The Plague in Florence

The pandemic covid 19 has affected so far our lives. Many scholars like to compare the present situation with the worst plague in history, which affected the whole of Europe in 1348 and that it is better known as “black death”. That was the first pandemic in european history which eliminated almost the half of the population.

The plague in 1348 was the very first of many others which affected periodically Florence and Tuscany: in XV Century, during the age of Lorenzo il Magnifico, in 1524 when the famous painter Pontormo fled from the city to the abbey of Certosa and eventually, the last one, in 1630, during a time of a very grave economical and financial crisis.

You wil get to know the reaction of the florentine City hall such as the way it was lead to make a change in social, economical and political aspects.

Life and society changed drammaticaly to adapt to new health and public regulations, which were imposed by the authorities during the centuries.

You will hear about the medical treatment at that time: weird solutions such as the use of acqua di rose to purify the air or that of miraculous stones. But even the health care that was applied does not differ much from the ones familiar to us today.

In this tour you will find Religion, superstition and science mixed up in a very interesting way and you will hear about Boccaccio, the beautiful Ginevra, also the accounts by Villani and Pontormo.

Eventually you will discover the roots of the name of some streets, the use of a Vaccine pass and the founding of some charity and healthcare institution, which are still today point of reference for the city both from a social and cultural point of view.