IL CANTO (The corner) DE' BISCHERI

I believe it is one of the best known stories of Florence, despite this it is always among the most acclaimed and requested and therefore... let Bischeri be!
The Bischeri were one of the wealthiest Florentine families towards the end of the thirteenth century.
They had houses, shops and palaces in the area of today's Piazza Duomo, on the side of Via del Proconsolo and Via dell'Oriuolo.

When the ancient cathedral dedicated to Santa Reparata appeared unequivocally too "small compared to such a city" and it was decided to build the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, we found ourselves faced with the problem of finding the space necessary for such a mammoth construction .
There was no other solution than to "evict" those who had properties in the area affected by the grandiose project.
The community offered everyone compensation, reasonably fair compared to the properties that were expropriated and everyone accepted this solution without any particular discontent.
Everyone, except our Bischeri friends.

As skilled merchants, they knew well that their properties became indispensable for the continuation of the project and attempted, with subsequent and repeated refusals, to obtain a much more favorable economic proposal.
Which actually happened: the Florentine Republic increased the initial offer more than once, but the Bischeris, adamant, continued to refuse every proposal, convinced that they could obtain much more than what was still offered.
We are at the turning point, and here there are two versions available: the Florentine Government, exhausted by the interminable negotiation, decided to expropriate the lands and houses of the Bischeri family for a very few florins, who therefore found themselves with a handful of flies in their hands, effectively determining their economic ruin.
The other, more enjoyable version, instead states that, one night, Florence was awakened by the sound of the bells, which if they rang at night had only one meaning: there was a fire in progress.
The Bischeris' properties had suddenly caught fire, very high flames rose from their houses, which were inexorably destroyed by the fire which, thanks to a strong wind, could not be put out.
In the morning, nothing remained but a pile of ash and, at that point, the Florentine Republic withdrew any offer.

The Bischeris ended up ruined, economically and morally.
Wherever they found themselves walking, in Florence, they were mocked and pointed at, giggles and bad jokes persecuted them, and we know well how caustic we Florentines can be!
It had become a way of saying: Bischero was no longer a surname, but an adjective to identify a fool, a fool.
Then the saying "there is no paradise for Bischeri" was also born.

The Bischeris made a decision, which turned out to be wise: they abandoned Florence, turning first towards Romagna and then moving to France, where they managed to revive their fortunes and make their fortune.
After a couple of centuries they returned to Florence, but with a brand new surname: no longer Bischeri, but Guadagni, demonstrating the fact that they were as wealthy as they once were.
And not only that, they decided to buy a palace on the same strip of land that once housed that ancestral home that went up in smoke.
That building is the one on the corner between Piazza del Duomo and Via dell'Oriuolo, and on the side of the street there is a plaque bearing the inscription: "CANTO DEI BISCHERI", in eternal memory of how much ambition and greed can make fools.
After all, calling someone a fool is not an offense, here in Florence I don't think there is a person who hasn't been called a fool at least a few hundred times in their life.
A nice "go and go, naughty boy" is denied to no one, don't you think so??