Views by the river

Contemplating the city from an unusual and beautiful angle

A driving force and route of communication, water resource and open-air laundry, fishing reserve and place of leisure, even a substitute for the sea for those who could not afford to go on holiday... For the Florentines, the Arno is a constant presence in their lives. From the earliest times, when there was a ford that the Romans transformed with a wooden bridge, reclaiming the surroundings and founding the first nucleus of the future Florence, on the right bank of the Arno, near the Bridge of Santa Trinita. Navigable as far as the Affrico torrent, the river permitted the Roman colony to become a wealthy emporium, in an age when transport by water was much cheaper than by land. In short, Florence would not be the same without the Arno. And it is precisely from this waterway that crosses it, thanks to the collaboration with the city’s oldest rowing club, the Società Canottieri (Florence Rowing Club, founded in 1886!), whose fascinating and prestigious clubhouse is located just below the Uffizi Gallery, that we went looking for a different view of the cradle of the Renaissance, contemplating the city from an unusual and beautiful angle.