History of Giubbe Rosse

The Caffè “Giubbe Rosse” is among the most famous literary meeting places both in Italy and abroad.

At the beginning of ‘900, as the brothers Reininghaus’ beer cellar and subsequently under its present name which originates from the colour of the waiters’jackets, the “Giubbe Rosse” hosted the eras of Futurism and successive trends.

The famous magazines “La Voce”, “Lacerba”, “Solaria”, and other more recent publications, owe something to this Caffè where poets, artists and intellectuals meet and counter. Personalities such as Marinetti, Papini, Prezzolini, Cambana, Gadda, Boccioni, Montale and many others, in various epochs and cultural milieu, made the “Giubbe Rosse” a crossroads in the literary history of ‘900.
Literary Encounters continue up to the present day at the “Giubbe Rosse” , which is frequented by artists and intellectuals of every school, making this Literary Caffè a center of culture and art. The Caffè “Giubbe Rosse” also offers to artists a space for personal exhibitions.

At the end of the l9th century the city administration of Florence decided to raze the old neighborhood of Mercato Vecchio to the ground, in favor of a new square dedicated to Victor Emmanuel II. “Non fu giammai così nobil giardino / come a quel tempo egli è Mercato Vecchio / che l’occhio e il gusto pasce al fiorentino”, sang the poet Antonio Pucci in the fourteenth century, “Mercato Vecchio nel mondo è alimento./ A ogni altra piazza il prego serra”.