This spillway across the Arno river is Pescaia di Santa Rosa, a weir that was designed to provide power to local mills (now gone), to help tame the river, and as a military defense. In the center is Chiesa di Ognissanti, a Franciscan church dating back to the mid-13th century. The white buildings are on the north bank street called Lungarno Amerigo Vespucci which, in 1857, was dedicated to an Italian navigator who lived in this neighborhood before exploring the New World in the late 15th century. “America” is derived from his first name.
