Easter Sunday and Monday 2016 Opening Hours for Museums in Florence

Pubblicato il 16 Marzo 2016 da Genni

01 Florence

What’s open on Easter Sunday and Monday in Florence?

02 Uffizi Gallery

The Uffizi Gallery will respect normal opening hours (8.15 am to 6.50 pm) on Sunday the 27th . Normally closed on the Monday, the Gallery will respect the same hours on the 28th as an extraordinary opening. The Boboli Gardens, the Silver Museum and the Costume Gallery will remain open from 8.15 am to 6.30 pm.

Florence, Palazzo Vecchio and the Loggia dei Lanzi

The Musei Civici Fiorentini association have thought up an Easter programme for families from Thursday March 24th Tuesday 29th. There will be guided visits and workshops for both young and old. It will be possible, in fact, to explore the ‘secret paths’ of Palazzo Vecchio (at 10 and 11.30 am and again 2.30 and 4 pm) as well as visit the Palace (at 10.30 and 12 am and again 2 and 3.30 pm). Among the various workshops a guided tour with “Giorgio Vasari”, a taste of court life, fables and much more.

04 Museo Stefano Bardini

Even Santa Maria Novella offers guided visits to families starting at 10.30 and 12 am. Right on the other side of the square the Museo Novecento will have guided tours at 3 and 4.30 pm. Museo Stefano Bardini, the Cappella Brancacci and Fondazione Salvatore Romano will be closed only on Easter Sunday.

05 The Rose Garden

Buona Pasqua!

 

Pubblicato in Art in Florence, Events in Florence, Exhibitions in Florence, Florence, Tuscany | Contrassegnato , , , , , , , , , | Lascia un commento

The Vasari Corridor, this Unknown

Pubblicato il 14 Marzo 2016 da Genni

01 Ponte Vecchio and the Vasari Corridor

Whilst Uffizi’s director Eike Schmidt decides if to remove the self portraits from the Vasari Corridor or not, in his attempt to make it accessible to the general public, let us take a look at this extraordinary piece of architecture.

02 Over the Arno River

The Vasari Corridor is an enclosed passage which connects Palazzo Vecchio to the Uffizi Gallery, continues along the River Arno, crosses the Ponte Vecchio, snakes its way through the Oltrarno district to finally arrive at Palazzo Pitti.

03 From Palazzo Vecchio to the Uffizi Gallery

It took 5 months to build in 1564 by order of Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici. The corridor was commissioned for the wedding of his son Francesco with Joanna of Austria. Cosimo needed a safe place where to move between palaces and avoid the public.

04 The Mannelli Tower surrounded by the Vasari Corridor

The design was made by Giorgio Vasari, hence the name, who had to face various predicaments such as the Mannelli’s family refusal to have their tower, which was on the way, demolished or altered. In the end, Vasari built the corridor around it. On Ponte Vecchio, instead, there once was a meat market which was moved to avoid its smell reaching the passageway. The butchers were substituted by the goldsmiths who still today maintain their position on the bridge.

05 The Vasari Corridor overlooking Santa Felicita

At a certain point, after Ponte Vecchio, the corridor passes over the open gallery of the Church of Santa Felicità. Here Vasari had a balcony made so that Cosimo and his family could follow the services without mixing with the masses.

06 Boboli Gardens, a view of Grotta del Buontalenti and the Vasari Corridor

Today the modern museum itinerary starts from the Uffizi and ends in the Boboli Gardens near the Grotta di Buontalenti. At the present, in the Uffizi section, the Corridor houses a collection of famous self-portraits. Closed most of the time, during the rare moments it is open to the public the tickets are certainly not cheap. Recently, Uffizi director Eike Schmidt has decided to open the Vasari Corridor to the public and is now considering if to invest in a stronger security or to remove the over 1,600 self-portraits to a safer place. These magnificent masterpieces have been collected over the centuries by the various owners of the Uffizi and number among them the self-portraits of Raphael, Filippino Lippi, Hans Holbein, Lavinia Fontana, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Jacques-Louis David, 3 by Rembrandt, and many, many more. Certainly about time the general public can get a good look at them.

07 The Self-Portraits corridor

Pubblicato in Florence, Tuscan architecture, Tuscan towns and cities, Tuscany | Contrassegnato , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Lascia un commento

Treno Natura Spring 2016

Pubblicato il 11 Marzo 2016 da Genni

01

The Nature Train is ready to puff off through the Sienese countryside. The first event of the year will be on March 13th with the “Marzuolo Truffle Train” leaving Siena for San Giovanni d’Asso in the Crete Senesi. The steam train will be stopping en route for its usual breaks including food and wine events and also a kite making gathering. The next trip will be on the 28th when the train  leaves for the Antique Trade’s Fair at Buonconvento. The journey will take travellers through the Crete Senesi, the Val d’Orcia and the Brunello di Montalcino’s area.

