Firenze Santa Maria Novella railway station

Firenze Santa Maria Novella
View of the station building.
Location	Piazza della Stazione 50123 Firenze Italy
Coordinates	43°46′34″N 11°14′53″E / 43.77611°N 11.24806°E / 43.77611; 11.24806Coordinates: 43°46′34″N 11°14′53″E / 43.77611°N 11.24806°E / 43.77611; 11.24806
Owned by	Rete Ferroviaria Italiana
Operated by	Grandi Stazioni
Line(s)	Bologna–Florence (high speed) Bologna–Florence (traditional) Florence–Rome (high speed) Florence–Rome (traditional) Viareggio–Florence Florence–Pisa–Livorno Florence–Faenza
Distance	314.077 kilometres (195.158 mi) from Roma Termini
Platforms	19
Construction
Architect	Gruppo Toscano
History
Opened	1848 (1848)
Rebuilt	1934 (1934)
Location
Firenze Santa Maria Novella Location within Italy

Firenze Santa Maria Novella (in English Florence Santa Maria Novella) or Stazione di Santa Maria Novella is a terminus railway station in Florence, Italy. The station is used by 59 million people every year and is one of the busiest in Italy.

It is at the northern end of the Florence–Rome direttissima, which was completed on 26 May 1992 and the southern end of the Bologna–Florence Direttissima, opened on 22 April 1934. A new high speed line to Bologna opened on 13 December 2009. The station is also used by regional trains on lines connecting to: Pisa, Livorno (Leopolda railway); Lucca, Viareggio (Viareggio–Florence railway); Bologna (Bologna–Florence railway) and Faenza (Faentina railway).

The station was inaugurated on 3 February 1848 to serve the railway to Pistoia and Pisa, and was initially called Maria Antonia (from the name of the railway, named in honour of Princess Maria Antonia of the Two Sicilies); it was much closer to the Santa Maria Novella church than the current station. It was renamed after the church after the unification of Italy.

In 1932 through a number of newspaper editorials, published in La Nazione, Florence's main daily, Romano Romanelli a reputed and influential Florentine sculptor, criticized the original project by the Architect Mazzoni for the new Firenze Santa Maria Novella railway station. A constructive debate resulted in the final choice of the project sponsored by the Architect Marcello Piacentini and designed by Gruppo Toscano.