LIGHT MODE
DARK MODE
Palazzo Grifoni Budini Gattai stands on a corner of the Santissima Annunziata square. And there's an incredible love story behind the partially open shutter.
My family have a framed map of Florence in the bathroom. I think my Dad gave it to me a few years ago, and I gratefully gave it back to ...
The bronze David at piazzale Michelangelo, the Badia Fiorentina bell tower and the facade of the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella all now boast new permanent lighting. The update was ...
Retracing Dante’s steps means setting off on a unique journey into the art, history, culture and spirituality of Florence in the mid-1300s. In this self-guided tour of Dante’s Florence, we ...
Back in May 2016, I wrote an article for this newspaper about the restoration of Pietro Lorenzetti’s Arezzo altarpiece from 1320 by RICERCA Restauro, a group of three women who ...
When thinking about three iconic Florentine buildings that best exemplify its architecture, these words come to mind, which were used by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius to set the standard ...
Venice has the Rialto, Florence has the Ponte Vecchio. The bridge that famously survived the war is surely the sight most snapped in all the city. Yet perversely, of the ...
The restoration of Giuseppe Poggi's ramps, which began in July 2018, proved to be one of the most complicated in the last 50 years in Florence.
The easiest mistake to make when first setting foot in the Antico Setificio Fiorentino, Florence’s only surviving silk mill, is equating it with a museum, or any place that exists ...
In his ‘Divine Comedy’, Dante described the building as “my beautiful San Giovanni,” yet he was not the only famous Florentine to be baptised here.
You are approaching the Russian church when you glimpse one central onion-shaped dome and four smaller ones with turquoise, green and white majolica.
When Italian president Giuseppe Saragat arrived at Florence’s National Central Library in the wake of the 1966 flood, it is reported that the Biblioteca’s director Emanuele Casamassima did not mince ...
On June 2, 2016, Italy celebrates the birth of the Italian Republic seven decades ago. After 85 years under the Savoy monarchy, which had supported Mussolini’s fascist regime that led ...
The clock above the main door inside the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, or the Duomo, as it is better known in Florence, is the only one of its ...
Every gem has its own history, but some have a fascinating story, often involving mystery and mayhem. This is certainly true of a diamond that found its way to Europe in the 15th century. Of Indian origin, the very large almond-shaped stone was pale yellow with hints of green.
After living in Florence for a certain amount of time it is easy to become a little blasé, thinking you’ve seen and done it all. What a mistake! Just when you least expect it, you stumble on a gem that has been right under your nose for
There is much more to Prato, a town about 10 kilometres north of Florence, than its textile industry, almond biscuits and modern art museum. For instance, at 6 pm each Christmas Day, it is the site of one of Italy's most unusual religious ceremonies. The main cathedral, which is
Summer in Siena means the Palio a famed historic horse race run each year on July 2 and Aug. 16. The Palio tradition dates back to the 11th cen-tury, when the race was initiated to honor the Madonna dellAssunta, patroness and advocate of Siena, for her protection of
‘Mediterranean weaving—fabric as a dictionary of economic, cultural and social relations.’ This rather ponderous title introduces a fascinating exhibition at the Museo del Tessuto in Prato comparing the different textile ...
Most people are familiar with the masked revellers at the Carnevale in Venice, but another truly fantastic celebration ofCarneVa (literally meaning the “meat goes”) is held each year in the Tuscan coastal city of Viareggio. Here the stars of the show are the spectacular papier-mâch&
I got lost on my last trip to Venice. It makes no difference that it was my twentieth trip to La Serenissima in half as many years, or that I can, on a very good day, navigate its infinite bridges and narrow calli without a second thought. During
Proverbial wisdom about early birds catching worms doesn’t apply to boar. I am used to fox hunting in the US, where you have to be ready to go at dawn. Not so with boar hunting; at nine am the hunters were just starting to arrive. The
Once again this June, San Gimignano – famous for its lofty towers and picturesque streets and squares – celebrates the “Ferie delle Messi,” a pageant that dates back to 1255. This traditional fertility festival features street music, theatre and markets, a costume parade and jousting – a full
