The Doors of Florence

Photographs of the doors in the Piazza San Martino, the tiny square best known as the neighborhood where the great 13th Century poet Dante Alighieri was born and spent a great deal of his life.

The doorway to Torre Della Castagna, built in the 13th Century and used for a variety of purposes over the years.

The entrance to the Trattoria del Pennello, one of Florence's oldest restaurants.

The doorway to the tiny chapel of Compagnia dei Buonomini di. Founded in 1441, it consisted of twelve men—the Buonomini—with the mission to help “i poveri verghognosi,” wealthy families that had fallen on hard times. People were down to their last pennies lit a candle at their door. This is expressed as “essere ridotti al lumicino”—“to be reduced to a candle.”

The entrance to a modern day courthouse.