Florence launches campaign to protect artisan workshops amid crisis

Italy has lost over 165,000 artisan workshops in the last decade, with 1.3 million such businesses now representing nearly 22% of the national productive fabric, according to Confartigianato Imprese. In response, the Comune di Firenze and Fondazione Destination Florence have launched 'Scopri le Botteghe Fiorentine. Conosci la vera Firenze' under the #EnjoyRespectFirenze campaign. The initiative guides visitors through lesser-known streets to discover authentic workshops, aiming to promote conscious tourism and protect the city's social and cultural fabric. The route features three historic ateliers: Paolo Penko's goldsmith workshop near the Duomo, which celebrates 40 years this year and produces Renaissance-inspired jewelry using granulation, burin engraving, and lost-wax casting; the Antico Setificio Fiorentino, founded in 1786, which weaves silk on 18th-century looms with a unique Jacquard system using punched cards, and was acquired in 2010 by entrepreneur Stefano Ricci; and the Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella, founded in 1221 by Dominican friars, considered the world's oldest pharmacy, where fragrances like Melograno and Acqua della Regina (created for Catherine de' Medici by perfumer Renato Bianco) are made from centuries-old recipes. The Officina features a frescoed ceiling from 1848 depicting four continents and a museum space with historical artifacts.