The Guest House Benedetta is a charming and welcoming property in the center of Florence, located close to the great church of Santa Maria Novella, one of the higlights of this charming city. The helpful staff will be at your disposal during your holiday and will give you the best suggestions about restaurants, museums, theatres, excursions. Other reception facilities are: free deposit luggage service, free city map of Florence, credit cards accepted. Pets are welcome.
Just a short walk from the Guest House Benedetta you’ll find the imposing Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral (Florence’s “Duomo”) and the famous Uffizi Gallery, one of the most important museums of the world. The area in which lies the Guest House, that goes from Borgo Ognissanti to Piazzale della Porta al Prato, is called “Il Prato” (the Meadow). This grassland was so called at the end of the 13th century and it gave its name also to the gate that stood out of the end of Borgo Ognissanti. Therefore, this triangular meadow was called “Prato of Ognissanti”. The Town Council destined it to become a green public area so that it could be considered as the first public garden of Florence and even a small lake was planned to be used as a public swimming-pool. But as usually happens to public areas, the Prato of Ognissanti had its bad destiny too: it went from bad to worse and instead of a place of relaxation for population, it became a place for market of animals and military excercises. It also become a scene of discussions, contests and riots among the popular powers: they fought even using stones and there were often a lot of wounded and dead people. Because of a lot houses were built around it, “Il Prato” was really a small area that could be considered neither as a square nor a street. Among these buildings the two Corsini Palaces are noteworthy. At the corner with Via Curtatone, the neo-classical taste triumphs in a loggia of Corinthian style, built in 1827, today walled.