Easter Week in Florence, 2025

 

Easter week in Florence brings time-honored traditions: a dessert treat baked in the shape of a dove (colomba, pictured above); the ORT Easter concert and the Scoppio del Carro (Explosion of the Cart) in piazza Duomo on Easter Sunday (April 21).

The Easter colomba is a leavened sweet bread containing chunks of candied orange and lemon peel with an almond and sugar topping, decorated with whole almonds.

The Orchestra della Toscana (ORT) Easter concert will take place on Thursday, April 17 at Teatro Verdi (via Ghibellina) at 9 pm.  The evening will spotlight guest musicians Gemma New (conductor) in addition to soloists Eleonora Bellocci (soprano) and Filippo Mineccia (countertenor).  The program features the Stabat Mater by Giovanni Battisti Pergolesi and Haydn’s ‘Solomon’ Symphony 104 in D major, the last the Austrian composer wrote during his stay in England and enjoyed huge success at its premiere.  The Stabat Mater is Pergolesi’s most celebrated sacred work, and as its title implies, is dedicated to Mary’s suffering during the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, her son, on what was to become known as Good Friday.

There are three churches in Florence offering worship during Holy Week in English: click here to read an article.

The nearby town of Grassina is hosting its traditional Passion Play on Good Friday, April 18 (bus 31 from San Marco; free parking available).

Reflecting mysticism with a touch of magic, every year Florence celebrates Easter Day with a pyrotechnic spectacle (Scoppio del Carro) during which a dove flies out of the Florence Cathedral (Duomo) and ignites fireworks attached to a huge, gilded cart, called the Brindellone, in the square.

White, flower-garlanded oxen pull the Brindellone from the Porta al Prato to the Piazza del Duomo.  A procession of city officials, Roman soldiers, townspeople and musicians in medieval clothing leads the way starting at 9 am.

An Easter candle, illuminated by one of the three flints from the Holy Sepulchre awarded to Pazzino de’ Pazzi during the 11th century Crusade, is used to light the mechanical dove at around 11 am.  If the bird’s flight down a wire reaches destination, the explosion of color in the Cathedral square is thought to bring good luck to the city and assure a successful harvest.

Museums in Florence will be open regularly on Easter Day with the exception of the the Palazzo Davanzati Historical Renaissance Home Museum and the Brancacci Chapel, both of which will be closed on Easter.  The church and museum of Santa Maria Novella will welcome visitors from 1 to 5 pm with free admission.

On Pasquetta, Easter Monday (April 22), the Accademia, the Uffizi Gallery, the Bargello and the Medici Chapels in addition to the Boboli Gardens will be open although the other museums in the Pitti Palace complex will be closed.  (rosanna cirigliano)