A long time in the planning, it is finally here: a museum pass to visit Florence! Valid for 72 hours, the city pass gives access to over 30 of Florence’s top state museums including the Uffizi Gallery and the Accademia, which houses Michelangelo’s famous David, as well as city museums such as Palazzo Vecchio.
Every March 25, Florence celebrates the Florentine New Year. On this day, the Catholic Church celebrates the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary and, in honor of the Virgin, from the Middle Ages up until 1750 this date decreed the beginning of the civil year in Florence.
To celebrate Florence’s New Year, several events takes place in the city historical center.
As in the past, the celebrations center around the majestic Basilica of the Santissima Annunziata, facing the square of the same name. Inside the church, a famous fresco of the mid-1200s representing the Annunciation is venerated. According to tradition, every year on the occasion of the Florentine New Year the inhabitants of Florence and surroundings come to visit and venerate it.
Tomorrow starting from 3:45pm the parade in historical costume of the Florentine Republic will go through the streets of the historic center of Florence, from the Piazzetta di Parte Guelfa to reach the Basilica of SS. Annunziata, accompanying municipal authorities. At 4:30pm, the authorities will pay tribute to the ancient fresco of the Annunciation, preserved in the Chapel of the Holy Effigy. Throughout the day, a small fair with candy stalls and stands selling small craft items will take place in Piazza SS. Annunziata.
The Association Centro Guide Turismo organizes guided tours in the morning and early afternoon, reservation required, to the Church of Santa Maria Novella, the Officina Profumo Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella and of the Duomo. The visits will be held in Italian. For information and reservations, call 055.2616056.
Happy New Year Florence!
We’d like to share some of our pictures of Florence all lit up for the celebration of Italy’s 150 years of unification! Here you can see Ponte Vecchio all lit up in green, white and red!
You can see more pictures on Facebook!
Here is a view of Piazza della Repubblica, full of people – we were fortunate and the rain had stopped and lots of people were about.
Here is a more detailed program of what is going on in Florence tonight in celebration of 150 years since the unification of Italy, called Notte Tricolore, or Tricolor Night in honor of the Italian flag!
Piazza Signoria
19.00 Concert by the Orchestra a Plettro Ottocento Toscano
19.30/22.00 Artistic exhibit by the Accademia delle Belle Arti di Firenze
20.30 Concert by the Orchestra Filarmonica Gioacchino Rossini
21.00 Show “Viva l’Italia” by Aldo Cazzullo inside the Salone dei Cinquecento in Palazzo Vecchio, in collaboration with the Teatro Stabile di Verona
21.30 Parade in historical costume by the Florentine Republic with flag throwing exhibition by the Bandierai degli Uffizi
22.00 Performance by the MaggioDanza
00.30 Fireworks from Palazzo Vecchio
Piazza Duomo
19.00/02.00 The song of the Elements. Florentine artisan for the Italian flag – high quality workshops and lab workshops will be hosted in the square by the Fondazione di Firenze per l’Artigianato Artistico in collaboration with CNA Firenze, Confederazione Nazionale Artigianato Piccola e Media Impresa, Confartigianato Imprese Firenze.
Piazza S. Croce
19.00 Gira l’Italia: activities for families with children by the Laboratorio d’arte of the Palazzo delle Esposizioni e Scuderie from the Quirinale in Rome
19.00/00.00 Là dove ‘l sì suona. Azioni sulla Divina Commedia will be readings from the Divine Comedy by All’improvviso Dante – 100 verses for Florence
19.30/22.00 “Alla ricerca del fiorentino d’oggi” by the dell’Accademia della Crusca
20.30 Gira l’Italia: activities for families with children by the Laboratorio d’arte of the Palazzo delle Esposizioni e Scuderie from the Quirinale in Rome
21.00 Lo stravizzo delle parole. Linguistic games with Emanuele Baldi by the dell’Accademia della Crusca
23.00 Music concert by Funk Off and Sound Street Band
More events
Both the Museum in Palazzo Vecchio and all of the State museums (including Uffizi and Accademia) will be open until 1.00 a.m.
Show “Notte italiana” by Maurizio Scaparro at the Teatro della Pergola at 21.00
Organ concert by the Conservatorio di Musica L. Cherubini in Basilica S. Croce at 21.00
Concert by the military corps of the Italian Red Cross at the Conservatorio di Musica L. Cherubini at 21.00
Palazzo Aperto: exhibits and music by the Tuscany Regional Council in Palazzo Panciatichi e Bastogi from 20.00/01.00
Fanfare by the Associazione Nazionale Bersaglieri-Sezione Aldo Marzi of Florence at 21.30
Film on the Italian unification by Regione Toscana and Fondazione Sistema Toscana
Enjoy the celebrations! And remember March 17 is a holiday but State museums will be open and the following will have special exhibits: Bargello, Costume Gallery, Modern Art Gallery, Petraia Medici Villa, Poggio a Caiano Medici Villa, Castello Medici Villa garden and the Orsanmichele museum (generally closed).
