A prominent and old landmark in Firenze is the Badia Fiorentina, or Florence Abbey, pictured below. The Badia Fiorentina is a church and an abbey and it has a tall bell tower visible from a long distance.
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| The Badia Fiorentina seen from street level |
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| The bell tower of the Badia Fiorentina |
The original structure dates from 978 when a Benedictine monastery was established on the site. Over the centuries, the building has been expanded, modified, partially demolished, rebuilt, repaired and so on. The church's interior is beautiful. The interior is not large in area but it soars high upward.
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| Interior of the Badia Firoentina's church |
Today, the Badia Fiorentina is home to a religious order established not long ago, the Monastic Communities of Jerusalem. The brothers live in the Badia and the sisters live nearby.
The order operates a small shop selling all sorts of products from other monasteries in Italy. We have visited the shop a couple of times and bought handmade greeting cards plus artisanal honey and chocolate. The sister we met during our visits is probably one of the nicest people we have ever met anywhere. She is fluent in at least three languages--French, Italian and English--and is as sweet as honey. Susan had long, happy conversations in French.
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| A view of the shop |
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| A view inside the shop |
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| A view inside the shop |
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| Regular honey, and spicy honey. Yum! |
P.S. If you love balsamic vinegar, the shop offers a small bottle for sale. It must be wonderful because it costs 75 euro. We didn't even ask about the price of the large bottle. Like the man said, if you have to ask . . . .
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