Le Murate Literary Café

Le Murate Literary Café
Piazza delle Murate (entrance from via dell’Agnolo)
055/23 46 872
Open Monday – Friday 9 am – 11 pm; weekends 11 am – 11 pm

Low-cost €1 breakfast (caffe latte, bread, butter and jam); economical €12 brunch Sunday brunch from 11 am – 3 pm; aperitivo buffet ranging from €5.50 – 7 euro from 6:30 to 9:30 pm

A literary café is essentially a coffeehouse where a guest feels at ease to remain at length, even after having purchased only a beverage or two.  It is a place where Internet comes free, and its use for the purpose of studying or work is encouraged.

Often, this type of café is lined with underground art and books bearing intriguing titles.

Above all, a literary café is devoted to serving the hardworking class of honest artists, writers and musicians by providing them with a chance for exposure, or by merely existing as a private haven to enhance creativity.

Le Murate is one such literary cafe and also a fine example of medieval design adapted by a contemporary architect, Renzo Piano.  The first view of Le Murate from the outside is a terracotta building in an illuminated courtyard, which is accessible on both sides.  Enormous penciled letters in white read: CAFFE LETTERARIO.  A series of spacious and high-ceilinged chambers are flanked on one side by an ancient stone wall, and the other by a bright-colored modern partition.  Back outside, adjacent to literary café, orange cavernous passageways are home to a contemporary art gallery and a bookshop.

Located in a former convent, later a prison, Le Murate is a café founded with a cohesive concept in mind—that art has the power to liberate.  Remnants of its past function have been transformed to serve the practical needs of a coffeehouse—jail windows have become tabletops for wining and dining, while solitary confinement cells have been turned into bathrooms.  The café serves a cheap breakfast, a budget brunch and a delicious aperitivo, as well as meals à la carte.

The idea for Le Murate Literary Café was born when several of Florence’s radio and literary societies won the authorization from the city council to use the space for cultural initiatives.  Le Murate is a creative venue for book launches, film screenings, poetry readings, jazz concerts and press conferences.  The literary café hosts its own on-site radio channel called Controradio, devoted to talk shows, contemporary music and raising awareness for human rights.  Catering to all ages (families included), Le Murate is like a portable stage that brings novel avenues of expression and worldly enlightenment to local attention.  (avigayil kelman)