Torre della Serpe, Medieval tower in Florence, Italy.

Torre della Serpe is a medieval tower in Florence located near Viale Fratelli Rosselli as part of the former city defenses. It still displays its original battlements and served as a strategic point along the old fortification system.

The tower was built as a corner point of Florence's medieval defensive walls, extending from Porta al Prato toward the Arno river's northern bank. It formed part of a larger system that protected the city for centuries.

The name comes from a medieval guard who once worked at this location in Florence. You can still see the historical role of this structure in how it stands as part of the city's past defenses.

The tower stands on a traffic island in the middle of the Viale Fratelli Rosselli, part of the Circonvallazione ring road, so it can only be reached on foot at crossings. It houses the Florence section of the CNGEI, the Italian Boy Scouts and Girl Guides association, so the interior is not open as a monument.

Between the tower and the Arno lay a zone nicknamed "Sardinia", meaning foul-smelling, because of the rubbish and animal carcasses dumped there. The name survives only in old sources, but it explains why this stretch of the medieval walls was avoided.