Stazione Leopolda

Leopolda Station was the first railway built in Florence. Subsequently, with the birth of the Central Station of Santa Maria Novella, it was closed in 1860. In 1981 the premises were adapted by Giuseppe Martelli in view of the First National Exhibition, inaugurated by King Vittorio Emanuele II, with the exhibition of paintings of the emerging Macchiaioli school. During the time of Florence Capital, the building housed the General Directorate of Taxes and Customs, after an architectural renovation by Marco Treves, who flyovered the bodies side to obtained other rooms for offices and a mezzanine. Over the years, the Station also hosted a workshop for the maintenance of trains and, during the Second World War, a laboratory for the bullets production. Today, the building is used as venue for meetings, conferences and various cultural events, music, fashion and fairs-market, disco. Every year, in May, the Leopolda hosts the "Fabbrica Europa Festival".