Florence's Artisans at Work

Florence was built by its guilds, and some of its crafts have never left the city. On the far side of the Arno, in the Oltrarno, and in the lanes around Santa Maria Novella, workshops still produce by hand what they produced in the Renaissance: gold and silver work, leather goods, bookbinding, gilded frames, scagliola.

A licensed guide takes you into studios that do not normally open to visitors, to watch artisans at the bench and hear how the techniques have been passed down, often within the same family. There is time for questions and, if you wish, for a commission of your own.

Workshops are generally closed on Sundays.