From the Palio of Cocchi to football in livery An old Florentine saying goes: Bread and feasts keep the people quiet. This is why the history of Florence is full of parties and games… It was June 23rd 1563, the eve of Saint John, when Duke Cosimo I de ‘Medici instituted the Palio dei Cocchi…
Even Umberto Eco, in The Name of the Rose, tells that Guglielmo di Baskerville shows a pair of glasses, calling them the work of today, claiming to have received them as a gift from Salvino degli Armati. A character, Salvino, whom no document from the 14th century reports or mentions. The story of the invention…
In the margin of a copy of “The Lives … by Giorgio Vasari”, an unsigned note was found: “Cheeky, presumptuous, evil beast, ignorant, envious, liar …” and other perhaps worse offenses. It is said that they were written by Annibale Carracci (Bolognese painter), Vasari’s archenemy… Although he was never an excellent artist, Giorgio Vasari had…
Spring Market Exhibition at the Giardino dell’Orticultura (Horticultural Garden) from 25th April 2022 to 1st May 2022 Every 25th April in the Giardino dell’Orticultura in Florence, at the Ponte Rosso, the traditional exhibition of plants and flowers opens. It’s worth to make a visit not only for the wonderful plants of nurserymen from all over…
Santa Maria del Fiore casket of religiosity and works of art, also holds numbers, curiosities and scientific instruments. Filippo Brunelleschi was not only an architect but also an excellent mathematician and in his Dome, not only beautiful but also mysterious, there is a lot of hidden mathematics. In the numbers of its dimensions, we can…
“… This hillock is not earth, it is something unreal … When I come up here, I come because I need a spiritual recreation … “ Enrico Caruso was born in Naples on 25 February 1873 who, with his magnificent tenor voice, will bring the most beautiful melodies of Italian operas to the world. Acclaimed…
Around our restaurant, in Piazza del Mercato Centrale (Mercato Centrale Square), in the area of Piazza San Lorenzo (San Lorenzo Square), a stone’s throw from the Florence Cathedral and the railway station, you can still read the ancient names of Florentine streets full of history and curiosities. Borgo La Noce is the road that connects…
After the night of the Yule Log (Christmas Eve), the Florentines passed by to celebrate December 30th, the day of Saint Fiorenzo (renamed Saint Florence) which, until 1749, was the last holiday of the year. In fact, in Florence the New Year was celebrated on March 25th, the day of the Annunciation. In the iconography…
Was the Christmas tree born in Florence? As in many European countries (Germany, Croatia, Greece, Montenegro, Spain and Portugal, United Kingdom, France, and also emigrated to the United States), for the Florentines…“Yule Log means Christmas”. But it also means “Christmas present” and “yule log” was also called the charity box, in front of the Madonna,…
A scent that can be smelled in the air The olive tree, together with cypresses and smooth hills, is one of the symbols of the Tuscan landscape, and the result of these plants is Made in Tuscany extra virgin olive oil. During these days in the Tuscan countryside, olives are harvested and pressed, an ancient…