This year we celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Unification of Italy and for this occasion the 17th of March has been proclaimed a national holiday. Schools and public offices will be closed all over Italy but whether shops and restaurants close is up to the owners to decide.
There are events planned at all levels, in Florence and Tuscany and throughout Italy. In Florence, the city is organizing several initiatives to commemorate this important anniversary and at the same time involve all citizens in the celebration.
The night between March 16th and 17th will be a “Tricolor night” in honor of the white, red and green Italian flag. Many events will start at around 7 pm on Wednesday the 16th all over Florence, from special colored lighting of iconic buildings to open-air concerts.
For the occasion, all the city and state museums in Florence (including the Uffizi Gallery and the Accademia) will be open until 1 am.
Three central important Florentine squares have been designated to celebrate three Italian “talents”: the beautiful Italian language, art and craftsmanship.
- In Piazza Santa Croce the Italian language will be celebrated with public readings of Dante’s Divine Comedy. At 9pm within the beautiful Basilica of Santa Croce you can attend the concert by the Cherubini Conservatory.
- In Piazza Duomo, the celebration of Italian crafts starts at 7pm with stands that showcase the excellence of Florentine craftsmanship.
- Piazza della Signoria will be dedicated to Italian art. The Philharmonic Rossini will perform in front of Palazzo Vecchio starting at 8:30pm while at 10:30pm the square will host a performance by the dancers of Maggio Danza.
The arrival of spring and these interesting events organized for the Unification of Italy offer a special occasion to spend a few days in Florence.
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The weekend before St. Valentine’s Day, this year falling on Monday, has chocolate as one of its best protagonists. Love and chocolate are a perfect match, are they not?!
There are 3 chocolate-flavored events in Tuscany this Saturday and Sunday, February 12 and 13:
In Fiesole, a short distance from Florence’s historical center, on Sunday you’ll find the “Chocolate Festival”. The stands, located on the central Piazza Mino, will offer specialties prepared by master chocolatiers from all over Italy.
Piazza Santa Croce, in the historical center of Florence, hosts until Sunday the sweet temptations of the “Chocolate Fair”. The large square is animated by many stands full of sweets proposed by Italian and international master chocolatiers.
From this Friday until Sunday in Livorno you’ll find the sixth edition of the handmade chocolate festival called Chocolandia. Confectioners will involve visitors in tastings, new recipes and tips about chocolate.
Last year, local officials had announced the Vasari Corridor was closing for restoration, then in April we had the good news that it would continue to be open for a few more months. Tickets were very quickly sold out. Due to the popular demand, the Corridor was once again open from September until December 2010.
Several people have posted on our forum asking whether tickets were still available or whether the period was going to be extended. Restoration has yet to start, so once again we have some good news! The superintending body over the corridor has announced that it will be re-open from February 2 to April 15th, with 6 visits per week. You have to call Firenze Musei to book your visit at +39-055-294-883 (don’t worry, they do speak English). The guided visit is in Italian but the guides when possible try to accommodation foreign language speakers. There will be two visits on Wednesdays and Fridays at 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. and two on Thursdays at 9 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Tickets include entrance into the Uffizi Gallery and cost € 10,50 until March 7th, then the costs will rise to € 14 after from March 8 since an exhibition called “Figures, memories, space. Drawings from Fra Angelico to Leonardo” will open in the Uffizi Gallery. Remember to call and reserve your visit today!
If you’re in Florence for the holidays and want to know what is going on during this time aside from the Christmas markets all over Florence and Tuscany, here are some useful ideas that will help you better plan your days.
First, if you or your children would love to spend some fun time outdoors during this time, head to the ice skating rink at the “Parterre” in Piazza della Libertà which will be open everyday up until January 9.
Traveling and eating out during the holiday period can be tricky as Italians themselves want to spend the main holidays with their families. There are many restaurants that will be open on the 24th and for lunch on the 25th as well as for New Year’s Eve (most restaurants offer a single “cenone” dinner at a fixed price and lasts well past the midnight toast. We recommend you make your restaurant reservations as soon as you can if you already know you’ll be here and dining out on those days, especially for New Year’s Eve.
Botticelli's Primavera at the Uffizi Gallery
A fall project called “Tuesdays in Art” is offering special evening opening times including free entry into several large state museums in order to promote the knowledge of the large cultural patrimony Italy possesses to new audiences.
The special openings take place the evening of the last Tuesday of the month from now until December, from 7pm and 11pm. Take advantage this Tuesday, October 26th or on November 30th or December 28th.
Read which museums are open this Tuesday night »
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