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"Firenze" redirects here. For other uses, see Florence (disambiguation). For other uses, see Firenze (disambiguation).
Comune di Firenze
Coat of arms of Comune di Firenze
Municipal coat of arms
Country Flag of Italy Italy
Region Tuscany
Province Florence (FI)
Mayor Leonardo Domenici (Democratic Party)
Elevation 50 m (164 ft)
Area 102 km² (39 sq mi)
Population (as of 2006-06-02)
- Total 366,488
- Density 3,593/km² (9,306/sq mi)
Time zone CET, UTC+1
Coordinates [show location on an interactive map] 43°46′18″N, 11°15′13″E
Gentilic Fiorentini
Dialing code 055
Postal code 50100
Frazioni Galluzzo, Settignano
Patron St. John the Baptist
- Day June 24
Location of Florence in Italy
Website: www.comune.firenze.it
Historic Centre of Florence*
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Historic Centre of Florence
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.
Florence (Italian: Firenze) is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany, Italy, and of the province of Florence.
From 1865 to 1870 the city was also the capital of the Kingdom of Italy. Florence lies on the Arno River and has a population of around 400,000 people, plus a suburban population in excess of 200,000 persons (about 1,000,000 with the important near city Prato). A centre of medieval European trade and finance, the city is often considered the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance and was long ruled by the Medici family. Florence is also famous for its magnificent art and architecture. The city has been called the Athens of the Middle Ages.
The "Historic Centre of Florence" was declared a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO in 1982.
Contents
[hide]
* 1 History
o 1.1 Florence and the Renaissance
* 2 Geography
o 2.1 Climate
* 3 Landmarks
o 3.1 Other points of interest
* 4 Demography
* 5 Language
* 6 Transport
o 6.1 Future developments
* 7 Economy and industry
* 8 Cuisine
* 9 Notable residents
* 10 Administration
* 11 Twinning
* 12 See also
* 13 References
* 14 Bibliography
o 14.1 Primary sources
* 15 External links
[edit] History
Main article: History of Florence
Florence began as a settlement established by Julius Caesar in 59 BC for his veteran soldiers. It was named Florentia (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 center. Emperor Diocletian made Florentia capital of the province of Tuscia in the 3rd century AD.
Saint Minias was Florence’s first martyr. He was beheaded at about 250 AD, during the anti-Christian persecutions of the Emperor Decius. After being beheaded, it is said that he picked up his disembodied head and walked across the Arno River and up the hill Mons Fiorentinus to his hermitage, where the Basilica di San Miniato al Monte now stands.
The seat of a bishopric from around the beginning of the 4th century AD, the city experienced subsequent 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 living persons.
Peace returned under Lombard rule in the 6th century. Conquered by Charlemagne in 774, Florence became part of the duchy of Tuscany, with Lucca as capital. 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. This initiated the Golden Age of Florentine art. In 1013, construction began on the Basilica di San Miniato al Monte. The exterior of the baptistry was reworked in Romanesque style between 1059 and 1128.
Piazza della Repubblica in Florence.
Piazza della Repubblica in Florence.
Part of the skyline of Florence, viewed from the Palazzo Pitti
Part of the skyline of Florence, viewed from the Palazzo Pitti
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 80,000 before the Black Death of 1348, 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. The fact that the Medici were bankers to the pope also contributed to their rise. Cosimo was succeeded by his son Piero, who was shortly thereafter 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.
Following the death of Lorenzo 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.
