Dictionary:
Flor·ence (flôr'əns, flŏr'-)  |
A city of central Italy on the Arno River east of Pisa. Originally an Etruscan settlement, then a Roman town, Florence was a powerful city-state under the Medici family during the Italian Renaissance, with a brilliant artistic flowering led by Giotto, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Dante, and Raphael. Florence was the capital of newly unified Italy from 1865 to 1871, when the government was moved to Rome. Population: 366,000.
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| Columbia Encyclopedia: Florence |
Points of Interest
It is impossible to mention here all of the city's monuments, most of which date from the 13th to 15th cent. The Gothic cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore (begun 1296) has a dome (1420-34) by Brunelleschi; nearby are the slim campanile (269 ft/82 m high) designed by Giotto, and Andrea Pisano and Lorenzo Ghiberti created their famous bronze doors for the baptistery. The large Franciscan Church of Santa Croce is the Florentine pantheon and has frescoes by Giotto, a crucifix by Donatello, and fine works by the Della Robbia family, Rossellino, and others. The Church of Santa Maria Novella (1278-1350) has frescoes by Masaccio, Orcagna, and Ghirlandaio; fine cloisters; and a facade (1470) by Alberti. Some of the best works of Fra Angelico are in the museum of the Monastery of St. Mark. Important frescoes by Masolino, Masaccio, and Filippino Lippi adorn the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine. The Church of San Lorenzo contains Michelangelo's tombs of the Medici; many works by Donatello; and the Laurentian Library, which holds approximately 10,000 manuscripts. The oratory of Orsanmichele (originally a wheat granary; rebuilt 1337-1404) has a tabernacle (14th cent.) by Orcagna. On a hill overlooking the city is the Romanesque basilica of San Miniato al Monte.
On the Piazza della Signoria are the Palazzo Vecchio, which contains frescoes by Vasari and sculptures by Michelangelo; the Loggia dei Lanzi (later 14th cent.), which has the Perseus (1533) of Cellini; and Ammanati's Fountain of Neptune (1576). The Uffizi Museum, housed in a Renaissance palace designed by Vasari, contains great collections of paintings, especially by Botticelli, Masaccio, and Piero della Francesca. The Pitti Palace (15th-17th cent.) also houses fine paintings, particularly by Raphael, Andrea del Sarto, and Titian. Behind the Pitti Palace are the terraced Boboli Gardens (1550), a good example of Italian landscaping architecture. Other important art museums include the Academy, with works by Michelangelo; the gallery in the Bargello palace, with works by Donatello; and the archaeological museum, with Etruscan, Egyptian, and Greco-Roman art. Among the other numerous medieval and Renaissance palaces, the Medici-Riccardi, Strozzi, and Rucellai deserve special mention.
History
Florence was the site of an Etruscan settlement and later became a Roman town on the Cassian Way (the modern Piazza della Republica is on the site of the Roman Forum). In the 5th and 6th cent. A.D. the city was controlled, in turn, by the Goths, Byzantines, and Lombards. It became an autonomous commune in the 12th cent.
In the 13th cent. the Guelphs (who were propapal) and the Ghibellines (who were proimperial) fought for control of the city. By the end of the 13th cent. the Guelphs held control, but they then split into warring factions, the Blacks and the Whites, best remembered because Dante, a Florentine, was banished (1302) as a White Guelph. Warfare raged, too, with other cities, notably Pisa, as the merchants and bankers of Florence made their own fortunes and that of the city; the sale of Florentine silks, tapestries, and jewelry brought great wealth. Florence grew as a result of war, absorbing Arezzo, Pistoia, Volterra, and Pisa. Growth was temporarily halted in 1348, when the Black Death killed approximately 60% of the city's population.
Florence became a city-state and in the 15th cent. came under the control of Cosimo de' Medici, a wealthy merchant and patron of the arts. Although republican forms were kept until the 16th cent., the Medici family ruled, and Lorenzo de' Medici, who held power from 1469 to 1492, was able to put down the Pazzi conspiracy (1478), instigated by Pope Sixtus IV.
Under Lorenzo and his successors, Florence was for two centuries the golden city, with an incredible flowering of intellectual and artistic life. The list of artists working in the city was headed by Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and Donatello. There were also numerous poets and scholars active in Florence, and the Accademia della Crusca was established (1582). A school of music flourished in the city during the Renaissance, and the earliest operas, Peri's Dafne (1594) and Euridice (1600), were performed there.
Political life continued to be turbulent. The Medici were expelled by a revolution in 1494, the fiery religious reformer Savonarola briefly held power (1494-98), and Machiavelli was a diplomatic representative of the republic. The revolt against the Medici was over by 1512, but another revolution (1527-30) established a new republic, which, however, was forced to surrender to Emperor Charles V after a heroic defense.
Under the restored Medici, Florence went on expanding and controlled most of Tuscany. In 1569, Cosimo I de' Medici was made grand duke, and Florence became the capital of the grand duchy of Tuscany. The grand duchy, ruled by the house of Hapsburg-Lorraine after the extinction (1737) of the Medici line, was annexed to the kingdom of Sardinia in 1860. Florence was the capital of the newly founded kingdom of Italy from 1865 to 1871. Relatively few of the art treasures of Florence were harmed in World War II; the flooding of the Arno in Nov., 1966, however, caused extensive damage, which art experts sought, with considerable success, to repair.
| History 1450-1789: Florence |
Originally a center of Roman provincial government and commerce, Florence in the Middle Ages became an important bishopric, a county nominally subject to the Holy Roman Emperor, and, by 1138, a commune. Beginning in 1125 with the capture of its nearby rival, Fiesole, Florence embarked on a policy of Tuscan expansion that would culminate in the mid-sixteenth century with its conquest of Siena and its position as the capital of Tuscany. A hub of banking, commerce, and textiles, it was, along with Venice, Milan, Rome, and Naples, one of the five powers of Renaissance Italy as well as the axis of Renaissance Italian culture. Its history throughout the early modern era was bound to the Medici family, who dominated it either unofficially or, after 1530, as lords. With the death of Gian Gastone de' Medici in 1737, Florence and its territory became a fief of the House of Lorraine.
