Nobody spending a few days in Florence should miss the opportunity to see all the city's most famous artistic masterpieces, but once they have done the classic tourist tour of the Tuscan capital, they might like to dedicate a couple of hours to visiting one of the smaller museums, perhaps even timing their holiday to coincide with one of the city's renowned cultural events.
In Florence, the weeks leading up to the arrival of summer are jam-packed with events. In 1933, inspired by the ancient Calendimaggio celebrations, the Marquis Luigi Ridolfi Vay da Verrazzano and the conductor Vittorio Gui chose May as the ideal month in which to hold a festival which would embrace the disciplines of ballet, opera, and classical music. Since then, the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino has represented one of the most important annual music and dance festivals in the whole of Italy.
To attend another traditional Florentine event, we must wait until the month of June, when the celebrations for San Giovanni, the Patron Saint of Florence, begin and matches of Calcio Storico Fiorentino are played in Piazza Santa Croce. The tournament consists of three matches (including the final), played between the four teams which represent the districts of Florence: the Greens of the district of San Giovanni, the Reds of Santa Maria Novella, the Blues of Santa Croce and the Whites of Santo Spirito. The festivities include spectacular costumed parades and elaborate historical reconstructions. The Calcio Storico Fiorentino is an ancient sporting discipline, which reached its height of popularity between the 15th and 18th centuries. One particular game which entered the history books was that played in February 17th 1530, whilst Florence was under siege. It was to commemorate this match that in 1930, the first revival of the Calcio Storico Fiorentino was staged.
The city's Pitti Immagine is an absolute must for trend-watchers and includes a number of catwalk shows and trade fairs for those working in the fashion industry. The events which always receive the most media attention are the Pitti Immagine Uomo and Pitti Immagine Bimbo (held twice a year to present the autumn/winter and spring/summer collections of men's and children's fashions respectively). Pitti Immagine also hosts events devoted to textiles, home furnishings, perfumes, and leather goods, which represent a not-to-be-missed appointment for both national exhibitors and international buyers alike.
Whilst places at Pitti Immagine are numbered, thankfully, you don't need to book in advance to visit the museums linked to two of the most important arts which have developed in Florence over the years. The Museo dell'Opificio records the ancient art of stone masonry, with illustrations of all the most important works produced by pupils of the Scuola dell'Opificio delle pietre dure. Ferdinando I de' Medici founded the school in the 16th century, creating an institution which, over the centuries, has trained all the greatest stone masons and, more recently, leading experts in restoration. Among the masterpieces on show, the Medici Coat of Arms, and the 18th century model of the Principi Chapel deserve a special mention.
An art of more recent invention, but by no means less important, is that of photography. In 1852, the Alinari brothers opened their photographic workshop in Florence. Not only did the Alinari help make photography and photographs popular throughout the Italian peninsula, but during their numerous travels they succeeded in capturing much of 19thand 20th century Italy on film. The Alinari Archives now house more than 4 million photographs. Many of the original shots are displayed in the halls of the former Leopoldine complex in Piazza Santa Maria Novella, which was recently transformed into the Museum of Photographic History.
