Tabernacles in Florence

Flickr by asainfiercetiger

In any city, you will stumble upon graffiti. However, street art dates back much further than spray paint and stickers. In fact, the oldest form of street art is the Tabernacle. Detailed and beautiful works of art, tabernacles can be found throughout the entire city of Florence.  Florentine tabernacles are often decorated in a religious fashion, likely with marble sculptures and paintings or frescoes of the Virgin Mary or John the Baptist, which are the city’s patron saints. Tabernacles in Florence pose as a testament to the once fervent religious nature and atmosphere of the city. Still today, people go to tabernacles to pray, leaving candles and offerings underneath them. So when you are walking through the streets of Florence, look up and notice the historical and captivating tabernacles all around you. You won’t miss them, after all there are, in fact, 1200 tabernacles in Florence…more than any other European city!

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