The Florentine Constitution
With the exile of most of the Medici in 1494, the republic, dominated by the friar Girolamo Savonarola (1452–1498), broadened the government by establishing a Great Council of some three thousand members. But with the return of the Medici in 1530, the oligarchy redrew the constitution. Alessandro de' Medici (1510–1537) became capo (head) and, shortly thereafter, "duke of the republic of Florence." The four-man Magistrato Supremo replaced the Signoria; the Consiglio de' 200 (Council of Two Hundred) and Senato de' 48 (Senate of Forty-Eight), whose members served for life, replaced the Consiglio Maggiore (Great Council). As of 1537, the old criminal courts of the Executors of the Ordinances of Justice and Podestà (chief magistrate) were consolidated in the Otto di Guardia e di Balìa (Eight on Public Safety), though, despite ducal attempts at centralization, some two dozen other bodies exercised criminal justice functions. As of 1569, the ruler held the title grand duke of Tuscany from the pope.
Politics
Although the arrival in Italy of Charles VIII of France in 1494 seemed the fulfillment of Savonarola's apocalyptic preaching, the friar's pro-French policy, antithetical to the position of Pope Alexander VI, and his defiance of a papal excommunication led to his execution in 1498. In 1512, the Medici, headed by Cardinal Giovanni (the future Pope Leo X [reigned 1513–1521] and the son of Lorenzo the Magnificent), returned as lords, but fled in 1527 following the sack of Rome. In 1530, pro-Medici troops forced the fall of the last Florentine republic. Although the Medici would, from now on, rule as lords, Florence's patriciate proved resilient: 90 percent of appointees to the Senate during the sixteenth century came from families who had served in the Signoria the century before.
Florence became the capital of an important medium-sized state in the early modern period. As of 1537, it was ruled by one of the most talented of the Medici, Duke Cosimo I (1519–1574), who succeeded in establishing considerable Florentine independence. By the early eighteenth century, Florence was paying huge subsidies to Austria, one of the costs of attempted neutrality. In the last weeks of the reign of the childless Gian Gastone de' Medici (1671–1737), several thousand Austrian troops occupied the city, and upon his death the grand duchy passed to the House of Lorraine.
The Medici dukes allied Tuscany with the Catholic states of Europe through both policy and marriages. Cosimo I, for instance, married into the House of Toledo; his progeny made marriage alliances with the Habsburgs, the royal house of France, and the House of Lorraine. Catherine de Médicis (1518–1589), wife of Henry II of France, was a daughter of Lorenzo of Urbino, and Marie de Médicis (1573–1642), wife of Henry IV of France, was a daughter of Francesco. Catherine's daughter Elizabeth married Philip II of Spain, and a son married Mary Stuart. Cosimo III (1642–1723) paired his daughter with Johann Wilhelm, elector of the Palatinate.
Science, Art, and Culture
Florence's enduring fame rests on its place in Renaissance and early modern culture. The humanists Coluccio Salutati, Marsilio Ficino, Angelo Poliziano, and Giovanni Pico della Mirandola all worked in Florence. In the early sixteenth century, the Rucellai family hosted gatherings of Florentine patricians in the family's palace gardens, the Orti Oricellari, where Niccolò Machiavelli explained to the literati gathered there the principles of his Discourses; indeed, scholars trace the political realism of Machiavelli and Francesco Guicciardini (1483–1540) to modes of thought developed by participants in the Rucellai garden conversations.
Florence remained a center of learning through the early modern era. Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) served as a Medici court mathematician and as tutor to the future Cosimo II (1590–1621), and left some of his scientific instruments to Ferdinando II (1610–1670), a man of real scientific bent. Another of Galileo's legacies was a "core of Tuscan Galileans" (Cochrane, p. 232), many of whom gathered at the learned academy popularly known as the Cimento, patronized and organized by prince Leopoldo, son of Cosimo II.
Lorenzo Magalotti (1637–1712), a diplomat, scientist, and writer whose interests ranged from geometry to air pressure to collecting bawdy poetry in several languages, belonged to the Accademia della Crusca and served as secretary of the Accademia del Cimento. When the latter disbanded in the second half of the seventeenth century, its members spread its ideas throughout Europe. Cosimo III (1642–1723) patronized medical research, including the work of his personal physician, Francesco Redi (1626–1698), whose critique of the received wisdom of the Greek physician Galen led to a more modern approach to health and pharmacology. Several Medici grand dukes also made it their policy to extend health care to even the more remote parts of their domain.
The Medici and other patrons sought out the best artists and humanists of the day. Florence was at the forefront of mannerism, with the architecture of Michelangelo (the stairs of the Laurentian Library, 1524–1526) and the paintings of Jacopo Pontormo (The Visitation in the Church of the Annunziata, 1514–1516, and The Deposition in the Church of Santa Felicità, 1526–1528), Parmigianino (The Madonna with the Long Neck, c. 1535), and the works of Agnolo Bronzino and Giorgio Vasari (best known for his Lives of the Painters, Sculptors and Architects and the Uffizi, or public office building, 1559–1565). The city was an energetic participant in the Italian baroque movement; Artemesia Gentileschi enjoyed the patronage of Cosimo II, completed Judith and Her Maidservant around 1614, and was admitted to Florence's Accademia del Disegno.
