Florence’s International Women’s Day 2022: Free Museums & A Transit Strike

 

Tuesday, March 8: FESTA DELLA DONNA (Women’s Day).

Today, it is common for women in Italy to observe the holiday by passing the time together or by sharing meals with one another. However one chooses to observe La Festa della Donna, it remains undisputedly, a day of recognition for the political, economic, and social achievements of women worldwide.

The significance of the day has evolved much since its inception. The previous heavily political nature of the holiday has given way to a more light-hearted sensibility. Presently La Festa della Donna in Italy is marked by the gifting of small, yellow flowers—mimosa— to women symbolizing solidarity with women all over the world.

In Florence, a 24-hour transit strike is being called to bring attention to working conditions and pension benefits of women employees who are either drivers or who work for Autolinee Toscana, the public transportation consortium of Tuscany.

Buses will run in and around the city only from 6 to 9 am and again from 12 noon to 3 pm.  Commuters will be able to take the tram only from 6:30 to 9:30 am and between 5 and 8 pm.

If one manages to get to the city center, the Galleria dell’Accademia, Uffizi Gallery, The Pitti Palace museum complex, Boboli Gardens, the San Marco Museum and National Archaeological Museum of Florence will offer free access for all women in celebration of International Women’s Day.  

Women will be also  granted free entrance to following city-run museums: Palazzo Vecchio, Arnolfo’s Tower,  Santa Maria Novella, and the Museo Novecento of 20th and 21st Century Art.

Women can also visit for free Palazzo Medici Riccardi, which hosts the Benozzo Gozzoli exhibition and the Chapel of the Magi, dedicated to the Renaissance master and his relationship with Florence and the Medici family.

Just north of Florence, Palazzo Pretorio in Prato offers free admission to the museum, which is currently hosting an exhibition by contemporary women artists throughout the world juxtaposed with medieval, Renaissance and Baroque works, on Monday, March 7.  Tuesday is the site’s closing day.

Opening hours:

Galleria dell’Accademia: 9 am – 6:45 pm.

Uffizi Gallery: 8:15 am – 6:30 pm.

Palazzo Pitti: 8:15 am – 6:30 pm.

Boboli Gardens8:15 am – 5:30 pm

San Marco Museum: 8:15 am – 1:30 pm

National Archaeological Museum of Florence: 2  – 7 pm.

Palazzo Vecchio Museum: 9 am – 7 pm, 40 visitors every 15 minutes.

Torre di Arnolfo*: 9 am – 5 pm, 20 visitors every 45 minutes

Santa Maria Novella: 1  – 5 pm

Museo Novecento: 11 am – 8 pm

Palazzo Medici Riccardi: 9 am – 7 pm

*in case of rain, the Tower will be closed to the public.

Historically, March is laden with much political significance for women. On March 25, 1911, in New York City, a fire broke out in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory killing over 140 immigrant workers, nearly all of them young women. Due to the inadequate fire safety precautions, the workers were unable to escape from the ninth floor of the building. This tragedy brought to light the unsafe working conditions at that time and sparked social protest, especially among women. Seven years later in Russia on March 8, a group of women would stage a protest against food shortages and World War I.