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Firenze Santa Maria Novella (in English Florence Santa Maria Novella) or Stazione di Santa Maria Novella is the main railway station in Florence,
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
. The station is used by 59 million people every year and is one of the busiest in Italy. It is at the northern end of the Florence–Rome high-speed railway line ''Direttissima'', which was completed on 26 May 1992 and the southern end of the Bologna–Florence railway line, opened on 22 April 1934. A new high speed line to
Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...
opened on 13 December 2009. The station is also used by regional trains on lines connecting to:
Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...
,
Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 152,916 residents as of 2025. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn ...
( Leopolda railway);
Lucca Città di Lucca ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its Province of Lucca, province has a population of 383,9 ...
,
Viareggio Viareggio () is a city and ''comune'' in northern Tuscany, Italy, on the coast of the Ligurian Sea. With a population of over 62,000, it is the second largest city in the province of Lucca, after Lucca. It is known as a seaside resort as well a ...
( Viareggio–Florence railway);
Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...
(
Bologna–Florence railway The Bologna–Florence railway is one of the major links in the Italy, Italian rail network, connecting the railways of the Po Valley with the railways of Tuscany and central Italy under the Apennines. It is also known as the Bologna–Florence ...
) and
Faenza Faenza (, ; ; or ; ) is an Italian city and comune of 59,063 inhabitants in the province of Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna, situated southeast of Bologna. Faenza is home to a historical manufacture of majolica-ware glazed earthenware pottery, known ...
( Faentina railway).


History

The station was inaugurated on 3 February 1848 to serve the railway to
Pistoia Pistoia (; ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of a province of the same name, located about north-west of Florence and is crossed by the Ombrone Pistoiese, a tributary of the River Arno. It is a typic ...
and Pisa, and was initially called ''Maria Antonia'' (from the name of the railway, named in honour of
Princess Maria Antonia of the Two Sicilies Princess Maria Antonia of the Two Sicilies () (19 December 1814 – 7 November 1898), was a princess of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies by birth and Grand Duchess of Grand Duchy of Tuscany, Tuscany from 1833 to 1859 as the consort of Leopold II ...
); it was much closer to the
Santa Maria Novella Santa Maria Novella is a church in Florence, Italy, situated opposite, and lending its name to, the city's main railway station. Chronologically, it is the first great basilica in Florence, and is the city's principal Dominican church. The ch ...
church than the current station. It was renamed after the church after the
unification of Italy The unification of Italy ( ), also known as the Risorgimento (; ), was the 19th century Political movement, political and social movement that in 1861 ended in the Proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, annexation of List of historic states of ...
. The Florentine sculptor
Romano Romanelli Romano Romanelli (14 May 1882 – 25 September 1968) was an Italian artist, writer, and naval officer, known for his sculptures and his medals. Romanelli was born in Florence, the son of sculptor Raffaello Romanelli. Romano's works occupy an impo ...
publicly attacked the original proposals by government architect Mazzoni in editorials in the city's main daily newspaper,
La Nazione ''La Nazione'' is one of the oldest regional newspapers in Italy, and was established on 8 July 1859. The paper is based in Florence. History and profile ''La Nazione'' was founded by Bettino Ricasoli, interim head of the Tuscan government. Th ...
. A constructive debate resulted in the project being sponsored by the architect
Marcello Piacentini Marcello Piacentini (8 December 188119 May 1960) was an Italian people, Italian urban theorist and one of the main proponents of Italian Fascist architecture. Biography Early career Born in Rome, he was the son of architect Pio Piacentini. He ...
and designed by Gruppo Toscano in 1932. The ''Gruppo Toscano'' included
Giovanni Michelucci Giovanni Michelucci (2 January 1891 – 31 December 1990) was an Italian architect, urban planner and designer. He had the good fortune to live a long life almost entirely within the span of the twentieth century, giving us a valuable witness th ...
,
Italo Gamberini Italo Gamberini (21 September 1907 – 14 November 1990) was an Italian architect. Life and career Gamberini graduated from the then School of Architecture in Florence in 1932, where he began his teaching career as a voluntary assistant to Raffa ...
,
Pier Niccolò Berardi Pier Niccolò Berardi (3 October 1904 – 2 January 1989) was an Italian architect. Life and career Berardi, from a family of entrepreneurs in the wood and steel industry in Piedmont, graduated in architecture in Rome in 1928. He collaborated wi ...
,
Nello Baroni Nello Baroni (27 October 1906 – 28 May 1958) was an Italian architect. Life and career Baroni graduated from the Higher School of Architecture in Florence in 1933. A pupil of Raffaello Brizzi and Giovanni Michelucci, he collaborated with the ...
, Sarre Guarnieri, and
Leonardo Lusanna Leonardo Lusanna (24 January 1908 – 5 January 1973) was an Italian architect. Life and career Lusanna was born in Palermo in 1908, to a family of railway engineers. After moving to Florence with his family, he graduated in architecture in 1932 ...
. The building was constructed between 1932 and 1934. The plan of the building, as seen from above, looks as if it were based on the fascio littorio, the symbol of
Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...
's
National Fascist Party The National Fascist Party (, PNF) was a political party in Italy, created by Benito Mussolini as the political expression of Italian fascism and as a reorganisation of the previous Italian Fasces of Combat. The party ruled the Kingdom of It ...
, many documents give this explanation, but, that shape was forced by the pre-existing station. The "blade" represented by the first two-passenger tracks and the postal ones were in fact the extension of the 1861 alignment which included the tracks of the line from
Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 152,916 residents as of 2025. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn ...
. The building is a prime example of Italian modernism, but has little to do with the Italian Rationalism movement, being more strongly influenced by the Viennese architecture of Loos and Hoffmann, with perhaps a nod to Wright; but it is the building's complete originality that makes it outstanding. The competition to design the station was controversial but the approval by Mussolini of the Gruppo Toscano project was hailed as an official acceptance of modernity. The station was designed to replace the aging Maria Antonia Station, one of the few example of architecture by I. K. Brunel in Italy, and to serve as a gateway to the city centre. The Gruppo Toscano was only responsible for the main frontal building of the station. The heating plant and control tower, platforms, other facilities and details such as benches and baggage shelves were all designed in a contrasting style by the official Ministry of Communications architect,
Angiolo Mazzoni Angiolo Mazzoni (21 May 1894 – 28 September 1979) was a state architect and engineer of the Italian Fascist government of the 1920s and 1930s. Mazzoni designed hundreds of public buildings, post offices and train stations during the Interwar pe ...
. Outside and adjacent to the station is also Michelucci's white marble Palazzina Reale di Santa Maria Novella, built to host the royal family on visits to Florence. While it is of a "uncompromisingly modern" design, the use of pietra forte (a hard sandstone) for the station's stone frontage was intended to respond to and contrast with the nearby
Gothic architecture Gothic architecture is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High Middle Ages, High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It evolved f ...
of the church of Santa Maria Novella. The interior of the station features a dramatic metal and glass roof with large skylights over the main passenger concourse, which is aligned perpendicular to the tracks and acts as a pedestrian street. The skylights span the passenger concourse without any supporting columns, giving a feeling of openness and vast space and reinforcing the convergence of all the public functions of the station on the passenger concourse. Near platform #16 there is a statue and a memorial plaque in remembrance of the train loads of Jewish people who were deported from Italy to
Nazi concentration camps From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps (), including subcamp (SS), subcamps on its own territory and in parts of German-occupied Europe. The first camps were established in March 1933 immediately af ...
during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.


