Florence SMN train station
Everybody knows it, but no everyone knows that the station of Florence Santa Maria Novella besides being one of the four stations with the highest number of passengers per year in Italy, it’s also an infrastructure designed with so much artistic as it is functional ingenuity.
The Firenze S.M.N. train station is located in the historic center of Florence, just in front of the church of Santa Maria Novella and few steps from the Congress Centre of Florence (Palazzo dei Congressi and Fortezza da Basso).
Florence SMN station built at the dawn of the rail transport development on 1840. Initially it wasn’t a primary station, so it was joined to the Leopolda Station, which was conceived to make the connections in the direction of Livorno, but it turned from the outset not enough for rail traffic. The necessity to join Florence with other cities like Pistoia and Prato led to the development of the station, which at the time took the name of Maria Antonia, to be inaugurated before the Leopolda Station.
Designed as a second choice it quickly became, thanks to the proximity to the most important places in the city, the reference station quickly became the center stopover passengers.
Reached the conclusion of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany in 1860, the name was changed from Maria Antonia station to Santa Maria Novella station, a name that preserves until today. The structure remained unchanged until the early 1930s, when by the minister of railways was announced a redesign of the station, which provided for it to be functional to the necessity of the rail traffic. The project was assigned that first instance to the architect Angiolo Mazzoni, but after countless criticisms, the project was abandoned and the Municipality of Florence had to assign the task of the development of the structure to the Tuscan Group won the tender for the project. The group was formed by renowned architects that took the task of the restructuring and innovation that gave rise to what is considered a masterpieces of the Italian Rationalism, which represents the perfect combination of beauty and functionality.
At the platform 16, the outermost on the left side of the station, was erected a monument in memory of the deported to concentration camps, who greeted for the last time the city starting from that binary by train on the 8th March 1944.
Recently even the outside area has been renovated with substantial changes on the south side, where was facilitated the security and the flow of passengers arriving and departing; actual the building until a few years ago was a place of lodging without roofs has been cleaned and restored, with restaurant bar addicted on summer for parties and Florentine nightlife. On the north side, instead it has been joined to the station the terminus of the “TRAMVIA “
Hotel Palazzo Vecchio, the three-star hotel in the center of Florence, is located in a strategic position. The proximity to the station makes simple, to arrive by train and to reach other destinations. It is located near the station of Florence Santa Maria Novella station, only 200 meters, three-minute walk. Our hotel will be the start point to reach the most beautiful cities of Tuscany and Italy, simply by staying in Florence.
The hotel also has an indoor parking area of the property, by payment. Our advice to visit Tuscany and the other cities of Italy is to leave your car parked and use for moving the frequent trains of Santa Maria Novella railway station.
We therefore propose some major cities, easy reach:
PISA
The connections between Florence SMN and Pisa are the most frequent with trains leaving to the city of the leaning tower, about every 15 minutes. Our staff will be glad to let you have the train schedules both forward and return.
LUCCA
Another destination of interest, though less known is Lucca, appreciated by many tourists it is underestimated by the majority, perhaps because it is less known of Pisa. The small and peculiar city, is one of the few to preserve intact the original walled never used to defend from the war attacks and in the past used as the city’s ring road. Lucca, rich of squares and places where still breathe the medieval air, will welcome you in its history and the charm of its buildings and ancient towers.
The connections between the main station of Florence SMN and Lucca by train are divided by time, with a frequency between 10 minutes during peak hours and 30 minutes during off- peak hours.
SIENA
About an hour from Florence, a few more to the south hill, there is Siena, city of numerous festivals evocative of the Renaissance, rich in art and restaurants that will delight your taste buds and your well-being.
Easy to reach, every hour by bus or by train (the station is right next to the train) Siena is without doubt the great alternative to the main town of Florence.