Palazzo Grifoni, Florence — Visitor Guide & Things to Do Nearby

On the corner of Piazza Santissima Annunziata, a single window has remained open for approximately 500 years. No one has ever closed it, and according to legend, no one ever should.

The story goes that toward the end of the 16th century, a young Grifoni bride watched her husband ride off to war from this very window. She spent the rest of her life there, waiting and watching for his return. When she finally died at the turn of the 17th century, the household closed the window and shutter as they organized her belongings.

What happened next was, by all accounts, terrifying. Books flew off shelves. Paintings crashed to the floor. Furniture scraped across rooms. The family was so frightened by the supernatural chaos that someone rushed to reopen the shutter. The instant it was opened, everything went calm.

Since that moment, the window has never been closed. Five centuries of Florentine life have passed, through wars, floods, and revolutions, and the shutter stays open.

An alternative version of the legend adds a romantic twist. Some say the room belonged to a woman secretly loved by Grand Duke Ferdinando I de Medici. If you look at the equestrian statue of Ferdinando in the center of Piazza Santissima Annunziata, you will notice it faces directly toward this window, as if he is eternally gazing at his unrequited love.

Palazzo Grifoni is one of those Florence stories that makes you look at the city differently. A Questo quest through Florence leads you to mysteries like this one, turning every window and every statue into a potential chapter of an unfinished story.