The Gardens of Florence - The Oblate Garden

This garden is 100 meters far from the Duomo Square, just in the center. It is part of the large Oblate complex, owned by the Municipality of Florence since 1936, which houses the Municipal Library and various cultural and academic institutions. The building was the first Florentine public hospital, founded in 1285 by Folco Portinari, the father of the famous Beatrice, loved by Dante Alighieri. Hot meals to the poor were also provided, from a side street then called "via delle Pappe" (Paps Street), now Via Folco Portinari. The Oblates were actually a somewhat modern institution, a community of women - nurses (the term "oblate" comes from the Latin, and literally means "she who offered herself"), a voluntary lay congregation: they lived as a nun, but it was not a religious order and the women could leave the congregation when they wanted. Very popular with students, today we only see the garden, an oasis in the center, with a Renaissance portico that embraces the garden on two sides with columns with an Ionic capital in pietra serena, the bluish stone loved by Brunelleschi and Michelangelo. In one corner a large terracotta coat of arms, recovered from the complex, with two trumpeter angels. Entrance from via dell’Oriuolo.