Free museums on Sept. 28-29?

Bruce

New member
September 28-29 are the Giornate Europee del Patrimonio, and according to an August 1 posting on the website of the Ministerio dei Beni e le Attivita Culturali (http://www.beniculturali.it/mibac/e.../Eventi/visualizza_asset.html_1128469007.html), all museums operated by the ministry in Italy will be open for free on those two days, including those museums that are open until midnight on September 28. Does this mean that the Uffizi and the Palazzo Pitti museums, which are scheduled to be open until midnight on the 28th, will be open for free those two days? Any others? It appears that the Medici tombs at San Lorenzo are also operated by the Ministry, although most other museums in Florence are not.
 
free museums ONLY on Sept. 28

Ciao Bruce,

Yes, it's true that both days are considered part of the Heritage days but on that same page you linked, the Ministry says that Italy has chosen to only do Sept. 28th as the heritage cultural day when its sites are open for free.
I also checked on the Florence museum page and it confirms museums will only be free on Saturday. Sunday will be with paid ticket.

In particular, aside from free openings, it is a day when many museums organize guided visits and other events for the day for kids and such.... so while the Pitti Palace is not open at night on Saturday (like the Uffizi, Accademia and Medici chapels are as part of the "night at the museum" initiative), on Saturday and Sunday there are special visits to the Modern Art Gallery and Palatine in several of its rooms but it is free on Saturday and not on Sunday.

You can see all of the state museums/sites that will be free in Florence on this Saturday, Sept. 28 by checking this list.
If you're thinking on any other museum and don't see it on the list, such as Palazzo Vecchio, then it means it isn't a "State" museum and therefore not free this Saturday. In Florence, most museums fall either into the State museum list or in the City of Florence network of "civic museums". Palazzo Vecchio is a civic museum.
So to confirm your questions: Pitti, Uffizi, Accademia, Medici Chapels will be free on Saturday as well as all the others you see on that list.

You can see a general list of events for the weekend in all of Tuscany, not just Florence, on this blog post that will host special visits or openings for the Heritage day.
 
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