figlio** to see it done.
Leather School
The *Scuola del Cuoio* is actually located inside the monastery of Santa Croce, but the leather tradition lives here in the Oltrarno. Avoid the street stalls; buy directly from a workshop.
The Royal Residence. 🏰
The Medici bought this massive palace from a rival banker (Pitti) to show off. It connects to the Uffizi via the Vasari Corridor.
Boboli Gardens
It is not just a garden; it is an open-air museum. Climb to the top for the Porcelain Museum and a stunning view of the Tuscan countryside.
The Grotto
The *Buontalenti Grotto* is a weird, Mannerist masterpiece. It looks like it's melting. It was designed to feel like a magical cave.
The Palatine
The Palatine Gallery inside is different from the Uffizi. The paintings (Raphael, Titian) are stacked frame-to-frame on the walls, just as the Medici left them.
Piazza Life
No Tourists
Santo Spirito. ⛪
This is where real Florentines go. In the morning, there is a market. At night, the steps of the church turn into an impromptu bar.
The Wooden Christ:
Inside the church (designed by Brunelleschi), there is a wooden crucifix carved by Michelangelo when he was 17. He made it as a thank you to the monks who let him study anatomy on corpses in their hospital.
San Miniato al Monte. 🌄
Everyone goes to Piazzale Michelangelo for the sunset. But if you walk 5 minutes further up the hill, you reach this 1000-year-old basilica.
The Chant
Come at 5:30 PM (check schedule). The monks sing Gregorian chants in the crypt. It is hauntingly beautiful and far removed from the selfie sticks below.
The Cemetery
The "Porte Sante" cemetery surrounds the church. It is full of elaborate 19th-century tombs. Carlo Collodi, the author of *Pinocchio*, is buried here.