A wine window, used in the past for the sale of wine directly on the street, on the façade of Palazzo Mellini Fossi, Florence, Tuscany, Italy
In Florence, on the walls of several palaces in the historic centre, there are some curious small openings used for the sale of wine directly on the street and called "wine windows". The custom of selling wine directly from noble palaces dates back more or less to the seventeenth century: in that period the great aristocratic families began to convert their activities, for the most stable rent, into farmland and estates where various goods were produced, among which a prominent place was related to wine production. The windows allowed to sell the wine by the minute in the street, avoiding to use the intermediation of the innkeepers. From an architectural point of view, the windows opened on a room on the ground floor of the building easily connected to the cellar, where a servant took care of the sale of wine bottles at certain times of the day. The openings barely allowed the passage of a flask of wine.
Size: 5568px × 3712px
Location: Florence, Tuscany, Italy
Photo credit: © Simona Abbondio / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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