It stands at the northern end of Matejko Square and the former centre of the mediaeval city of Kleparz, now a district of Kraków.

Notably, during the Swedish siege of Kraków, General Stefan Czarniecki ordered the city's suburbs burned down.

Since then St. Florian, usually portrayed as a Roman legion officer carrying water, has been revered in Poland as patron saint of firefighters and chimneysweeps.

Kraków needed a saint for political reasons, in order to reaffirm its role as Poland's capital, which was contested by the city of Gniezno.

It was named by King Casimir as Florencja (English: Florence) after its centrally located church, or in Latin, Clepardia.