Abuchetta shop orsportello shop is a shop which sells goods through a small hole in the wall; the hole is called abuchetta orsportello (literally, a small opening or window). Such shops are typical ofTuscany,Italy.[1][2] Many buchettas are found in the historic center ofFlorence.[3] In English, if they sell wine, they may be calledwine windows (buchette del vino).[4] Food andgelato are also sold in this way.[5]
Buchettas are typically of similar dimensions, about 30 centimetres (12 in) tall and 15 centimetres (5.9 in) wide, and arched at the top, but are otherwise very diverse in style. They were usually built into the streetside walls of the palaces of aristocrats, usually near the main entrance, and may be quite ornate. They were closed outside of opening hours with a hatch, which might be painted various colours, or with a still life or religious painting. Many hatches are now missing, and some buchettas are disused and have been sealed off.[5]
In 1559,Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, permitted agriculturalists to sell their winedirectly to consumers at their residences.[6] As a result, the servants of the rich Florentine houses sold wine from the lord's estates through tiny windows, just large enough to pass a flask through,[5] which came to be calledsportellos.[3] In 1759, theBando Granducale solidified the concept ofbotteghe a sportello (sportello shops). This significantly weakened the power of the wine guilds.[6]
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At the beginning of the 1900s, the laws on selling wine changed, the palaces were subdivided, and many buchettas were bricked up, or converted to doorbells or mailboxes or niches. A flood in 1966 destroyed many wooden components,[5] but exposed at least one buchetta which had been plastered over, leading to its restoration.[6]
During the plagues of theRenaissance,[7] the sportellos were used as a low-contagion-risk way of conducting commerce.[3] In theCOVID-19 pandemic, a few buchettas were reopened to serve that function again.[5][3] Food, drinks, andgelato were sold.[5] As of 2023, about seven buchettas in Florence are open serving wine and other drinks, with many more visible but blocked or bricked up.[4]
In 2014, Robbin Gheesling completed and extensivestreet photography project of the Wine Doors of Florence.[8]
Actor and gastronomy presenterStanley Tucci helped popularisebuchette del vino in Firenze among Western audiences with his 2021 CBSSearching for Italy series.[9]
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