Torre degli Amidei, Medieval tower in Via Por Santa Maria, Florence, Italy

The Torre degli Amidei is a stone tower on Via Por Santa Maria in Florence featuring double arches at its entrances and two lion heads on its facade. The structure displays typical medieval Tuscan architectural elements with its vertical form and carved stone ornaments.

The tower was erected in the first decades of the 13th century and is documented in archival records from December 1241 as belonging to the Amidei, who owned several houses along this stretch of Via Por Santa Maria. According to chroniclers such as Giovanni Villani, the Amidei killed the young Buondelmonte de' Buondelmonti for breaking off a marriage with their house, setting off the feuds that split Florence into Guelph and Ghibelline factions. The tower was lowered in the 13th century under a building regulation, later passed by inheritance to the Gherardini, and in August 1944 was almost entirely destroyed by German mines; it was rebuilt under architect Guido Morozzi using stone recovered from the rubble.

The tower reflects the medieval Florentine tradition of wealthy families building tall structures to display their authority and status in the city. These towers once dominated the skyline and served as physical markers of family power within the urban landscape.

The tower stands at Via Por Santa Maria 9r-11r, a short walk from Piazza della Signoria, wedged between buildings erected in the 1950s. It is a private civil building seen from the street; there is no interior visit. Look up at the two doorways with double arches and the marble lion heads above them, and compare the mortar of the rebuilt sections with the older stonework.

The left lion head above the doors was recovered from the rubble after the 1944 explosion and put back in place; the right one is a modern copy carved by Rigo Righi. Because of these heads the tower is sometimes called the "tower of the lions".