Train services

The station is served by the following trains: *High speed trains (''Frecciarossa'') ''Turin – Milan – Bologna – Florence – Rome – Naples – Salerno'' *High speed trains (''Frecciarossa'') ''Venice – Padua – Bologna – Florence – Rome – Naples – Salerno'' *High speed trains (''Frecciargento'') ''Trieste – Venice – Padua – Bologna – Florence – Rome'' *High speed trains (''Frecciargento'') ''Udine – Treviso – Venice – Padua – Bologna – Florence – Rome'' *High speed trains (''Frecciargento'') ''Venice – Padua – Bologna – Florence – Rome'' *High speed trains (''Frecciargento'') ''Venice – Padua – Bologna – Florence – Rome – Fiumicino Airport''


See also

* Firenze Campo di Marte railway station * Firenze Rifredi railway station *
History of rail transport in Italy The Italian railway system is one of the most important parts of the infrastructure of Italy, with a total length of as of 2011. Origins The first Railways were introduced in Italy when it was still a divided country, a few decades before t ...
*
List of railway stations in Tuscany This is the list of the railway stations in Tuscany owned by: * Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI), a branch of the Italian state company Ferrovie dello Stato; * Rete Ferroviaria Toscana (RFT), a branch of La Ferroviaria Italiana. Former stations ...
*
Rail transport in Italy The Italian railway system is one of the most important parts of the infrastructure of Italy, with a total length of of which active lines are . The network has recently grown with the construction of the new High-speed rail in Italy, high-spe ...
*
Railway stations in Italy Most railway stations in Italy are maintained and operated by RFI, a subsidiary of Ferrovie dello Stato Group. A minor part of them are operated by private and regional companies, conceded by the state. See also: :it:Ferrovie in concessione S ...


References

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Firenze Santa Maria Novella Railway Station Art Deco railway stations Italian fascist architecture Modernist architecture in Italy Santa Maria Novella Railway Station Railway stations in Italy opened in 1934 Railway stations in Italy opened in 1848