Finance and Economy
Florence remained economically stable, even prosperous, until the recession, accelerated by the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), of the 1620s. Cosimo I and his successors, especially Ferdinando I, lavished time and money on the acquisition and improvement of Livorno, which became Tuscany's main port and a sanctuary for merchants of all nations and creeds. In the reign of Francesco, a wave of palace construction reflected increased patrician investment in buildings.
Florence's economic power rested upon two industries, international banking and textiles, though the great Medici bank collapsed by 1494. Good raw wool, imported from England, Spain, and elsewhere, was spun by thousands of country women and then woven into cloth on looms. Until the mid-fourteenth century, women dominated the weaving trade, but were then replaced by German immigrant males. By the late sixteenth century, women once again flocked to the trade, and they constituted nearly two-thirds of wool weavers by 1604.
Smaller but still important was Florence's silk industry, producing high-quality, luxury goods. Women played important roles in cultivating mulberry trees, harvesting the leaves on which the silkworms fed, caring for the silk cocoons, and spinning the raw silk into thread. As with the wool industry, women tended to carry out production tasks associated with plain cloth, not with fine, highly decorative textiles.
Other important industries included international trade, printing, and glassmaking. Florentine merchants could be found in every corner of Europe. Cosimo I subsidized the press of Laurens Lenaerts (known in Florence as Lorenzo Torrentino), who published works in the vernacular, Latin, and Greek, among them the first edition of Vasari's Lives (1550). Torrentino's successors served as printers to the grand dukes until the late eighteenth century. A painting by Giovanni Maria Butteri from the early 1570s of a glass factory, built for Francesco I, hints at the importance of that industry.
Population
In 1427 Florence held about 40,000 permanent inhabitants, not including clergy, about one-third of its estimated population prior to the Black Death of 1348. The 1552 census counted about 60,000 residents, including clergy. The number rose to about 75,000 by 1600. The population was unusually literate; between a quarter and a third of Florentines could read and write during the Renaissance.
Florence had animportant Jewishcommunityby the early thirteenth century. By the fifteenth century, Jews were relegated to a very fewprofessions, notably pawnbroking. The Savonarolan republic's attemptin 1495 to expel them failed. Cosimo I granted substantial privileges to Jewish bankers in Tuscany and forbade anti-Semitic acts. In the 1550s, he opened Tuscany to settlement by Jews, an invitation accepted by many Iberian Jews, who created the first important Sephardic community in Italy. In 1571, Jews in Florence were moved to a ghetto, where they enjoyed considerable internal autonomy and where, by the century's end, they had built two synagogues. The Jewish physician Elia Montalto di Luna worked at the Medici court in the seventeenth century and produced learned scientific treatises. Although the entry of Napoleonic armies into Florence in 1799 resulted in the emancipation of the Jews, the return of the Habsburgs in 1815 forced them back into the ghetto, from which they were definitively liberated only with Italian unification.
Bibliography
Primary Sources
Machiavelli, Niccolò. Florentine Histories. Translated by Laura F. Banfield and Harvey C. Mansfield, Jr. Princeton, 1988. Translation of Istorie fiorentine. Florence's history as compiled, on commission from the Medici, by this astute political observer.
Secondary Sources
Acton, Harold. The Last Medici. Rev. ed. New York, 1980. A lively portrait of the late-seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Medici grand dukes.
Brackett, John K. Criminal Justice and Crime in Late Renaissance Florence, 1537–1609. Cambridge, U.K., and New York, 1992. Analyzes the Florentine criminal justice system in the late Renaissance.
Cochrane, Eric. Florence in the Forgotten Centuries, 1527–1800: A History of Florence and the Florentines in the Age of the Grand Dukes. Chicago and London, 1983. Colorful and well written; an impressionistic work for the general public with several chapters on the late Renaissance.
Hale, J. R. Florence and the Medici: The Pattern of Control. London, 1977. A history of the Medici and their relationship with Florence from the early Renaissance through the reign of Gian Gastone.
Litchfield, R. Burr. Emergence of a Bureaucracy: The Florentine Patricians, 1530–1790. Princeton, 1986. Catalogues the resilience of the Florentine elite over the longue durée.
Menning, Carol Bresnahan. Charity and State in Late Renaissance Italy: The Monte di Pietà of Florence. Ithaca, N.Y., 1993. A scholarly work on Florence's charitable pawn shop through the late sixteenth century.
—CAROL M. BRESNAHAN
| Geography: Florence |
City in central Italy on the Arno River.
| Word Tutor: Firenze |
| Wikipedia: Florence |
| Florence Firenze |
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| — Comune — | |||
| Comune di Firenze |
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  Florence
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| Coordinates: 43°47′0″N 11°15′0″E / 43.783333°N 11.25°ECoordinates: 43°47′0″N 11°15′0″E / 43.783333°N 11.25°E | |||
| Country | Italy | ||
| Region | Tuscany | ||
| Province | Florence (MI) | ||
| Government | |||
| - Mayor | Matteo Renzi (Democratic Party) | ||
| Area | |||
| - Total | 102.41 km2 (39.5 sq mi) | ||
| Elevation | 50 m (164 ft) | ||
| Population (30 April 2009)[1] | |||
| - Total | 368,362 | ||
| - Density | 3,596.9/km2 (9,316/sq mi) | ||
| - Demonym | Fiorentini | ||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| - Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
| Postal code | 50121-50145 | ||
| Dialing code | 055 | ||
| Patron saint | John the Baptist | ||
| Saint day | June 24 | ||
| Website | Official website | ||
| Historic Centre of Florence* | |
|---|---|
| UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
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| State Party |  Italy |
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | i, ii, iii, iv, vi |
| Reference | 174 |
| Region** | Europe and North America |
| Inscription history | |
| Inscription | 1982 (6th Session) |
| * Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. ** Region as classified by UNESCO. |
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Florence (Italian: Firenze, pronounced [fiˈrɛntse]; Old Italian: Fiorenza, Latin: Florentia) is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with 367,569 inhabitants (1,500,000 in the metropolitan area[2]).
