The Palazzo Minerbetti is an urban palace building located on Via de' Tornabuoni #3 at the corner with Via del Parione, which edges into the Piazza Santa Trinita, Florence, in central Florence, Italy.
History The palace is an assembly of palaces from the 12th and 13th centuries, joined under one family in the 15th century. The corner of the building on Via del Parione has a family heraldic shield.Firenze e provincia, by Touring club italiano, page 259.
There are two quoted traditions for the derivation of the Minerbetti, one claims that it derives from a cadet or minor branch of an English Becket family, emigrating prior to the 15th century, perhaps related to the family Saint Thomas Becket of Canterbury, leading to an italianizations of Minor-Becket.Firenze illustrata nella sua storia: famiglie, monumenti, arti e scienza, by Emilio Bacciotti, (1886), page 45.
That tradition, however, may be apocryphal; other sources cite this as an ancient republican Florentine family.I palazzi, Volume 2, by Sandra Carlini, Lara Mercanti, Giovanni Straffi, Alinea editrice, Florence (2004); page 72. In 1459, Andrea Minerbetti bought the property from the Bombeni family.Firenze scomparsa; ricordi storico-artistici, by Guido Carocci, page 45. The Minerbetti were prominent into the 18th century, hosting the Grand-Duke of Tuscany with pomp in 1767; by the 1800s, the male line had died. The palace was inherited or sold to the Santini family, then the Buovisi Montecatini of Lucca.I palazzi, page 45.
An inn was present at the locale since the 19th century; first, one called Locanda del PellicanoGuida della citta di Firenze e suoi contorni, Presso Antonio Campani (1830), page 138. and later Locanda d'Europa.Firenze illustrata nella sua storia: famiglie, monumenti, arti e scienza, by Emilio Bacciotti, (1886), page 45. The top floors house the pension Tornabuoni Beacci with a rooftop terrace with a view.Tuscany & Umbria, by Hunter Publishing, page 56.Tornabuoni Hotels.
Structure The lower floor of the main façade on Via Tornabuoni has rounded arches and slightly polished stone masonry of varying size. The thin corner building with an iron balcony along Via Parione was completed in the 19th century and connected parts of the palace. Construction of this terrace and a grand staircase was begun in 1730. In 1761, a chapel was added by Pier Giovanni Fabbroni; was decorated with frescoes and had an altarpiece of Martyrdom of San Tommaso (Thomas Becket) by Giacinto Fabbroni.I palazzi, Volume 2, by Sandra Carlini, Lara Mercanti, Giovanni Straffi, Alinea editrice, Florence (2004); page 72.
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