02 Montalcino, la Maggiolata

The “Spring Train” is leaving on the 25th of April for a day at the fortress of Castiglion d’Orcia. On May 1st it will be the turn of Sant’Angelo Scalo and Montalcino for “La Maggiolata”, a series of Tuscan folk songs and dances. The following Sunday, the 8th, Asciano will be welcoming visitors to its “Mercato de’ Ghiotti”, the market with all kinds of delicious products from pecorino cheese to honey.

03 San Quirico d'Orcia

On May 15th there will be a Train Feast to celebrate the history of these railroads. Destinations: Torrenieri and Montalcino. On the 29th it’s time to discover Lars Porsena’s town and Chiusi with the Etruscan train. The Spring tour finishes on June 19th with the Barbarossa Festivity in beautiful San Quirico d’Orcia. Certainly an opportunity not to be missed.

04

The Nature Train returns in September, so never fear, the train will again be here.

 

Pubblicato in Archaeology in Tuscany, Crete Senesi, Events around Siena, Events in the Crete Senesi, Events in Valdorcia, Siena, Tuscan food and wine, Tuscan lifestyle, Tuscany, Valdorcia Val d'Orcia | Contrassegnato , , , , , , , , , , | Lascia un commento

Pistoia is opening Its Health Museum

Pubblicato il 5 Marzo 2016 da Genni

01 Ospedale del Ceppo

The magnificent medieval hospital of the Ospedale del Ceppo in Pistoia is officially opening its Museo della Sanità Pistoiese – Ferri per curare, the Pistoiese Health Museum – Tools for Healing. This is one of the many projects the town of Pistoia advanced to win the candidature as Italian Capital of Culture 2017.

02 Museo della Sanità

As part of the museum centre of Pistoia, this new entry will connect the old hospital to the history of town and to the history of medicine. With a collection of over 270 pieces of surgical instruments spacing from the 17th century to the 1910s, the exposition documents how progress developed inside this hospital. The tools on show are mainly those belonging to the obstetrical and gynaecological branches, as well as urology, orthopaedics, general surgery and cranial surgery. Also on show is the birth machine, a 19th-century instrument that was used during lessons so as to simulate childbirth.

03 Museo della Sanità

Inaugurated today, March 5th, at the present the museum will be open only on Saturdays, with one guided tour at 10.30 am and another at 4 pm. Visiting hours are to be extended in the future.

04 Pistoia

Pubblicato in Culture in Tuscany, Events in Pistoia, Exhibitions in Tuscany, Pistoia, Tuscany | Contrassegnato , , | Lascia un commento

It’s March, welcome to the New Year

Pubblicato il 26 Febbraio 2016 da Genni

01 New Year's Day in Pisa
During the Middle Ages, all the countries of Western Europe affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church were following the Julian calendar, but all differed in regards to New Year’s Day. Some began their year on the 15th December (the Nativity of Jesus), others on the 25th March (the Incarnation of Jesus), at Easter or on the 1st September. As a consequence, during this period the same day in various countries were in different years.

02 New Year's Day in Pisa

The Grand Duchy of Tuscany was one of the countries who started their year on the 25th March. Many Christians, in fact, observed the New Year with the Feast of the Annunciation since it was a full nine months before Christmas. Thus the date marked the new year until 20th November 1749 when Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor and Grand Duke of Tuscany, signed the declaration that on the whole Tuscany territory the New Year was to commence on the following 1st January.

03 Inside the Cathedral of Pisa following the sunray

As to this day, however, many Tuscan towns still commemorate the beginning of the New Year on March 25th. Pisa, for instance, celebrates in the morning with a pageant that collects in the beautiful Piazza dei Cavalieri and leads towards the Cathedral, under the shade of the leaning tower. Here everyone enters the basilica to witness the tradition of the sunray which at midday illuminates a particular point and signs the beginning of the New Year. Generally other events follow during the afternoon finishing with a firework display in the evening or on the following Saturday.

04 New Year's Day in Florence

Florence, instead, celebrates in the afternoon with flag-wavers and drummers leading the procession through town until the steps of the Basilica della Santissima Annunziata, where inside they will pay homage to the image of the Lady. Also in Florence other events follow during the evening.

05 New Year's Day in Siena

Siena too commemorates this old tradition with a procession of all its Contrade who parade towards the Church of the Santissima Annunziata within Santa Maria della Scala, and here they offer a votive candle. A lectio magistralis is later held in the magnificent Sala del Mappamondo in the town hall, Palazzo Pubblico. In the evening all the contradas organize dinners and concerts.

06 New Year's Day in Pisa

Certainly to celebrate a New Year in Spring, the season of rebirth, is a better idea.

Pubblicato in Culture in Tuscany, Events in Florence, Events in Pisa, Events in Siena, Florence, Pisa, Siena, Tuscan lifestyle, Tuscan towns and cities, Tuscan traditions, Tuscany | Contrassegnato , , , | Lascia un commento