The city lies on the River Arno and is known for its history and its importance in the Middle Ages and in the Renaissance, especially for its art and architecture. A centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the richest and wealthiest cities of the time[3], Florence is often considered the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance; in fact, it has been called the Athens of the Middle Ages.[4] It was long under the de facto rule of the Medici family. From 1865 to 1870 the city was also the capital of the Kingdom of Italy.
The historic centre of Florence attracts millions of tourists each year and was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1982. Florence is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful cities in the world[5][6], and its artistic[7], historic and cultural heritage and impact in the world remain vast up to this day. The city has also a major European impact in music, architecture, education, cuisine, fashion, philosophy, science and religion. The historic centre of Florence contains numerous elegant piazzas, Renaissance palazzi, academies, parks, gardens, churches, monasteries, museums, art galleries and ateliers. The city boasts a wide range of collections of art, especially those held in the Pitti Palace and the Uffizi, (which receives about 1.6 million tourists a year[8]). Florence is arguably the best-preserved Renaissance city in the world[9] and is regarded by many as the art capital of Italy. It has been the birthplace or chosen home of many notable historical figures, such as Dante, Boccaccio, Botticelli, Niccolò Machiavelli, Brunelleschi, Michelangelo, Donatello, Galileo Galilei, Catherine de' Medici, Antonio Meucci, Guccio Gucci, Salvatore Ferragamo, Roberto Cavalli and Emilio Pucci, to name but a few.
Contents |
Florence was originally established by Julius Caesar in 59 BC as a settlement for his veteran soldiers. It was named Florentia ('the flourishing') and built in the style of an army camp with the main streets, the cardo and the decumanus, intersecting at the present Piazza della Repubblica. Situated at the Via Cassia, the main route between Rome and the north, and within the fertile valley of the Arno, the settlement quickly became an important commercial centre. The Emperor Diocletian is said to have made Florentia the seat of a bishopric around the beginning of the 4th century AD, but this seems impossible in that Diocletian was a notable persecutor of Christians.[citation needed]
In the ensuing two centuries, the city experienced turbulent periods of Ostrogothic rule, during which the city was often troubled by warfare between the Ostrogoths and the Byzantines, which may have caused the population to fall to as few as 1,000 people. Peace returned under Lombard rule in the 6th century. Florence was conquered by Charlemagne in 774 and became part of the Duchy of Tuscany, with Lucca as capital. The population began to grow again and commerce prospered. In 854, Florence and Fiesole were united in one county.
Margrave Hugo chose Florence as his residency instead of Lucca at about 1000 AD. At this time began the Golden Age of Florentine art. In 1013, construction began on the Basilica di San Miniato al Monte. The exterior of the baptistery was reworked in Romanesque style between 1059 and 1128. This period also saw the eclipse of Florence's formerly powerful rival Pisa (defeated by Genoa in 1284 and subjugated by Florence in 1406), and the exercise of power by the mercantile elite following an anti-aristocratic movement, led by Giano della Bella, that resulted in a set of laws called the Ordinances of Justice (1293).
Of a population estimated at 94,000 before the Black Death of 1348,[10] about 25,000 are said to have been supported by the city's wool industry: in 1345 Florence was the scene of an attempted strike by wool combers (ciompi), who in 1378 rose up in a brief revolt against oligarchic rule in the Revolt of the Ciompi. After their suppression, Florence came under the sway (1382–1434) of the Albizzi family, bitter rivals of the Medici. Cosimo de' Medici was the first Medici family member to essentially control the city from behind the scenes. Although the city was technically a democracy of sorts, his power came from a vast patronage network along with his alliance to the new immigrants, the gente nuova (new people). The fact that the Medici were bankers to the pope also contributed to their ascendancy. Cosimo was succeeded by his son Piero, who was, soon after, succeeded by Cosimo's grandson, Lorenzo in 1469. Lorenzo was a great patron of the arts, commissioning works by Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and Botticelli. Lorenzo was also an accomplished musician and brought some of the most famous composers and singers of the day to Florence, including Alexander Agricola, Johannes Ghiselin, and Heinrich Isaac. By contemporary Florentines (and since), he was known as "Lorenzo the Magnificent" (Lorenzo il Magnifico).
Following the death of Lorenzo de' Medici in 1492, he was succeeded by his son Piero II. When the French king Charles VIII invaded northern Italy, Piero II chose to resist his army. But when he realized the size of the French army at the gates of Pisa, he had to accept the humiliating conditions of the French king. These made the Florentines rebel and they expelled Piero II. With his exile in 1494, the first period of Medici rule ended with the restoration of a republican government.
During this period, the Dominican monk Girolamo Savonarola had become prior of the San Marco monastery in 1490. He was famed for his penitential sermons, lambasting what he viewed as widespread immorality and attachment to material riches. He blamed the exile of the Medicis as the work of God, punishing them for their decadence. He seized the opportunity to carry through political reforms leading to a more democratic rule. But when Savonarola publicly accused Pope Alexander VI of corruption, he was banned from speaking in public. When he broke this ban, he was excommunicated. The Florentines, tired of his extreme teachings, turned against him and arrested him. He was convicted as a heretic and burned at the stake on the Piazza della Signoria on 23 May 1498.
