In Via dello Studio (Studio Street) 25 there is a tower house. Above the entrance, a plaque and a terracotta bust remind us that this was the birthplace of Antonio Pierozzi (1389-1459), Dominican, prior of San Marco, theologian, scholar and archbishop of Florence, made a saint in 1523. Better known as Saint Anthony because of…
2021 is the year of the seven hundredth anniversary of Dante Alighieri‘s death, which took place in Ravenna, his place of exile, on the night between 13 and 14 September 1321. No homage to Dante, however, due to the origin of the street names dedicated to Hell, Heaven and Purgatory. Although modern Florence loves the…
“Once upon a time … A king! – My little readers will immediately say. No, guys, you were wrong. Once upon a time there was a piece of wood … “ It can be said that the most famous puppet in the world was born in Florence. Its author is Carlo Lorenzini, born on November…
In this period, even in Florence and its surroundings, as in many other parts of Tuscany and Italy, temperatures hover around 0 degrees. A few centuries ago this was the right time to stock up on ‘freshness’ for the summer. In Florence it was the Medici who expressed the desire to follow the new fashion…
Here we are, this horrible year 2020 is finally over. What awaits us next year? “We will discover it only by living” as Lucio Battisti sang with the words of Mogol: … Who knows, who knows who you are Who knows who you will be Who knows what will become of us We will find…
Here, it happened again, almost as suddenly as it happened to “that honest brigade” of the Decameron, we find ourselves closed at home, safe from the disease, and committed to inventing a way to manage time and learn from this moment too . Not being able to take a plane, a train or a car…
“Malcontenti” (malcontenti means discontent) and “Allegri” (Allegri means happy) are two ancient streets of Florence that cross in the Santa Croce district. Via dei Malcontenti, formerly Via della Giustizia, recalls the state of mind of those who walked it before being executed. Those condemned to death were escorted in chains from the Bargello towards Piazza…
Justice at the top of the Column The eastern granite column of the Terme di Caracalla arrived in Piazza Santa Trinita on September 26, 1563. Cosimo I de ‘Medici had wanted it precisely in that spot, at the crossroads between via Tornabuoni, via delle Terme, and Borgo SS. Apostoli, on 2nd August 1554 he learned…
The Arno is the heart, soul and damnation of Florence. It is at the same time a place of separation and union, of games and shows. It carries whispers and threats, wealth and death, furiously embraces it and devastates it with its silty entry into the city. It is the waterway that intimately links the…
Who doesn’t remember the colored pencils kept in the case of the school folder and in the wooden box of the home desk? A flash: a child who draws a sheep on a rock observed by an adult … It was the little shepherd Giotto, discovered by Cimabue, the teacher who from the country of…