Florence (Italy) (AFP)

Florence, jewel of the Renaissance, can be proud of a world-famous heritage, but some details of which are still unknown today: this is the case of the discreet "wine windows" adorning the facade of certain palaces, which allowed the sale of "contactless" wine, a concept that has become topical again in these times of coronavirus.

Small in size (20 cm wide and 30 cm high), these openings at man's height pierced next to the porch of sumptuous palaces belonging to the great Florentine families were used to sell wine directly from the producer to the consumer.

Over the centuries, this architectural detail and its function fell into the oblivion of history until Massimo Casprini, a Florentine scholar, set out to rediscover them and devote a book to it, "I finestrini del vino" (" The wine windows "), published in 2005.

These windows "were created from 1532 after the fall of the Republic, when the Medici returned to power and wanted to promote agriculture, prompting the large Florentine owners to invest in olive groves and vineyards (...) while giving them tax advantages to directly resell their production in the city, "Mr. Casprini told AFP during a walk through the streets of Florence in the summer heat.

Only restriction: "They could only sell wine of their own production there and in a particular format of about 1.4 liters".

"The other function of these small windows was social, by allowing common people to acquire wine at a more reasonable price than from traders, without an intermediary," he adds, adding with a smile that "to at the time the consumption of wine was enormous ".

- Plague episodes -

At the time of the coronavirus and social distancing, Massimo Casprini recalls that "thanks to this system we avoided contact", while "epidemics and episodes of plague were very frequent in the 16th century".

"Indeed, the wine window was closed by a wooden panel, the customer would introduce himself and knock with the knocker, inside there was a wine merchant who took the empty bottle and filled it. no direct contact! " raves the dashing septuagenarian, also a lover of vintage motorcycles and author of some 70 books focusing on the Tuscan capital.

So far, 267 of these wine windows have been recorded in Tuscany, including 149 in central Florence. "There were a lot more!" Mr. Casprini believes, "almost all landowners had a wine window, but many of them disappeared, especially during the bombing of World War II".

Some have also been walled up, but thanks to the lynx's eye of our expert we can still recognize the outlines of their pietra serena (gray sandstone) or stone from the quarries of Fiesole, near Florence.

In line with Professor Casprini's book, an association was founded, called "Le buchette del vino", which lists and affixes a plaque on each window. Its website (https://buchettedelvino.org/) even offers an interactive map to explore them, as well as a photo gallery and a historical presentation of these little architectural treasures.

It quotes for example a guide in French of Florence dating from 1892 which mentions the window of a palace: "this cellar quite famous for its vintage wines only delivers to consumers those coming from the properties of the Marquise Leonia degli Albizi Frescobaldi".

Having fallen into disuse, "finestrini del vino" are today the subject of renewed interest and a form of recycling: store display, serving hatch in a cafe, or even a small altar dedicated to Virgin.

Even if they are protected by law, Mr. Casprini deplores that "three windows have already disappeared" since his first census in 2005.

© 2020 AFP