About Contact
view all hotels
Twelfth-century stone tower-house on Via delle Terme seen from the street, a figure on its corner balcony against a clear blue sky, Terme Historical Tower, images © Tommaso Pini

Time Chronicles

Terme Historical Tower

contact return to top
enquire now enquire now

Intro

With its stripped architectural bones, Terme Historical Tower chronicles its history. The restoration, finished in July 2026, took the fourth floor of this twelfth-century tower-house back to its fabric and left it legible: tooled blocks of golden-brown sandstone, rough grey-green rubble, red brick patched in by later builders, a brick barrel vault over the kitchen, and walls thick enough to turn every window into a deep stone recess. Medieval Florence bristled with private towers, around 150 of them by the chroniclers' count, raised by families who measured standing in height and, in times of feud, linked neighbouring towers with timber walkways. Via delle Terme, a narrow street running parallel to the Arno, still keeps a cluster of them, a minute's walk from Ponte Vecchio. Against the old masonry the furnishing brings a touch of sprezzatura, the studied nonchalance Castiglione prized in 1528, here in chrome, brass and bouclé from the 1970s, worn as lightly as the stone is old. Above the rooftops rises the Torre di Arnolfo of Palazzo Vecchio. Two suites, an open living room with a fireplace and a small terrace fill 115 square metres.

Nobility, Roman Baths, Medieval Highrise

Looking straight up between the rough-stone facades and deep eaves of Via delle Terme, a strip of blue sky between the medieval towers, images © Tommaso Pini

The street takes its name from the baths of Roman Florentia, which stood in this corner of the ancient town. By the twelfth and thirteenth centuries the area belonged to the great merchant and noble families, and their towers crowded the blocks between Por Santa Maria and Borgo Santi Apostoli. The Buondelmonti tower still stands a few doors along the street; according to tradition, the murder of Buondelmonte de' Buondelmonti by the Amidei near Ponte Vecchio in 1216 opened the long feud between Guelphs and Ghibellines. The Amidei tower survives on Por Santa Maria, around the corner.

Height became politics. In the 1250s the commune ordered the private towers cut down to a fixed limit, and many were absorbed into houses and palazzi over the following centuries, which is how a tower-house came to hold an apartment on its fourth floor.

Pietra Forte, Brick & Chrome

Between mirror-backed bar cabinets to a chrome and brass dining table, bouclé sofas and a wall of exposed stone and brick at Terme Historical Tower, images © Tommaso Pini

Read the walls and the tower's life lies open. The oldest work looks like pietra forte, the honey-brown sandstone of medieval Florence, cut into blocks whose faces still carry the marks of the mason's chisel; at the springing of one arch the wedge-shaped stones show them plainly. Rougher grey-green stone fills in between, and red brick records the later hands that opened windows, rebuilt jambs and turned a vault over the kitchen. Where the stone stays covered, the plaster is coarse and grey, so nothing competes with it. By appearance it is the same stone as Palazzo Vecchio and its tower, which rise over the roofs outside.

In the living and dining rooms, the 1970s pieces take the lead. A sand-coloured bouclé sofa and two charcoal bouclé armchairs on sweeping chrome tubes stand on a terracotta-red rug before a stone fireplace with an arched opening. The dining table is glass on a frame of brass and chrome, with chrome-framed chairs in grey wool and a brass bar cart on castors alongside, and a pale grey vitrine with fluted glass doors holds red-bound books, pink glass and crystal. Wide oak planks, wire-brushed, run underfoot.

The kitchen, under a brick vault, pairs oak cupboards with stainless steel and a hand-carved stone trough sink. Beyond it, a glazed door opens onto a small planted terrace of about ten square metres, looking across the roofs towards Palazzo Vecchio.

