Taxes and Pandemics! Sounds like a headline ripped from today’s news, but these tiny Florentine windows actually date back almost 500 years.

Today about 150 can be found throughout Florence. In 1559, in an attempt to gain support after his takeover of Florence, Cosimo I (Florence: Balls, Balls, Balls!) decreed that landowners could sell wine produced on their farmland from their private residences tax-free. This proved popular with not only the landowners, but also the townspeople who appreciated the inexpensive wine, and many of these wine flask-sized windows (called buchette del vino) opened.

They became even more popular during the 17th century when several outbreaks of bubonic plague struck the city. The wine windows were perfect for contactless transactions during periods when thousands were dying of the disease.

Eventually wine windows fell out of favor, and most closed up. However, when Covid struck, creative shop owners revived the tradition and several reopened. These are extremely popular in the social media age, and are always surrounded by clusters of tourists. Today, there are about a half dozen in active use, and are a fun way to taste Florence’s history. But, even if you decide not to partake, keep your eyes open as you wander the city for these relics of the past that still grace the sides of the palazzos of Florence’s nobility.