Le Buchette del Vino a Firenze

It reads 'sale of wine''

  

I have been living in Italy for many years and have had certain photographic fixations from time to time. At first I had an urge to take photographs of doors and windows. Then wayside tabernacles in the countryside caught my eye, the more decrepit the better. In the last year or so my search in the city has been for “buchette del vino”.

These little architectonic devices are found on buildings in and around Florence. They began being added to buildings early in the 16th century, as prosperous Florentine merchants with vineyard holdings in the countryside began to incorporate “little windows of wine” into the architecture of their city palazzo. The wine doors are located on the ground floor of the buildings and often in correspondence to cellars. In this way merchants could easily make wine available to neighbors and later sell directly or offer to those in need. The size of the doors are for a 'fiasco', the old styled glass containers (which you can still find) for wine which hold 1 3/4 liters and are protected with interwoven straw.

this little one is all modern now...

and helps the proprietor sell gelato!

This wine door is on the Palazzo Capponi. By the way, the family still makes wine nowadays

A little creative artwork is displayed on this wine door.

Today walking through the streets of Florence there are still many examples of these “buchette del vino” to see, if you know what to look for.

I haven’t found this curious architectural device elsewhere in Italy, so let me know if you indeed find examples in other places!

- Photos and post by Elizabeth