Florence Liberation Day 2026: The 82nd Anniversary of the City’s Fight for Freedom

The tower of Palazzo Vecchio, where the Marinella bell was rung to signal the liberation of Florence on August 11, 1944

One of the most notable events in modern Florentine history was the day the city was liberated from the Nazis and their Fascist allies in 1944. On Tuesday, August 11, Florence celebrates the 82nd anniversary of its political freedom from the oppressive regime. This year’s festivities are dedicated to the protagonists of the liberation movement, with special focus on the female activists whose selfless actions shaped the country into what it is today. 

The holiday notably predates Italy’s National Day of Liberation on April 25, 1945, which corresponds to the official end of Nazi-Facist occupation in Italy.

The morning’s procession will commence at 7 am with a ceremonial bell ringing of the Martinella in the Arnolfo Tower of Palazzo Vecchio. Present at this momentous occasion will be Simone Guaita, the great nephew of Maria Luigia Guaita, a prominent anti-fascist writer who worked as a courier during the war and was the one who brought the pivotal news of the Germans retreat on August 11, 1944, and the bell was rung at 6:43 am to let the residents know that Florence was liberated.

Following at 8 am, the traditional laurel wreath will be laid on the monument of Piero Calamandrei at Trespiano Cemetery. Calamandrei was another significant voice in Italy’s liberal-socialist movement. He was an active figure in the resistance against Mussolini and used his position as a professor at the University of Florence to educate young minds on the value of intellectual liberty. 

It was Calamandrei who inscribed on a stone of Palazzo Vecchio that freedom was, “not donated, but reconquered at the price of ruin, torture, and blood.” The sentiments of his message are clear, our modern day rights are the rewards of those who sacrificed their safety for the nation’s political and social salvation. At 9 am, another laurel wreath will be laid at this historical plaque to honor his memory.

The day of remembrance will continue at 9:45 am in Piazza dell’Unità Italiana at the Monumento ai Caduti di Tutte le Guerre (The Fallen of All Wars). Here, religious, civil, and military authorities will convene to bestow the monument with its own honorary laurel wreath. In attendance will be I Gonfaloni del Comune di Firenze, the official flag bearers of the city of Florence. 

At 10:30 am the institutional ceremony will take place in Piazza della Signoria, outside the steps of Palazzo Vecchio, Florence city hall. It will open with fanfare of the clarion, a high pitched trumpet popular during the Renaissance, that will play the Italian and European national anthems. Following the music, we will hear speeches from Mayor Sara Funaro, the president of the Florence National Association of Italian Partisans, Vania Bagni, and the president of the Tuscan Historical Institute of the Resistance and the Contemporary Era, Vannino Chiti. 

This year’s Liberation Day marks a particular milestone as it is the 80th anniversary of the first election in which Italian women were allowed to vote. To celebrate, Palazzo Vecchio is hosting an immersive exhibition in the Sala d’Arme titled Memorie Manifeste (open 10 am – 6 pm) dedicated to the courageous women of the partisan resistance movement. The project is in collaboration with the Fondazione Il Bisonte, the printmaking school founded by Maria Luigia Guaita in 1959 which is now managed by her great nephew, Simone Guaita. The show is curated by Silvia Bellotti and features art works by Luchadora (Alessandra Marianelli) and Ex_Moveo (Silvia Mongardini).

Together, the historical celebration and exhibition offer visitors insight on Florentines’ noble fight for freedom to end World War II and a totalitarian government. (Francesca Negri)