Chiostro del Maglio
Via Venezia, 5 – 50121 Florence (Italy)
Tel./Fax 0039 055/582615
A brief description of the conference venue:
This historic site is an ancient convent and the word “Maglio” indicates the ancient game practiced in late Renaissance, which consisted in striking an iron ball with a long hammer towards a target.
The church, which nowadays is used as “Aula Magna” (main room), was built at the end of the XIII century and is decorated with frescoes by Giotto’s School. Its structure is strangely modern: thin columns support the whole building, and were appreciated by Vasari.
The cloister was built more recently than the convent, and it was classified as “not concluded”. Actually, the south east side of the cloister is not present and since 1924 it is replaced by an artistic wrought iron gate, which symbolizes both the glory and the pain of medical duties in war.
In 1865 this building was used as a barracks for Italian Bersaglieri, then in 1882 it became the Italian Army Medical School. Since 1998, Medical headquarters are located in this building. In the garden you can find the important bronze memorial by Arrigo Minerbi dedicated to Medical Doctors victim of wars.