A second individual of unusual insight was Niccolò Machiavelli, whose prescriptions for Florence's regeneration under strong leadership have often been seen as a legitimization of political expediency and even malpractice. Commissioned by the Medici, Machiavelli also wrote the Florentine Histories, the history of the city. Florentines drove out the Medici for a second time and re-established a republic on May 16, 1527. Restored twice with the support of both Emperor and Pope, the Medici in 1537 became hereditary dukes of Florence, and in 1569 Grand Dukes of Tuscany, ruling for two centuries. In all Tuscany, only the Republic of Lucca (later a Duchy) and the Principality of Piombino were independent from Florence.
The extinction of the Medici dynasty and the accession in 1737 of Francis Stephen, duke of Lorraine and husband of Maria Theresa of Austria, led to Tuscany's temporary inclusion in the territories of the Austrian crown. It became a secundogeniture of the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty, who were deposed for the Bourbon-Parma in 1801 (themselves deposed in 1807), restored at the Congress of Vienna; Tuscany became a province of the United Kingdom of Italy in 1861.
Florence replaced Turin as Italy's capital in 1865 and, in an effort to modernise the city, the old market in the Piazza del Mercato Vecchio and many medieval houses were pulled down and replaced by a more formal street plan with newer houses. The Piazza (first renamed Piazza Vittorio Emmanuele II, then Piazza della Repubblica, the present name) was significantly widened and a large triumphal arch was constructed at the west end. This development was unpopular and was prevented from continuing by the efforts of several British and American people living in the city.[citation needed] A museum recording the destruction stands nearby today. The country's first capital city was superseded by Rome six years later, after the withdrawal of the French troops made its addition to the kingdom possible. A very important role is played in these years by the famous café of Florence Giubbe Rosse from its foundation until the present day. "Non fu giammai così nobil giardino/ come a quel tempo egli è Mercato Vecchio / che l'occhio e il gusto pasce al fiorentino", claimed Antonio Pucci in the 14th century, "Mercato Vecchio nel mondo è alimento./ A ogni altra piazza il prego serra". The area had, however, decayed from its original medieval splendor.
After doubling during the nineteenth century, Florence's population was to triple in the twentieth, resulting from growth in tourism, trade, financial services and industry.
During World War II the city experienced a year-long German occupation (1943–1944) and was declared an open city. The Allied soldiers who died driving the Germans from Tuscany are buried in cemeteries outside the city (Americans about 9 kilometres (6 mi) south of the city[3], British and Commonwealth soldiers a few kilometers east of the centre on the right bank of the Arno[4]). In 1944, the retreating Germans decided to blow up the bridges along the Arno linking the district of Oltrarno to the rest of the city, thus making it difficult for the British troops to cross. However, at the last moment, Hitler ordered that the Ponte Vecchio must not be blown up, as it was too beautiful. Instead, an equally historic area of streets directly to the south of the bridge, including part of the Corridoio Vasariano, was destroyed using mines. Since then the bridges have been restored exactly to their original forms using as many of the remaining materials as possible, but the buildings surrounding the Ponte Vecchio have been rebuilt in a style combining the old with modern design. Shortly before leaving Florence, as they knew that they would soon have to retreat, the Germans murdered many freedom fighters and political opponents publicly, in streets and squares including Piazza Santo Spirito.
In November 1966, the Arno flooded parts of the centre, damaging many art treasures. There was no warning from the authorities, who knew the flood was coming, except a phone call to the jewellers on the Ponte Vecchio.[citation needed] Around the city there are tiny placards on the walls noting where the flood waters reached at their highest point.
Florence lies in a sort of basin among the Senese Clavey Hills, particularly the hills of Careggi, Fiesole, Settignano, Arcetri, Poggio Imperiale and Bellosguardo. The Arno river and three other minor rivers flow through it.
