Mercato Centrale Firenze was the brainchild of Umberto Montano, who with Claudio Cardini launched the project that would give Florence back one of its most important locations: the first floor of the covered market in the San Lorenzo neighbourhood. The project became a reality in spring 2014, marking the 140th anniversary of the iron and glass building erected in 1874 according to a design by architect Giuseppe Mengoni – also responsible for the San Ambrogio market and the more famous Galleria Vittorio Emanuele in Milan.