Monastero delle Murate, Benedictine monastery on Via Ghibellina in Florence, Italy

Monastero delle Murate is a former Benedictine convent on Via Ghibellina in Florence, occupying a quadrilateral between Via Ghibellina, Via dell'Agnolo and Viale della Giovine Italia, about 14,500 m². Its core is a 15th-century building of 1439–1443 around a large central cloister closed by buildings on three sides and the church on Via Ghibellina. The complex also holds two squares, Piazza delle Murate and Piazza della Madonna della Neve, a street, a large parking courtyard and the Cappella della Madonna della Neve.

In 1424 Benedictine abbot Gomezio moved the recluses from the Ponte Rubaconte to a house on Via Ghibellina, giving them the Benedictine rule and black habits. A new monastery was built between 1439 and 1443 under Giovanni di Amerigo Benci, and Lorenzo de' Medici restored it after a fire in 1471. From 1883 to 1985 the complex served as Florence's men's prison.

The name Le Murate, meaning "the walled-in ones", recalls the community of women who once lived enclosed in bridge pillars over the Arno. Today the site is used as apartments, restaurants, and event spaces, so visitors experience this layered history simply by walking through the courtyards.

The building has been converted into apartments, restaurants, and event spaces, so you can enter parts of it without buying a ticket. Some areas are private residences, but the courtyards are generally open to anyone passing through during the day.

Before moving to the current site, the nuns lived in cells built into the pillars of the Ponte alle Grazie, a bridge over the Arno. Living inside a bridge is what gave the community its name, which has survived long after the original cells disappeared.