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…
In 1582 Pope Gregory XIII issued the bull Inter Gravissimas with which he introduced the modification of the calendar that will take his name, the Gregorian Calendar. Until then, the Julian Calendar had been in force, introduced by Giulio Cesare in 46 BC. The modification was based on the calculations made by the Polish astronomer…
On the 700th anniversary of the death of Dante Alighieri, we cannot forget his love story, his most famous Florentine love story. Dante and Beatrice first met when they were just 9 years old. The meeting took place in the church of Santa Margherita dei Cerchi (church where Beatrice Portinari’s family had her burials) and…
The term “villeggiare”(vacation) originated in Venice and Florence during the Renaissance to define the period of residence that nobles and wealthy gentlemen had at the country villas during the summer. The whole family moved to the villa to escape from the heat and miasma of the city where, in the streets of the center and…
The first street on the left from Piazza del Duomo (today via Ricasoli) was called “Via del Cocomero” until 1847. The strange name, which for the Florentines indicates what throughout Italy is called “Watermelon”, is due to the large crops of watermelon and pumpkins that were from the cathedral to the field where there is…
The Tracksuit Model, one-piece universal jumpsuit, was attached to the newspaper La Nazione at a cost of fifty cents at the end of June 1920. Creative marketing, advertising and sales, not of a finished product but of his project. Thus La Nazione illustrated the futurist jumpsuit: “One-piece surcoat with trousers and sleeves, of sturdy cotton…
For 550 years the golden sphere has dominated Brunelleschi’s dome The lantern, designed by Filippo Brunelleschi and built after his death, was completed with a two and a half meter diameter copper sphere covered with gold, designed by Andrea Verrocchio and made in his workshop. To be able to find the necessary copper, Verrocchio went…
It was thanks to the Greeks (who introduced the grapevine in Italy in the eighth century B.C.), that the Etruscans, a hardworking and joyful people, appreciated the vitis vinifera, and its product, the wine! Not only that, while the Greeks excluded women from banquets and the consumption of wine, the Etruscans instead loved to toast…