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Tourist informations
Where is it: Borgo San Jacopo is located between the Old Bridge and the Santa Trinita bridge.
When Florence expanded outside the third city wall, several flourishing new streets were built, the so-called borghi: one of them, Borgo San Jacopo, is located in Oltrarno and has mantained until today its mediaeval structure.
History
Borgo San Jacopo is located between two bridges - Ponte Vecchio and Ponte a Santa Trinita - and the first notices about this street date back to the end of 12th Century, although already in 1050 an hospital for the pilgrims on the way to Rome had been built on the corner with Ponte Vecchio.
At the beginning of 13th Century some defence was provided also for this thriving part of Florence: a palisade was erected (which subsequently became a stone wall) and several important families built here their towers, which still today characterize the street. In Borgo San Jacopo are also located two religious buildings: the church of San Jacopo Soprarno, founded in the 10th Century, and the former rooms of the Compagnia di San Jacopo, an association established for the Jubilee of 1300 in order to provide assistance to the pilgrims.
At the end of the street toward Ponte a Santa Trinita we find Palazzo Frescobaldi, including sections built in different periods, and the fountain of Buontalenti (17th Century).
Click to enlarge pictures.
Borgo San Jacopo was almost completely destroyed by German mines in 1944: after the war the street was rebuilt, by restoring the ancient towers (where possible) and adding modern buildings whose colours and materials were inspired to those of the unrecoverably destroyed buildings.
