The upside-down balcony of the building in Via Borgo Ognissanti is as unique as its history.
It is not a terrace designed to host people who, standing with their feet in the air, want to see Florence from a different point of view, but simply a balcony with its brackets, balustrades, and volutes placed “the wrong way”.
The curious 16th-century structure is the result of a long discussion between the builder, who had envisioned a balcony in its design, and the Duke Alexander De' Medici who continuously rejected it.
After various changes to the plan and the umpteenth request to build a projection in the construction, the Duke answered: “Okay, but up-side down”. The latter was always one who stuck to his guns, but the builder surprised him by taking his statement literally and designing the balcony bottom-side-up!
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