Mercato di San Lorenzo, Florence

Mercato di San Lorenzo is the open-air market surrounding Florence’s covered central market building, with stalls devoted mainly to clothing, leather goods and souvenirs. The covered market itself was created during Florence’s late-nineteenth-century renewal, when the city served as Italy’s capital. Giuseppe Mengoni designed it, and his work here combines iron, glass and cast iron with the older surrounding buildings.

A stone loggia runs around the structure, with ten classical arches along each side. Inside, high windows send abundant daylight into the market, creating the feel of an outdoor bazaar. The northern corner contains a seafood section, while vendors elsewhere offer ingredients associated with Tuscan cooking.

Fruit, vegetables, nuts and spices are sold outside. The building opened in 1874 during an international agricultural exhibition, and its upper floor was reopened in 2014 with more than twenty specialist food businesses.