There is episode that tells a lot about how charming ancient trades are. Some years ago Daniel Day-Lewis, the British actor winner of two Oscars with "My Left Foot" and "There Will Be Blood", decided to abandon Hollywood star system and to spend his time working as a shoemaker`s apprentice in a craft workshop in Borgo San Frediano.

If you are on holidays in Florence, let the charm of gestures consisting in a mix of craftsmanship and tradition seduce you - even though just for a couple of hours.

Our tour starts from Ponte Vecchio. The 14th-century bridge over the river Arno is renowned for its two lines of goldsmith`s and jeweller`s shops. The bridge, among the most fascinating Florentine monuments, has a particular history: in fact, in the origin the so-called "beccai", that is, the butchers occupied the shops and disposed their waste directly in the river. It was only in the 16th century that Ferdinand I prohibited butchers from selling there because of the stench that arrived up to the Vasari Corridor. Jewellers and gold merchants immediately took their place.

Among the Florentine apartments, historic residences, palaces and villas in the Oltrarno district hide many workshops specialised in woodwoork and in the realisation of straw hats (in Santo Spirito), laboratories that produce furniture textiles and silver and glass goods (San Frediano), and leather workshops specialised in the production of leather shoes, bags and clothes (Santa Croce).