Two Suites and a Balcony on Via delle Terme

Bedroom in grey plaster with brass wall lights, a chrome-framed leather chair and a travertine shower beyond, Terme Historical Tower, images © Tommaso Pini

In the main suite, a double bed faces a small balcony over Via delle Terme, looking up to the Torre di Arnolfo. In the other, the window frames a neighbouring wall of stone with a round-arched window set in its own voussoirs, so the view from the pillow is more masonry, centuries old. Exposed stone turns the corners of both rooms where an arch springs from the wall; the beds are dressed in grey linen, a chair of chrome tube and leather in the Bauhaus manner waits by the window, and the wardrobe doors are antiqued mirror. The bathrooms carry the stone through: walls of grey-beige travertine, a rough-hewn trough basin, brass taps with wheel handles like old valves, and a towel rail in brass. Each room is fitted with soundproofed windows, smart televisions, cooling and mattresses 24 centimetres deep.

Via delle Terme: Met at the Door

Studded wooden doors beneath a rusticated stone arch and carved shield at Via delle Terme 5, the street entrance to Terme Historical Tower, images © Tommaso Pini

Arrival at the tower is personal: someone from the Florence Luxury Home team meets guests at the street door and walks them through the rooms, after a digital handbook has already gone out with practical notes and local recommendations. A printed welcome book in the living room takes over from there, listing trattorias, wine bars and workshops within a few streets. Behind the service stand Gianni and Donatella, who run the company as a family concern and keep a concierge on call for tables, transfers, guided visits and private chefs.

Por Santa Maria to Santa Trinita: The Medieval Core

Ponte Vecchio is a minute away, Palazzo Vecchio's piazza and the Uffizi hardly further. On Por Santa Maria, the loggia of the Mercato Nuovo shelters the bronze boar known as the Porcellino. At the western end of the street, the church of Santa Trinita holds Domenico Ghirlandaio's frescoes in the Sassetti Chapel, and Ponte Santa Trinita crosses to the Oltrarno, where the Santo Spirito market sells produce for anyone planning to cook at home.

editors PICK

The dome of the Medici Chapels seen through olive branches from Piazza di Madonna degli Aldobrandini, beside Medici Historical Home, images © Tommaso Pini The dome of the Medici Chapels seen through olive branches from Piazza di Madonna degli Aldobrandini, beside Medici Historical Home, images © Tommaso Pini
APARTMENTs - Florence, Italy

Medici Historical Home

Heritage with a contemporary nod beside the Medici Chapels: painted ceilings, a smooth remit of pastels and two suites on Piazza di Madonna degli Aldobrandini.

read more
APARTMENTs - Florence, Italy

Ponte Vecchio Panorama

Balconies facing Ponte Vecchio across the Arno: a 1950s apartment on Lungarno Acciaiuoli in celadon, travertine and honey wood, lit by Italian design classics.

read more
The Arno at sunset from the Lungarno, an arched stone bridge spanning the river between lines of riverside palazzi, their lights reflected in the water beneath a pink and gold sky. The Arno at sunset from the Lungarno, an arched stone bridge spanning the river between lines of riverside palazzi, their lights reflected in the water beneath a pink and gold sky.
APARTMENTs - Florence, Italy

Lungarno Guicciardini, 9

River views to Ponte alla Carraia, bookbinder's red against milky greys, and linen-draped suites set inside Baccio d'Agnolo's sgraffito Palazzo Lanfredini on the Oltrarno riverbank.

read more
An open window at Santa Croce Historical Home framing the Basilica of Santa Croce across the piazza, beside a living room with blue sofa, walnut games table, terracotta floor and five framed drawings. An open window at Santa Croce Historical Home framing the Basilica of Santa Croce across the piazza, beside a living room with blue sofa, walnut games table, terracotta floor and five framed drawings.
APARTMENTs - Florence, Italy

Santa Croce Historical Home

Carta da zucchero blue lifted from recovered fresco, a front-row seat on Piazza Santa Croce, five suites in a painted palazzo for family and friends.

read more

RELATED
JOURNAL

Organic Rice Farming in Tuscany

Ariane was living in New York as a lobbyist for sustainable and organic farmers when she felt the pull of her family’s farm in Tuscany. With her experience in sustainable agriculture, she decided to begin the journey to organic certification for her rice farm.

read more
JOURNAL

Studio Archiloop: Architects of Amazing Heritage Hotels in Italy

A powerhouse of architecture, design and restoration works - we feature three of their recent Italian hotels, creating a legacy of how to convert buildings into fabulously designed places to stay.

