Florence Food Market

Florence Food Market

In addition to the numerous, beautiful and memorable masterpieces surrounding the city of Florence, the city itself owes its fame also to the various markets in Florence that take part in the daily Florentines’ lives. Walking around the center of Florence you will find daily, weekly and monthly markets. Here below the list of the main markets in Florence you can find on your way:

SAN LORENZO MARKETS

Address: Piazza del Mercato Centrale 6, Florence, Italy
Hours: daily 9AM–12AM

In occasion of the declaration of Florence as the new Capital of the Italian Kingdom, the city underwent a total restyling of the city centre and since the population was increasing, the existing market at the time (the Mercato Nuovo) was insufficient and it was decided to create three new markets instead of only one: the biggest one in San Lorenzo, the herb market in Sant’Ambrogio and another one, demolished at the beginning of the 1900s, in San Frediano. Situated in the area, once occupied by the order of Camaldolese, the nowadays San Lorenzo Market is composed of outdoor and indoor shops that run from the Church of San Lorenzo along Via Ariento all the way to Via Nazionale. The outdoor market, open 9am to 7pm from Tuesday to Saturday, is full of stalls selling leather, clothing and souvenirs and if you are searching for a bargain this is a cheap and cheerful place to go. The indoor market, better known as the Central Market (Mercato Centrale) is a two-level food market. The ground floor is where you can find butchers, fishmongers, fruit and vegetables sellers and delis. It is open 7am to 2pm from Monday to Saturday. At the first floor, open all day till midnight, you can find bread and confectionary, fresh fish, fried food and rissoles, fruit and vegetables, meats and salamis, buffalo mozzarella, cheeses, chocolate and ice cream, fresh pasta, wines, lampredotto and sandwiches: all shops are run by artisanal traders. The best place if you want to immerse yourself into the Tuscan gastronomic tradition and consume a meal at any time of the day or night. More dails about San lorenzo Market on www.mercatocentrale.it/en/mercato-centrale-florence/ 


 SANT’AMBROGIO MARKET

Address: Piazza Lorenzo Ghiberti, Florence, Italy
Hours: Monday to Saturday 7AM–2PM. Sunday Closed

Sant_Ambrogio_Market

Situated between Piazza Ghiberti and Piazza Sant’Ambrogio, this market is open every Saturday from 7am to 2pm. The Sant’Ambrogio market was created by the same architect and engineer of the San Lorenzo market (Giuseppe Mengoni) and it was realized with the same project but in a smaller scale. In 1965, the Sant’Ambrogio market lost his role in the general market because of the construction of the new fruit and vegetable market in the area of Novoli but despite its loss, the market is still today an important point of sale for the resident population of the area. If you have the opportunity to visit this area, make a visit to the market, there you can find fresh fruit and vegetables, clothing and shoes, flowers, electrical appliances, meat, fresh fish, pasta, nourish in general and cheeses.  For more information about this unique Florence Market please vivist www.mercatosantambrogio.it 


PORCELLINO MARKET

Address: Piazza del Mercato Nuovo, Florence, Italy
Hours: daily 9AM–6:30PM

porcellino market in florence

First created as a silk and gold market for the wealthy shoppers of Florence and later better known as the straw market, the Mercato Nuovo became insufficient for the increasing number of people coming since Florence became the Capital of the Italian Kingdom in 1865. The Mercato Nuovo is also called the Porcellino market for the statue of the wild boar situated at the end of the market. Open 9am to 7pm from Tuesday to Sunday, under the lodge of the Porcellino Market, you can buy leather handicraft products made in Tuscany, refined articles of Italian silk and foulards, embroidered tapestries, touristic sweaters and souvenirs. But you can’t leave Florence without trying the popular tradition of the Porcellino market. Find the statue of the wild boar at the end of the market and rub its nose. After that, to obtain a good omen, put a coin inside its mouth and if the coin crosses the grating where the water passes then it will give you luck. More datails about this market at www.mercatodelporcellino.it 


 SANTO SPIRITO MARKET

Address: Piazza Santo Spirito, Florence, Italy
Hours: Monday to Friday: 9:30AM–2:30PM / Saturday and Sunday 9:30AM–5PM

santo spirito market in florence

This daily market takes part in the Oltrarno (other side of the river Arno) neighbourhood. Open from Monday to Saturday from 8am to 2pm, the Santo Spirito Market offers you fruit and vegetables, household items, clothing and more. If you are lucky enough, you can admire how, once a month on the 2nd Sunday of the month, the Santo Spirito area turns into a bustling outdoor market where you can find a mixture of antiques, food and handmade goods. Here is where you can have an overview on the Florentine traditions and more over.  Always in Santo Spirito square, this time on the 3rd Sunday of the month, another interesting market takes part. It’s called “Fierucolina” and it’s a biological market that promotes the biological agriculture. Typical enogastronomic products and little local farmers are the protagonist of the market where everything is handmade, natural and lacking of chemical substances. 


 CASCINE MARKET IN FLORENCE

Address: Parco delle Cascine, Florence, Italy
Hours: Only Tuesday 8:00AM-1:00pm

cascine market in florence

Taking place in the Parco delle Cascine every Tuesday morning from 8am to 2pm, the open-air market of the Cascine is the biggest and cheapest in Florence. In this market offers you literally everything: from clothing, objects for the house, animals, food and more. The perfect occasion as you can get all your necessities in one place and find yourself shopping with the locals. Since the market is long about 1km, it is suggested to first look around and search for the places where you want to buy and then do shopping on the second time around to get the best offers. 


MERCATO DELLE PULCI IN FLORENCE

Address: Largo Pietro Annigoni, Florence, Italy
Hours: 8AM–7:30PM / Sunday Closed

mercato delle pulci firenze

The Mercato delle Pulci is open from 9am to 7:30pm from Monday to Saturday and takes place in Piazza dei Ciompi. Once a month, on the last Sunday of the month, the market is expanded and fills the entire square and the surrounding streets with its stalls offering all sorts of things from antiques and Florentine handmade things, furnitures, paintings, old coins and jewels, a must for any bargain hunter in search of something unique among all the things on sale. Here is where you can “savour a little bit of the antique Italy”! Walking around the stalls, it will be easy for the collectors to find something precious and for the tourists something extremely characteristic and original of Florence.