Hannibal in Florence: Caffè Rivoire

In 2001 Ridley Scott took Hannibal Lecter out of the United States and hid him in the heart of Florence. The result is a film that, plot aside, also works as one long tracking shot across the city: the Florentine shoot ran through spring and summer 2000, across dozens of locations in the monumental centre.

The Florence locations

Recognisable places include Piazza della Signoria, Palazzo Vecchio, the Basilica of Santa Croce and the Spedale degli Innocenti. The narrative anchor is Palazzo Capponi, where Dr Lecter works under the false name “Dr Fell” as library curator — the post that puts him in the path of inspector Rinaldo Pazzi, played by Giancarlo Giannini.

Caffè Rivoire

Facing Piazza della Signoria, among the city landmarks recognisable in the film is Caffè Rivoire, at number 5r. It’s one of Italy’s best-known historic cafés: opened in 1872 by Enrico Rivoire, chocolatier to the House of Savoy, it began life as a chocolate house — and its thick hot chocolate is still the most requested item on the menu. The tables under the arcades look straight out at Palazzo Vecchio and the Fountain of Neptune.

A note on method: several websites describe a specific surveillance scene here. We stick to what reliable sources confirm — that Rivoire is among the places recognisable in the film — without attributing precise scenes we cannot verify.

Planning your visit

Piazza della Signoria is the natural starting point: the Uffizi, Ponte Vecchio and Santa Croce are all a few minutes’ walk away. Rivoire is a historic café with the table-service prices of one of Europe’s most photographed squares: standing at the bar costs considerably less.

In short

Hannibal remains one of the films that used Florence best as a set, and Rivoire is the easiest way to step inside it: a table, a hot chocolate and the same view the film carried around the world. Discover more films and shows shot in Italy on our site.