read more
Locanda al Colle | Best Boutique Hotel in Versilia, Tuscany's Coastline Locanda al Colle | Best Boutique Hotel in Versilia, Tuscany's Coastline
Hotel - Tuscany, Italy

Locanda al Colle

Fabulous farmhouse luxury decks this Italian bolthole in the hilltops of Versilia close to Tuscany's coastline hot picks Forte dei Marmi and Viareggio.

read more
JOURNAL

Tuscany's Wines - Four Producers

Fabio Firli, owner of the fabulous Follonico, reveals his favourite four wine producers in Tuscany close to his sweet little guesthouse - Uccelliera, Podere Le Ripi, Capitoni Marco and Talosa from Montepulciano.

read more
JOURNAL

Florence | Firenze – Where Marble Saints Meet Leather Rebels

Florence is where Renaissance vision meets timeless craftsmanship – a city of cathedrals, sculpture, stone workshops and living history, layered with legacy and pulsing with quiet creative strength.

read more
Outdoor terrace at Colle ai Lecci agriturismo, Chianti, with a linen-draped table set for coffee against a centuries-old stone and brick farmhouse facade with olive-green shutters and hydrangeas Outdoor terrace at Colle ai Lecci agriturismo, Chianti, with a linen-draped table set for coffee against a centuries-old stone and brick farmhouse facade with olive-green shutters and hydrangeas
GUESTHOUSE - Tuscany, Italy

Colle ai Lecci

A 1720 Chianti estate of three stone farmhouses, reborn by Austrian architect Nina Mair as a creative sanctuary of craft, olive groves and unhurried Tuscan soul.

read more
JOURNAL

Seed to Skin

A 300-acre Tuscan wilderness of herbs, fauna and thermal soil. A woman who believed nature, properly understood, could outperform anything a laboratory could invent alone. This is Seed to Skin.

read more
JOURNAL

Four Tuscans: The Best Boutique and Design Hotels in Tuscany

Four independently owned Tuscan hotels, from a 1720 Chianti borgo and a Versilia art house to a Montefollonico farmhouse and a convent townhouse in Pienza.

read more
The dome of the Medici Chapels seen through olive branches from Piazza di Madonna degli Aldobrandini, beside Medici Historical Home, images © Tommaso Pini The dome of the Medici Chapels seen through olive branches from Piazza di Madonna degli Aldobrandini, beside Medici Historical Home, images © Tommaso Pini
APARTMENTs - Florence, Italy

Medici Historical Home

Heritage with a contemporary nod beside the Medici Chapels: painted ceilings, a smooth remit of pastels and two suites on Piazza di Madonna degli Aldobrandini.

read more
APARTMENTs - Florence, Italy

Ponte Vecchio Panorama

Balconies facing Ponte Vecchio across the Arno: a 1950s apartment on Lungarno Acciaiuoli in celadon, travertine and honey wood, lit by Italian design classics.

read more
The Arno at sunset from the Lungarno, an arched stone bridge spanning the river between lines of riverside palazzi, their lights reflected in the water beneath a pink and gold sky. The Arno at sunset from the Lungarno, an arched stone bridge spanning the river between lines of riverside palazzi, their lights reflected in the water beneath a pink and gold sky.
APARTMENTs - Florence, Italy

Lungarno Guicciardini, 9

River views to Ponte alla Carraia, bookbinder's red against milky greys, and linen-draped suites set inside Baccio d'Agnolo's sgraffito Palazzo Lanfredini on the Oltrarno riverbank.

read more
An open window at Santa Croce Historical Home framing the Basilica of Santa Croce across the piazza, beside a living room with blue sofa, walnut games table, terracotta floor and five framed drawings. An open window at Santa Croce Historical Home framing the Basilica of Santa Croce across the piazza, beside a living room with blue sofa, walnut games table, terracotta floor and five framed drawings.
APARTMENTs - Florence, Italy

Santa Croce Historical Home

Carta da zucchero blue lifted from recovered fresco, a front-row seat on Piazza Santa Croce, five suites in a painted palazzo for family and friends.

read more
view more