Florence

Florence

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"Firenze" and "Florentine" redirect here. For other uses, see Florentin, Florentine (disambiguation), Florence (disambiguation) or Firenze (disambiguation).

Firenze

Firenze

—  Comune  —

Comune di Firenze

A collage of Florence showing the Uffizi (top left), followed by the Pitti Palace, a sunset view of the city and the Fontana del Nettuno in the Piazza della Signoria.

Coat of arms

Firenze

Location of Firenze in Italy

Coordinates: 43°47′N 11°15′ECoordinates: 43°47′N 11°15′E

Country     Italy

Region        Tuscany

Province     Florence (FI)

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   24 June

Website      Official website

Florence (Italian: Firenze [fiˈrɛntse]  ( listen), alternate obsolete spelling: 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 wealthiest cities of the time,[3] Florence is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance; it has been called the Athens of the Middle Ages.[4] A turbulent political history included periods of rule by the powerful Medici family, religious and republican revolution. From 1865 to 1870 the city was also the capital of the Kingdom of Italy. Florence is often known as the "Jewel of the Renaissance".

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[by whom?] 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 remains to this day. The city has a major impact in music, architecture, education, cuisine, fashion, philosophy, science and religion. The historic centre of Florence contains elegant squares (piazzas), Renaissance palaces (palazzi), academies, parks, gardens, churches, monasteries, museums, art galleries and ateliers. The city has also been nominated, according to a 2007 study, as the most desirable destination for tourists in the world.[8]

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).[9] Florence is arguably the last preserved Renaissance city in the world[10] 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, Leonardo da Vinci, Botticelli, Niccolò Machiavelli, Brunelleschi, Michelangelo, Donatello, Galileo Galilei, Catherine de' Medici, Luigi Cherubini, Antonio Meucci, Guccio Gucci, Franco Zeffirelli, Salvatore Ferragamo, Ezio Auditore, Roberto Cavalli, and Emilio Pucci.

Contents [hide]

1 History

1.1 Roman origins

1.2 Second millennium

1.3 Middle Ages and Renaissance

1.3.1 Rise of the Medici

1.3.2 Savonarola and Machiavelli

1.4 18th and 19th centuries

1.5 20th century

2 Geography

2.1 Climate

3 Subdivisions

4 Architecture

4.1 Religious architecture

5 Landmarks and main sights

5.1 Museums

5.2 Palaces

5.3 Villas, parks and arches

5.3.1 Arches

5.3.2 Parks and Gardens

5.3.3 Villas

5.4 Squares

5.5 Streets

5.6 Theatres and cinemas

6 Demographics

7 Economy

7.1 Industry, commerce and services

7.2 Tourism

7.3 Food and wine production

8 Culture

8.1 Art

8.2 Language

8.3 Literature

8.4 Music

8.5 Cinema

8.6 Cuisine

8.7 Research activity

8.8 Science and discovery

8.9 Fashion

8.10 Historical evocations

8.10.1 Scoppio del Carro

8.10.2 Calcio Storico

8.11 Traditions

8.11.1 The Third Countship of Florence

9 Transport

9.1 Railway station

9.2 Airport

10 Sport

11 Administration

12 International relations

12.1 Twin towns—Sister cities

12.2 Partnerships

13 Notable residents

14 See also

15 References

15.1 Bibliography

15.2 Primary sources

15.3 Notes

16 External links

[edit]History

Historic centre of Florence*

UNESCO World Heritage Site

Historic centre of Florence

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.

Main article: History of Florence

The façade of the Cathedral, called "il Duomo" from the Latin word domus

Florence has had a long and eventful history, being a Roman city, the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance (or the "Florentine Renaissance"), and being considered, according to the Encyclopædia Britannica, as politically, economically, and culturally one of the most important cities in Europe and the world for around 250 years – from the 14th century to the 16th century.[11]

Such was the artistic and cultural dominance of Florence, that the language spoken there during the 14th century was, and still is, accepted as a pan-Italian language. Almost all the writers and poets in the Italian literature of the golden age are somewhat connected with Florence, leading ultimately to the adoption of the Florentine dialect above all the local dialects, as a literary language of choice.[12]

Florentines reinvented money – in the form of the gold florin – which was the engine that drove Europe[citation needed] out of the "Dark Ages" - a term invented by Petrarch, a Florentine. They financed the development of industry all over Europe – from Britain to Bruges, to Lyon, to Hungary. They financed the English kings during the Hundred Years War. They financed the papacy, including the construction of Avignon and the reconstruction of Rome when the papacy returned from the so-called Babylonian Captivity.

