1966 Flood Commemorations & Free Museums

November 4, 2025 marks the 59th anniversary of the 1966 flood that devastated downtown Florence, one that will be commemorated with ceremonies and, for the first time, free entrance to some of the city’s most important museums.

The Uffizi, all the museums in the Pitti Palace complex including the Palatine Gallery, will be accessible to guests at no charge from 8:15 am – 6:30 pm; ditto for the Boboli Gardens between 8:15 am and 4:30 pm.  Last admission is an hour before closure.

A Mass will be celebrated by Cardinal Ernest Simoni in the basilica of Santa Croce at 11:30 am.  At the end of the service, attendees will walk to Ponte alle Grazie preceded by a standard bearer who will carry the official banner of Florence (a red iris against a white background) to Ponte alle Grazie, where a wreath, after being blessed, will be tossed into the waters of the Arno River.

The Arno overflowed its banks at 4 am on November 4, 1966 when the dam opened when the gates were about to burst after days of incessant rain, joined by the overflow of the Sieve River.  The result was devastating: many homes, shops and landmarks were submerged, with the water level reaching close to five meters (16 ft.) in the Santa Croce neighborhood.

The death toll was 35, and 20,000 people were displaced from their residences, and 4,000 people lost their homes.  Except for radio contact, the scenario was one of complete isolation: no phone service, coupled with no heat, electricity or running water.  Highways were closed, train service was suspended. In the city, many works of art were damaged, books at the National Library submerged and thousands of parked cars were carried away by the current.