| Weather data for Florence | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 19.0 (66) |
23.0 (73) |
26.1 (79) |
29.2 (85) |
35.0 (95) |
40.0 (104) |
42.6 (109) |
41.1 (106) |
36.4 (98) |
31.0 (88) |
27.0 (81) |
20.4 (69) |
42.6 (109) |
| Average high °C (°F) | 10 (50) |
12 (54) |
15 (59) |
18 (64) |
23 (73) |
27 (81) |
31 (88) |
31 (88) |
26 (79) |
21 (70) |
14 (57) |
10 (50) |
|
| Average low °C (°F) | 1 (34) |
3 (37) |
4 (39) |
7 (45) |
11 (52) |
14 (57) |
17 (63) |
17 (63) |
14 (57) |
10 (50) |
5 (41) |
2 (36) |
|
| Record low °C (°F) | -23.2 (-10) |
-11.4 (11) |
-8.0 (18) |
-3.2 (26) |
0.8 (33) |
5.6 (42) |
7.8 (46) |
9.2 (49) |
3.6 (38) |
-2.6 (27) |
-6.0 (21) |
-10.0 (14) |
-23.2 (-10) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 73 (2.87) |
68 (2.68) |
81 (3.19) |
78 (3.07) |
73 (2.87) |
55 (2.17) |
40 (1.57) |
76 (2.99) |
78 (3.07) |
88 (3.46) |
111 (4.37) |
94 (3.7) |
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| Source: Weather.com[11] 2008 | |||||||||||||
Florence is usually said to have a Mediterranean climate. It has hot, humid summers with little rainfall and cool, damp winters. Due to being surrounded by hills in a river valley, Florence can be hot and humid from June to August. Because of the lack of a prevailing wind, summer temperatures are higher than along the coast. The rain which does fall in summer is convectional. Relief rainfall dominates in the winter, with some snow. The highest officially recorded temperature was 42.6°C in July 26, 1983 and the lowest was -23.2°C on January 12, 1985.[12]
The traditional subdivision of Florence into four quarters dates from the fourteenth century (that today compose the old town):
The modern administrative subdivision into five wards follows the boundaries of the traditional quarters in the outer areas, as can be seen on the maps:
The five current administrative divisions with their neighbourhoods:
| Ward (Quartiere) |
Area (km²) |
Population (May 2006) |
Population density |
Neighboorhoods (frazioni) within ward |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quartiere 1 Historic Centre |
11.396 | 67,170 | 5,894 | San Jacopino · Il Prato · La Fortezza · Viali · Duomo–Oltrarno · Collina sud · San Gaggio |
| Quartiere 2 Campo di Marte |
23.406 | 88,588 | 3,784 | Campo di Marte–Le Cure · Viali · La Rondinella · Settignano · Collina nord · Bellariva–Gavinana |
| Quartiere 3 Gavinana/Galluzzo |
22.312 | 40,907 | 1,833 | Collina sud · Galluzzo · San Gaggio · Bellariva–Gavinana · Sorgane · Ponte a Ema |
| Quartiere 4 Isolotto/Legnaia |
16.991 | 66,636 | 3,921 | Argingrosso · Cintoia · I Bassi · Il Casone · Isolotto · La Casella · Legnaia · Le Torri · Mantignano · Monticelli · Pignone · San Lorenzo a Greve · Soffiano · San Quirico · Torcicoda · Ugnano |
| Quartiere 5 Rifredi |
28.171 | 103,761 | 3,683 | Castello–Le Panche · Piana di Castello · Pistoiese · Brozzi · Peretola · Il Lippi–Barsanti (Florence) · Firenze Nova · Novoli · Parco delle Cascine–Argingrosso · San Jacopino · La Fortezza · Careggi · Leopoldo–Rifredi · Collina nord · Viali |
| Florence | 102.276 | 367,062 | 3,589 |
Florence is known as the “cradle of the Renaissance” (la culla del Rinascimento) for its monuments, churches and buildings. The best-known site and crowning architectural jewel of Florence is the domed cathedral of the city, Santa Maria del Fiore, known as The Duomo. The magnificent dome was built by Filippo Brunelleschi. The nearby Campanile (partly designed by Giotto) and the Baptistery buildings are also highlights. Both the dome itself and the campanile are open to tourists and offer excellent views; The dome, 600 years after its completion, is still the largest dome built in brick and mortar in the world.[13]
In 1982, the historic centre of Florence (Italian: centro storico di Firenze) was declared a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO for the importance of its cultural heritages. The centre of the city is contained in medieval walls that were built in the fourteenth century to defend the city after it became famous and important for its economic growth.
At the heart of the city, in Piazza della Signoria, is Bartolomeo Ammanati's Fountain of Neptune (1563–1565), which is a masterpiece of marble sculpture at the terminus of a still- functioning Roman aqueduct.
The Arno River, which cuts through the old part of the city, is as much a character in Florentine history as many of the people who lived there. Historically, the locals have had a love-hate relationship with the Arno — which alternated between nourishing the city with commerce, and destroying it by flood.
One of the bridges in particular stands out as being unique — The Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge), whose most striking feature is the multitude of shops built upon its edges, held up by stilts. The bridge also carries Vasari's elevated corridor linking the Uffizi to the Medici residence (Palazzo Pitti). Although the original bridge was constructed by the Etruscans, the current bridge was rebuilt in the fourteenth century It is the only bridge in the city to have survived World War II intact.
The church of San Lorenzo contains the Medici Chapel, the mausoleum of the Medici family – the most powerful family in Florence from the fifteenth to the eighteenth century. Nearby is the Uffizi Gallery, one of the finest art museums in the world – founded on a large bequest from the last member of the Medici family.
The Uffizi itself is located at the corner of Piazza della Signoria, a site important for being the centre of Florence's civil life and government for centuries. (Signoria Palace is still home of the community government.) The Loggia dei Lanzi provided the setting for all the public ceremonies of the republican government. Many significant episodes in the history of art and political changes were staged here, such as:
The Piazza della Signoria is the location of a number of statues by other sculptors such as Donatello, Giambologna, Ammannati and Cellini, although some have been replaced with copies to preserve the priceless originals.
In addition to the Uffizi, Florence has other world-class museums. The Bargello concentrates on sculpture, containing many priceless works by sculptors including Donatello, Giambologna and Michelangelo. The Accademia dell'Arte del Disegno (often simply called the Accademia) collection's highlights are Michelangelo's David and his unfinished Slaves.
Across the Arno is the huge Palazzo Pitti, containing part of the Medici family's former private collection. In addition to the Medici collection, the palace's galleries contain many Renaissance works, including several by Raphael and Titian, large collections of costumes, ceremonial carriages, siver, porcelain and a gallery of modern art dating from the eighteenth century. Adjoining the palace are the Boboli Gardens, elaborately landscaped and with many interesting sculptures.
The Santa Croce basilica, originally a Franciscan foundation, contains the monumental tombs of Galileo, Michelangelo, Machiavelli, Dante (actually a cenotaph), and many other notables.
Other important basilicas and churches in Florence include Santa Maria Novella, San Lorenzo, Santo Spirito and the Orsanmichele, and the Tempio Maggiore Great Synagogue of Florence.
