Italy is between the main world-wide leaders for the fabrication, design, fashion and is therefore much easy to find some souvenir.. Florence is famous for the handcraft and for its jewelry works with experience by hand and following the tradition that the orafi fiorentini give to hundreds of years. Many visitors are interested to gold or silver jewelry sold on the Old Bridge (Ponte Vecchio) in its small storees. If you are interested to the Jewels or souvenir these storees are appropriates for you. There is also to say that to find cheap gold jewelry on the Old Bridge is very difficult.
The street for the handmade objects are in 'Via Maggio': some of furnitures and the objects of art are of the 16° century. In 'Via dei Tornabuoni' (Tornabuoni street) in Florence, we find hight class apparel. Here you will find the best companies: Armani, Gucci, Versace, Coveri a Ferragamo. 'Chic' purchases can themselves be made also in the neighbor Vigna Nuova street.
We can still find historical and traditional storees: antiquarians concentrate in via dei Fossi, via di Maggio and the close roads, orafi and gioiellieri with their characteristics shops on the Old Bridge. Beyond to the historical storees on the Old Bridge, one of the zones more characteristic in Florence begins in the Oltrarno, after the Old Bridge. The quarter of Santo Spirito in fact is characterized laboratories and botteghe craftsmen (workings in wood, jewels, lamps). Just in Santo Spirito square carries out every second Sunday of the month the market of national and ethnic handicraft. In the close quarter of San Frediano are concentrated shops of traditional artisan: woven, objects in silver, made shoes by hand, objects in glass.
The article storees in skin are concentrate in the zone of Santa Croce, to the Porcellino market and to the San Lorenzo market.
Timetable of the shops in Florence:
Summer 9-13 - 16-20
Winter 9-13 - 15.30-19.30
Moreover some storees of the center of Florence are opened uninterruptedly from the 9,30/10 am to the 8 pm.
The alimentary and supermarked storees are closed the Wednesday afternoon (winter) and/or the saturday afternoon (summer)
You can also program a tour to the precious old casket of artisanal Florence, which lie hidden from the hurrying tourist. We can only choose which is the most authentic and prestigious oh historic Florentine craftwork: rare perfumes from the past, precious embroideries and fine laces, artistic leather workmanship, and the medicean art of mosaics of semiprecious stones. You visit the old laboratories, magical places where from the Renaissance right up today this precious manual tradition has been handed down from generation to generation.
