Discover Tuscany’s Blog: exploring Tuscany and all its hidden corners…

If you’re traveling to Florence this summer, you may find it useful to know that the city will soon start applying a tax on your stay within the city. Starting July 1, 2011, visitors sleeping in Florence will start paying a tourist tax per person per night. The tax will involve Florence hotels, residences, bed and breakfasts, guesthouses and hostels as well as campsites.

The cost will vary, from 1-5 euros in hotels based upon the hotel’s star rating and generally from 1-3 euro for all other types of accommodation. The maximum daily tax is fixed at 5 euro per person and will be applied up to a maximum of 5 nights spent in the Renaissance city.

The money collected from the tax will be used to improve a number of tourism services including maintenance works, support to properties, public services and so on.
The city council in Palazzo Vecchio is still defining the details so we’ll keep you updated as soon as the details are defined and set!

Sources:

http://www.ilsole24ore.com/art/notizie/2011-06-06/firenze-venezia-piace-tassa-063635.shtml

http://firenze.repubblica.it/cronaca/2011/05/11/news/turisti_a_firenze_tassa_anche_nei_b_b-16061759/

UPDATE 28/06/2011: The city council has finally approved and confirmed the new tourist tax which will become effective starting July 1st, although its terms are still not very clear. Be prepared to find it on your bill if you are staying in Florence!
On the other hand, a new service that the city will be offering and which the extra tax should go to cover in the future includes free water. A special fountain has been set up in and just inaugurated in Piazza della Signoria that offers the choice between still or sparkling water! Hooray for better services to thirsty visitors in Florence!

Who was the woman whose enigmatic smile was captured by Leonardo da Vinci in the most famous painting in the world? It has long been said that Mona Lisa, a painting called La Gioconda in Italian, is the portrait of Lisa Gherardini who was married to a Florentine cloth and silk merchant by the name of Francesco di Bartolomeo di Zanobi del Giocondo. In 2005, Lisa was definitely identified as the model for the Mona Lisa after a citation was found in a book.

It is known that during Lisa’s life she established a personal relationship with the convent of Sant’Orsola in Florence where one of her daughters became a nun. It was believed that in when Lisa fell ill in 1538, her daughter took her to the convent of Sant’Orsola where she died about four years later. In 2007, this was also confirmed when a scholar found a death register at San Lorenzo that stated “Lisa di Francesco Del Giocondo died on 15 July 1542 and was buried in Sant’Orsola.”

It was then deemed “important to find Lisa’s remains” since modern technologies can reconstruct facial features, and thus be able to see if her face matches that portrayed by Leonardo. The search was on!

For the past few weeks, researchers have been shifting through the dirt below the old pavement of the Convent of Sant’Orsola in search of Mona Lisa’s remains. Yesterday, the dig moved into two internal chapels and two bone fragments and several nails were unearthed. Could it be the remains of a coffin? Could it be the Mona Lisa? The bone fragments will be analyzed and DNA can be compared to descendants of the family. Researchers hope to find the skull as well to reconstruct facial features. Maybe only then will the researchers rest easy with scientific proof in hand that Lisa Gherardini was indeed the model for Leonardo’s famous painting.

Me? I’m satisfied with continuing to admire the enigmatic smile of the woman and wondering what she was thinking!

photo by Claudio Giovannini

Here we are again with good and bad news about Tuscany taken from famous international and Italian newspapers and blogs. These are the best articles of last week:

Tuscany means agriturismo – A recent study by Toprural, specialized in country/rural tourism, revealed that 3 Italians on 10 think that farmhouse is synonymous of Tuscany. About 30% of rural  tourists come to Tuscany for spending a green and relaxing holiday. After Tuscany comes Sicily with 9% of rural visitors.

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Good and bad news in and about Tuscany

We have decided to start a new blog’s column, if we can call it this way. Every week we’ll collect the most interesting articles about Tuscany and its cities and regions. News telling about its excellence and about its worst. The following are the main articles and news about Tuscany of the past weeks:

Chianti Waste-Less – Florentine Chianti municipalities -  Barberino Val d’Elsa, Greve in Chianti, San Casciano and Tavarnelle Val di Pesa, will start producing less waste following a revolutionary project. The municipalities will provide restaurants, offices, shops, accommodations, as well as events and fairs with a “waste-less” logo in order to promote their green attitude. They will also promote a healthier and greener lifestyle for citizens, as well as the re-use of packaging and the construction of new salvage centers.

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