Florence has been a setting for numerous works of fiction and movies, including the novels and associated films Hannibal, Tea with Mussolini and A Room with a View.
| Historical populations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Pop. | %± |
| 1861 | 150,864 | — |
| 1871 | 201,138 | 33.3% |
| 1881 | 196,072 | −2.5% |
| 1901 | 236,635 | 20.7% |
| 1911 | 258,056 | 9.1% |
| 1921 | 280,133 | 8.6% |
| 1931 | 304,160 | 8.6% |
| 1936 | 321,176 | 5.6% |
| 1951 | 374,625 | 16.6% |
| 1961 | 436,516 | 16.5% |
| 1971 | 457,803 | 4.9% |
| 1981 | 448,331 | −2.1% |
| 1991 | 403,294 | −10.0% |
| 2001 | 356,118 | −11.7% |
| 2008 | 367,569 | 3.2% |
| Source: ISTAT 2001 | ||
The population of the city proper is 365,744 (2008-11-30), while Eurostat estimates that 696,767 people live in the urban area of Florence. The Metropolitan Area of Florence, Prato, and Pistoia, constituted in 2000 over an area of roughly 4,800 square kilometers, is home to 1.5 million people. Within Florence proper, 46.8% of the population was male in 2007 and 53.2% were female. Minors (children aged 18 and younger) totalled 14.10 percent of the population compared to pensioners, who numbered 25.95 percent. This compares with the Italian average of 18.06 percent (minors) and 19.94 percent (pensioners). The average age of Florence resident is 49 compared to the Italian average of 42. In the five years between 2002 and 2007, the population of Florence grew by 3.22 percent, while Italy as a whole grew by 3.56 percent.[14] The current birth rate of Florence is 7.66 births per 1,000 inhabitants compared to the Italian average of 9.45 births.
As of 2006, 90.45% of the population was Italian. An estimated 60,000 Chinese live in the city.[15] The largest immigrant group came from other European countries (mostly from Albania and Romania): 3.52%, East Asia (mostly Chinese and Filipino): 2.17%, the Americas: 1.41%, and North Africa (mostly Moroccan): 0.9%.[16]
Tourism is the most significant industry within the centre of Florence. On any given day between April and October, the local population is greatly outnumbered by tourists from all over the world.[citation needed] The Uffizi and Accademia museums are regularly sold out of tickets, and large groups regularly fill the basilicas of Santa Croce and Santa Maria Novella, both of which charge for entry.
Food and wine have long been an important staple of the economy. Florence is the most important city in Tuscany, one of the great wine-growing regions in the world. The Chianti region is just south of the city, and its Sangiovese grapes figure prominently not only in its Chianti Classico wines but also in many of the more recently developed Supertuscan blends. Within twenty miles (32 km) to the west is the Carmignano area, also home to flavorful sangiovese-based reds. The celebrated Chianti Rufina district, geographically and historically separated from the main Chianti region, is also few miles east of Florence. More recently, the Bolgheri region (about 100 miles/200 kilometres southwest of Florence) has become celebrated for its "Super Tuscan" reds such as Sassicaia and Ornellaia.[17]
Florence has a legendary artistic heritage. Cimabue and Giotto, the fathers of Italian painting, lived in Florence as well as Arnolfo and Andrea Pisano, renewers of architecture and sculpture; Brunelleschi, Donatello and Masaccio, forefathers of the Renaissance, Ghiberti and the Della Robbias, Filippo Lippi and Angelico; Botticelli, Paolo Uccello and the universal genius of Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo.[18][19]
Their works, together with those of many other generations of artists, are gathered in the several museums of the town: the Uffizi Gallery, the Palatina gallery with the paintings of the "Golden Ages".[20]
The Bargello Tower with the sculptures of the Renaissance, the museum of San Marco with Angelico's works, the Academy, the chapels of the Medicis, Buonarroti' s house with the sculptures of Michelangelo, the following museums: Bardini, Horne, Stibbert, Romano, Corsini, The Gallery of Modern Art, The museum of the Opera del Duomo, the museum of Silverware and the museum of Precious Stones.[21]
Great monuments are the landmarks of Florentine artistic culture: the Florence Baptistery with its mosaics; the Cathedral with its sculptures, the medieval churches with bands of frescoes; public as well as private palaces: Palazzo Vecchio, Palazzo Pitti, Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Palazzo Davanzati; monasteries, cloisters, refectories; the "Certosa". In the archeological museum includes documents of Etruscan civilization.[22] In fact the city is so rich in art that some first time visitors experience the Stendhal syndrome as they encounter its art for the first time.[23]
Florentine (fiorentino), spoken by inhabitants of Florence and its environs, is a Tuscan dialect and an immediate parent language to modern Italian. (Many linguists[who?] and scholars[who?] of Dante, Boccaccio, and Petrarch consider standard Italian to be, in fact, modern Florentine.)
Its vocabulary and pronunciation are largely identical to standard Italian, though the hard c [k] between two vowels (as in ducato) is pronounced as a fricative [h], similar to an English h. This gives Florentines a distinctive and highly recognizable accent (the so-called gorgia toscana). Other traits include using a form of the subjunctive mood last commonly used in medieval times,[citation needed] a frequent usage of the modern subjunctive instead of the present of standard Italian[citation needed], and a reduced pronunciation of the definite article, [i] instead of "il"[citation needed].