Florence was home to the Medici, one of history's most important noble families, who revolutionized high culture and the arts. Just to cite one example: Catherine de Medici (1519–1589), married Henry II of France (reigned 1547–1559). After he died, Catherine ruled France as regent for her young sons and was instrumental in turning France into Europe's first nation-state. She brought the Renaissance into France, introducing everything from the chateaux of the Loire to the fork. She also was to 16th and 17th century European royalty what Queen Victoria was to the 19th and 20th centuries. Her children included three kings of France, Francis II (ruled 1559–1560), Charles IX (ruled 1560–1574) and Henry III (ruled 1574–1589). Her children-in-law included a fourth king of France, Henry IV (ruled 1589–1610), plus Elizabeth of Habsburg, Philip II of Spain (of Armada fame), and Mary, Queen of Scots.[citation needed]

[edit]Roman origins

A wooden model of Florence as it would have probably looked during Roman times, showing the ancient amphitheatre

Florence was 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.[citation needed]

[edit]Second millennium

Margrave Hugo chose Florence as his residency instead of Lucca at about 1000 AD. The Golden Age of Florentine art began around this time. 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).[citation needed]

[edit]Middle Ages and Renaissance

Main article: Florentine Renaissance

[edit]Rise of the Medici

Leonardo da Vinci (statue outside the Uffizi's gallery)

Of a population estimated at 94,000 before the Black Death of 1348,[13] 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 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.

[edit]Savonarola and Machiavelli

Girolamo Savonarola being burnt at the stake in 1498

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 16 May 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.

[edit]18th and 19th centuries

Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor and his family. Leopold was, from 1765 to 1790, the Grand Duke of Tuscany

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 December 1807 when Tuscany was annexed by France. Florence was the prefecture of the French department of Arno from 1808 to the fall of Napoleon in 1814. The Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty was restored on the throne of Tuscany at the Congress of Vienna but finally deposed in 1859. 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.

[edit]20th century

Porte Sante cemetery, burial place of notable figures of Florentine's history

After doubling during the 19th century, Florence's population was to triple in the 20th, 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 nine kilometres (6 mi) south of the city, British and Commonwealth soldiers a few kilometres east of the centre on the right bank of the Arno). In 1944, the retreating Germans blew up the bridges along the Arno linking the district of Oltrarno to the rest of the city, making it difficult for the British troops to cross. However, at the last moment Charle Steinhauslin, at the time consulate of 26 countries in Florence, convinced the German general in Italy that the Ponte Vecchio was not to be blown up, as it was too beautiful[citation needed].

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 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 the Piazza Santo Spirito.

In November 1966, the Arno flooded parts of the centre, damaging many art treasures. Around the city there are tiny placards on the walls noting where the flood waters reached at their highest point.

In November 2002 was the place of birth of the first edition of the European Social Forum.

[edit]Geography

Florence

Climate chart (explanation)

J        F       M      A       M      J        J        A       S       O       N       D

  73 101     

  69 123     

  80 155     

  78 198     

  73 2311   

  55 2715   

  40 3117   

  76 3117   

  78 2714   

  88 2110   

  111 156   

  91 102

Average max. and min. temperatures in °C

Precipitation totals in mm

Source: WMO

[show]Imperial conversion

Florence lies in a basin among the Senese Clavey Hills, particularly the hills of Careggi, Fiesole, Settignano, Arcetri, Poggio Imperiale and Bellosguardo (Florence). The Arno river and three other minor rivers flow through it.

[edit]Climate

Florence is typically considered to have a Mediterranean climate, although under the Köppen climate classification it may be borderline humid subtropical (Cfa).[14] It has hot, humid summers with little rainfall and cool, damp winters. Surrounded by hills in a river valley, Florence can be hot and humid from June to August. As Florence lacks a prevailing wind, summer temperatures are higher than along the coast. Rainfall in summer is convectional, while relief rainfall dominates in the winter, with some snow. The highest officially recorded temperature was 42.6 °C (108.7 °F) in 26 July 1983 and the lowest was −23.2 °C (−9.8 °F) on 12 January 1985.[15]