Torre della Zecca
The Torre della Zecca (literally "Tower of the Mint") is a medieval tower in Florence, Italy. It originally formed the eastern terminal point of the city's walls on the right bank of the Arno (a position sometimes called a torre terminale). The tower now stands isolated in the centre of a road junction in Piazza Piave, on the Viali di Circonvallazione, near the Lungarno della Zecca Vecchia.
It was built to protect the never-completed Ponte Reale and to close the walls on the river. In 1532 it was truncated and incorporated into a bastion. It later took its name from its association with the Florentine mint. After the demolition of most of the surrounding walls in the 1860s it was left freestanding. The tower was consolidated and restored between late 2014 and January 2016. It is owned by the Municipality of Florence. Public access is limited and subject to reservation; a new conservation intervention was announced by the municipality in October 2025.[1]
History
The tower was erected to protect the never-executed Ponte Reale (planned in the years preceding the catastrophic flood of 1333 and named in honour of Robert of Anjou) and to defend the stretch of walls that reached the Arno, forming its eastern terminus.[2]
In the late fifteenth century the tower was used, together with the adjacent Torre della Giustizia, as an arsenal for weapons, tools and explosives. Between 1495 and 1498 the adjacent buildings were enlarged with an artillery shed and a public foundry.[2]
In 1532 the tower was truncated (scapitozzata) and incorporated, to a design by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, into the Baluardo di Mongibello (also called the Fortezza Vecchia). The project was ordered by Duke Alessandro de' Medici to strengthen the defences of the city after the Siege of Florence (1529–1530).[2][1]
After the arsenal was transferred to the Fortezza da Basso, the tower remained associated with the nearby mills of the mint, from which it took its present name. During the urban enlargement of Florence designed by Giuseppe Poggi, the tower was isolated and set as a visual terminus of the new ring avenues; expropriations in the area were carried out on the basis of surveys by Felice Francolini in 1868. In 1901 it was included in the list of monumental buildings drawn up by the Direzione Generale delle Antichità e Belle Arti (published 1902).[2]
The tower underwent consolidation and restoration between the end of 2014 and January 2016 within the Florence I Care project.[2] In October 2025 the Municipality of Florence announced a further programme of safeguarding and structural consolidation.[1]
Description
The exterior is simple and massive, with a few small arrow-slits and without the original merloned crown. The entrance faces the city and is flanked by a twentieth-century iron flag-holder. On the side overlooking the Arno is a plaque with verses by Dante Alighieri dedicated to the river.[2]
The uppermost floor forms a terrace after the removal of the earlier roof. Inside are vaulted rooms connected by narrow stone staircases, formerly used by the soldiers on guard. From the underground levels branch out narrow vaulted corridors; one of them, according to tradition, was said to pass under the river (today partially flooded and no longer practicable).[2]
Public access is limited to selected occasions and requires reservation through the managing body; the underground levels are not open to visitors.
References
Bibliography
- Paolini, Claudio. "Torre della Zecca Vecchia". Repertorio delle Architetture Civili di Firenze (in Italian). Palazzo Spinelli. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
- Comune di Firenze (25 October 2025). "Torre della Zecca, al via interventi di salvaguardia e consolidamento" (in Italian). Retrieved 19 August 2026.