Convent of Scolopi, Educational palazzo near San Lorenzo Church in Florence, Italy.
The Convent of Scolopi is an educational palazzo in Florence that stretches between Via dei Martelli and Borgo San Lorenzo, featuring a grand late 1600s doorway. Today it houses a classical high school and contains the Ximenian observatory, which holds a collection of historic scientific instruments.
The palazzo was designed by Bartolomeo Ammannati in 1557 after Cosimo I de Medici gave the land to the Jesuits to build an educational institution. The Piarist order later took over the building and has shaped its role as a school ever since.
The name Scolopi comes from the Piarist religious order that has worked here since the 1500s and continues to shape how the building functions as a school. Walking through the corridors, you can still find inscriptions and plaques that reflect this long connection between the place and education.
The building operates as a working school and is not freely accessible during class hours. Your best opportunity to explore is outside school hours or during holidays, when public areas may be more open to visitors.
The building displays an almond-shaped shield on its facade bearing multiple coats of arms from the Martelli family, the municipality, and the Piarist order. Leonardo da Vinci lived here during 1508 and left behind a commemorative plaque that visitors can still see today.
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