Le Cascine

Lonely Planet review

About 15 minutes' walk west along Borgo Ognissanti is Porta al Prato, part of the walls that were knocked down in the late 19th century to make way for the ring of boulevards that still surrounds the city. Through this gate many a Medici bride arrived in Florence in festive parade on her way to the Palazzo Vecchio or Palazzo Pitti. A short walk south from here towards the Arno brings you to the eastern tip of Florence's great green lung, Le Cascine.

The Medici dukes made this a private hunting reserve, but Pietro Leopoldo opened it to the public in 1776, with boulevards, fountains and bird sanctuaries (Le Pavoniere, now a swimming pool). In the late 19th century horse racing began here (a British import it seems, since the locals referred to the sport as le corse inglesi - the English races). Queen Victoria was a fan of Florence and toddled along to the Cascine during her stays. At the extreme western end of the park is a monument to Rajaram Cuttiputti, an Indian maharajah who, while holidaying in Florence in 1870, managed to get a severe bout of gastroenteritis and died. His retinue requested, and surprisingly obtained, permission to cremate him by the river. This was quite a spectacle for the locals, who didn't understand a word of the ritual but were thoroughly fascinated by it. Four years later he got a statue and memorial designed by British artisans. At its opening the British imperial anthem sounded across the green expanses. To this day, the spot is called Piazzetta dell'Indiano. The nearby bridge is named after him too. Nowadays the park fills with joggers, bladers, families and strollers, especially on warmer spring and summer days. At night a more furtive fauna of prostitutes and cruisers takes over, albeit in lesser numbers.