Maps and Mini-Projects

Maps for the Masses

DECIMA is a collaborative research tool that allows researchers to develop their questions and find new ways of answering them through maps and dynamic data analysis. This page showcases a series of projects that have been DECIMAted by project team members, colleagues, and collaborators. 

Want to join the fun? See our publicly-available datasets, and make your own thematic maps, in our WebGIS App.

Stone Laws

See where – and why – the rules of the road were carved in stone in Renaissance Florence.

Florence Under Siege

Watch the plague spread through San Lorenzo Parish from October 1630 to October 1631.

Neighbourhood Kingdoms

Florence had a Duke – but it also had Kings of the Street. See streetcorner politics in action.

The Beauties of Florence

Take one of the first guided tours through Florence, from Francesco Bocchi’s 1596 Bellezze di Firenze

Sex and the Sacred

Where were Florence’s meretrici, courtesans, allowed to live? Where did they actually live? This map plots the known residences of sex workers against the permitted streets for the practice of their trade.

On the eve of the Ghetto

In 1568 the Medici duke ordered a census of the city’s Jews, before creating the city’s ghetto in 1570. This map shows their residences around the city.

City of God

Where did Florentines go to church? Pretty much on any street in the city.

Textile Trades

The Florentine economy depended heavily on textile work. Where did its labourers live?

Bakers, Butchers, Barbers

Where did Florentines buy their bread? Or get a haircut? See the regular dispersal of basic services in the city in this static map.

Have something to share?

If you have feedback or questions about the above, please drop us a line.

This project is supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada

Archivio di Stato di Firenze

Archivio di Stato di Livorno

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