Florence’s historic Synagogue and Jewish Museum is celebrating its reopening to the general public after months of Covid restrictions with later afternoon and evening visits at no cost on Thursday, June 17, followed by a buffet of Hebrew specialties (€10) and a free concert in the garden. From 5 to 7 pm, guides will explain Jewish history in Florence, beginning with the historic ghetto in what is now Piazza della Repubblica, demolished in [...]
Palazzo Medici Riccardi, a Renaissance palace now the government seat of the Florence metropolitan area, is offering free admission to visitors on the weekend of May 8 and 9 on the occasion of the museum’s reopening after a prolonged closure due to the Covid health emergency. Also to be close to their family church, San Lorenzo, the Medici rulers commissioned architect Michelozzo to build their palace in 1444 in the Renaissance style, [...]
Presenting a night of German and Austrian music inspired by the travels and experimentation of three classical composers, Mendelssohn, Mozart and Haydn, the ORT welcomes listeners to the fifth live streamed concert of its Divine Music series on February 25 at 9 pm. The performance is freely available for listeners on ORT’s Facebook page and Youtube channel. Directed by the great Markus Stenz, a German conductor known for his international work and [...]
Florence’s Teatro del Maggio opens the 2021 season with a rare Donizetti opera, “Linda di Chamounix” in live streaming on Friday, January 15 at 8 pm. The opera premiered in Vienna at the Karntner theater in May of 1842 and was extremely popular throughout the 19th century. It was first performed Florence in 1843 at the Teatro della Pergola, and returned many times to Florentine theatres (including the Goldoni and the Niccolini) and [...]
Florence will be kicking off the Christmas season a day early this year. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the annual tree lighting ceremony in Piazza del Duomo, which usually takes place on the evening of December 8, the feast of the Immaculate Conception, has been rescheduled for December 7 at 6:30 pm to avoid the crowds as seen in the picture. Despite the slight change of plans, Florentines can still watch the fir [...]
Cinemas, museums and concert halls are all closed this week but culture can still be accessed by live streaming, creating an endless possibility of entertainment provided directly to people’s homes. On November 11, the British Institute of Florence is hosting a talk in English “The Art of Goldsmithing—The Secret of the Early Renaissance” via Zoom starting at 6 pm. Anyone can join in by clicking on the link. On Wednesday, clicking a [...]
Until October 31: BEAUTY BEYOND LIMITS. Forte Belvedere, via San Leonardo 1. Open Tuesday – Sunday from 2 – 7 pm. Free admission. Aerial photography show, Beauty Beyond Limits, by Massimo Sestini takes popular and undiscovered sights in Tuscany to new heights. Sestini’s work transforms the already beautiful landscapes into abstract works of art, bringing a different perspective to some of the region’s most iconic views and destinations. Overlooking the Tuscan capital on [...]
A free vocal concert will take place on July 14 at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale (piazzale Vittorio Gui, 1) at 9 pm. The young artists of the prestigious Academy of the Maggio will perform a selection of some of the best-loved arias of the operatic repertoire in their final performance of the two-year course. The decree for public safety allows for a total of 600 spectators in the theatre hall; non-family [...]
This year, no vibrant parades, historical sport in traditional costume fireworks and music will take place in post-lockdown Florence in honor of the city’s patron saint of St. John the Baptist on his feast day, June 24. The Festa di San Giovanni as the day is called in Italian, is also a legal holiday within city limits, with offices, banks and many shops closed. There is one bright spot, however: the Academy Gallery [...]
One of Florence’s most interesting stories will be told on February 17 at 6 pm (with an Italian text available) at the Sala Martino V of Santa Maria Nuova (piazza Santa Maria Nuova off via Sant’Edigio). Sirpa Salenius will be giving a lecture on the life of Sarah Parker Remond, an African American expatriate in Florence. Remond was the daughter of an immigrant father from Curacao, a Caribbean island then under Dutch [...]