Florentine food grows out of a tradition of peasant eating rather than rarefied high cooking. The vast majority of dishes are based on meat. The whole animal was traditionally eaten; various kinds of tripe, (trippa) and (lampredotto) were once regularly on the menu and still are sold at the remaining food carts stationed throughout the city. Antipasti include crostini toscani, sliced bread rounds topped with a chicken liver-based pâté, and sliced meats (mainly prosciutto and salami, often served with melon when in season). The typically saltless Tuscan bread, obtained with natural levain frequently features in Florentine courses, especially in its famous soups, ribollita and pappa al pomodoro, or in the salad of bread and fresh vegetables called panzanella that is served in summer. The most famous main course is the bistecca alla fiorentina, a large (the customary size should weigh around 1200 grams – "40 oz.") – the "date" steak – T-bone steak of Chianina beef cooked over hot charcoal and served very rare with its more recently derived version, the tagliata, sliced rare beef served on a bed of arugula, often with slices of Parmesan cheese on top. Most of these courses are generally served with local olive oil, also a prime product enjoying a worldwide reputation.[24]
Florence being historically the first home of Italian fashion (the 1951–1953 soirées held by Giovanni Battista Giorgini are generally regarded as the birth of the Italian school[25] as opposed to french haute couture) is also home to the legendary Italian fashion establishment Salvatore Ferragamo, notable as one of the oldest and most famous Italian fashion houses. Many others, most of them now located in Milan, were founded in Florence. Gucci, Prada, Roberto Cavalli, and Chanel have large offices and stores in Florence or its outskirts. Florence's main upscale shopping street is Via de' Tornabuoni, where major luxury fashion houses and jewelry labels, such as Armani, Ferragamo and Bulgari, have their elegant boutiques[26].
The Scoppio del Carro (“Explosion of the Cart”) is a celebration of the First Crusade. During the day of Easter, a cart, which the Florentines call the Brindellone and which is led by four white oxen, is taken to Piazza del Duomo between the Baptistery of St. John the Baptist (Battistero di San Giovanni) and the Florence Cathedral (Santa Maria del Fiore). The cart is connected by a rope to the interior of the church. Near the cart there is a model of a dove which, according to legend, is a symbol of good luck for the city: at the end of the Easter mass, the dove emerges from the nave of the Duomo and ignites the fireworks on the cart.
Calcio Storico Fiorentino (“Historic Florentine Football”), sometimes called Calcio in costume, is a traditional sport, regarded as a forerunner of soccer, though the actual gameplay most closely resembles rugby. The event originates from the Middle Ages, when the most important Florentine nobles amused themself playing while wearing magnificent costumes. The most important match was played on 17 February 1530, during the siege of Florence. That day Papal troops besiged the city while the Florentines, with contempt of the enemies, decided to play the game notwithstanding the situation. The game is played in the Piazza di Santa Croce. A temporary arena is constructed, with bleachers and a sand-covered playing field. A series of matches are held between four teams representing each quartiere (quarter) of Florence during late June and early July.[27] There are four teams: Azzurri (light blue), Bianchi (white), Rossi (red) and Verdi (green). The Azzurri are from the quarter of Santa Croce, Bianchi from the quarter of Santo Spirito, Verdi are from San Giovanni and Rossi from Santa Maria Novella.
The principal public transport network within the city is run by the ATAF and Li-nea bus company, with tickets available at local tobacconists, bars, and newspaper stalls. Individual tickets or a pass called the Carta Agile with multiple rides (10 or 21) may be used on buses. Once on the bus, tickets must be stamped (or swiped for the Carta Agile) using the machines on board unlike the train tickets which must be validated before boarding. The main bus station is next to Santa Maria Novella train station. Trenitalia runs trains between the railway stations within the city, and to other destinations around Italy and Europe. The central station, Santa Maria Novella Station, is located about 500 metres (1,640 ft) NW of Piazza del Duomo. There are two other important stations: Campo Di Marte and Rifredi. Most bundled routes are Firenze-Pisa, Firenze-Viareggio and Firenze-Arezzo (along the main line to Rome). Other local railways connect Florence with Borgo San Lorenzo and Siena.
Long distance buses are run by the SITA, Copit, CAP and Lazzi companies. The transit companies also accommodate travellers from the Amerigo Vespucci Airport, which is five kilometers (3.1 mi) west of the city centre, and which has scheduled services run by major European carriers such as Air France and Lufthansa.
The centre of the city is closed to through-traffic, although buses, taxis and residents with appropriate permits are allowed in. This area is commonly referred to the ZTL (Zona Traffico Limitato), which is divided into five subsections.[citation needed] Residents of one section, therefore, will only be able to drive in their district and perhaps some surrounding ones. Cars without permits are allowed to enter after seven-thirty at night, or before seven-thirty in the morning. The rules shift somewhat unpredictably during the tourist-filled summers, putting more restrictions on where one can get in and out.
Due to the high level of air pollution and traffic in the city, an urban tram network called the TramVia is currently under construction in the City.[28] It will run from Scandicci to the southwest through the western side of the city, cross the river Arno at the Cascine Park and arrive to the main station of Santa Maria Novella. Two other lines are in the final design phase.[citation needed]
Florence's Peretola Airport is one of two main airports in the Tuscany region, the other being Galileo Galilei International Airport near Pisa.
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Florence is represented by ACF Fiorentina, who plays in Serie A, the top league of Italian football. They play their games at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.
The current Mayor of Florence is Matteo Renzi (Democratic Party, elected in June 2009).[30]
Florence is twinned with:
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| Translations: Florence |
Français (French)
n. - Florence
Português (Portuguese)
n. - Florencia
Español (Spanish)
n. - Florencia
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
弗洛伦斯
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 佛羅倫斯
한국어 (Korean)
플로렌스 (이탈리아 중부의 도시(이탈리아 이름은 Firenze)), 여자 이름
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