Climate change through the lens of historical cloister: bridging historical microclimate observations with simulation models

s it possible to assess the effects of climate change by comparing historical and contemporary meteorological data? This study examines the cloister of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Florence, one of the most extensively documented observation sites of the Medici Network (1654–1670), to explore the potential of cloisters as a thermally resilient architectural typology. The historical data, digitized and converted to enable consistent comparison with current measurements from the historical Ximenian Observatory. Using parametric modelling simulations, the likely original positions of the thermometers were reconstructed to validate the interpretative model. Despite certain modelling simplifications, the study investigates whether the morpho-typological resilience of cloisters also translates into long-term climatic resilience. Preliminary findings suggest that, due to their enclosed and sheltered configuration, cloisters provide climatically stable and resilient environments, although they are not suitable as direct indicators of climate change effects. However, the validated model offers a useful reference for application to other urban contexts within the Medici Network, whose observation sites remain unidentified but are potentially critical for the reconstruction of historical urban climates.