Florence's skyline at night from Piazzale Michelangelo
Florence's skyline at night from Piazzale Michelangelo
Copy of Michelangelo's David in the Piazza della Signoria
Copy of Michelangelo's David in the Piazza della Signoria[1]
A second individual of unusual insight was Niccolò Machiavelli, whose prescriptions for Florence's regeneration under strong leadership have often been seen as a legitimisation 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 line 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, hosting the country's first parliament, but was superseded by Rome six years later, after the withdrawal of the French troops made its addition to the kingdom possible. After doubling during the 19th century, Florence's population tripled in the 20th with the growth of 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 [1], British and Commonwealth soldiers a few kilometers east of the center on the north bank of the Arno [2])
A very important role is played in those years by the famous café of Florence Giubbe Rosse from its foundation until the present day. Piazza del Mercato Vecchio was destroyed (Old Market Square), and then was renamed Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II. It is known today as Piazza della Repubblica, and is the location of the Giubbe Rosse. In those years (the end of the l9th century) the city administration of Florence decided to raze the old neighborhood of Mercato Vecchio to the ground, in favour of a new square dedicated to Victor Emmanuel II. "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 (poet) in the fourteenth century, "Mercato Vecchio nel mondo è alimento./ A ogni altra piazza il prego serra". The area had decayed from its original medieval splendor". Nowadays the literary café Giubbe Rosse is publishing books of famous Italian authors such: Mario Luzi, Manlio Sgalambro, Giovanni Lista, Menotti Lerro, Leopoldo Paciscopi.
In November 1966, the Arno flooded parts of the center, damaging many art treasures. There was no warning from the authorities who knew the flood was coming, except a phone call to the jewelers on the Ponte Vecchio. Around the city there are tiny placards on the walls noting where the flood waters reached at their highest point.
Panorama of Florence's skyline as seen from Piazzale Michelangelo
Panorama of Florence's skyline as seen from Piazzale Michelangelo
Panorama of the Ponte Vecchio and the Arno in Florence, taken from the north side of the river - October, 2006.
Panorama of the Ponte Vecchio and the Arno in Florence, taken from the north side of the river - October, 2006.
Ponte Vecchio and the surrounding buildings on the Arno.
Ponte Vecchio and the surrounding buildings on the Arno.
[edit] Florence and the Renaissance
The surge in artistic, literary, and scientific investigation that occurred in Florence in the 14th-16th centuries was precipitated by Florentines' preoccupation with money, banking and trade and with the display of wealth and leisure. With the money from the banking, the Medicis, very wealthy bankers, sponsored different artists such as Michelangelo.
Added to this, the crises of the Roman Catholic church (especially the controversy over the French Avignon Papacy and the Great Schism), along with the catastrophic effects of the Black Death, led to a re-evaluation of medieval values, resulting in the development of a humanist culture, stimulated by the works of Petrarch and Boccaccio. This prompted a revisitation and study of the classical antiquity, leading to the Renaissance. Florence benefited materially and culturally from this sea-change in social consciousness.
[edit] Geography
This short section requires expansion.
[edit] Climate
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Avg high [°C](°F) 10 (50) 12 (54) 15 (59) 19 (66) 23 (74) 28 (82) 31 (88) 31 (87) 27 (80) 21 (70) 15 (59) 11 (51) 20 (68)
Avg low temperature [°C](°F) 2 (35) 3 (37) 5 (41) 8 (46) 11 (52) 15 (59) 17 (63) 17 (63) 14 (58) 10 (50) 6 (42) 2 (36) 9 (49)
Rainfall [inches](millimeters) 2.90 (73.60) 2.70 (68.58) 3.20 (81.28) 3.10 (78.74) 2.90 (73.66) 2.20 (55.88) 1.60 (40.64) 3.00 (76.20) 3.10 (78.74) 3.50 (88.90) 4.40 (111.76) 3.60 (91.44) 36.20 (919.48)
Although usually perceived to have a Mediterranean climate, under the Köppen climate classification Florence is sometimes classified as having a Humid subtropical climate (Cfa). It experiences hot, humid summers with little rainfall and cool, damp winters. Due to the geographical position of the city (surrounded by hills in a valley traversed by the Arno river), Florence can be hot and humid from June to August. Summer temperatures are higher than those along coastlines, due to the lack of a prevailing wind. The small amount of rain which falls in the summer is convectional in type. Relief rainfall dominates in the winter, with occasional snow.
[edit] Landmarks
Facade and Campanile (bell tower) of Santa Maria del Fiore.
Facade and Campanile (bell tower) of Santa Maria del Fiore.
Composite picture of the view from the tower looking towards the Duomo.
Composite picture of the view from the tower looking towards the Duomo.
For a complete list, see Buildings and structures in Florence.
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 tower (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.
At the heart of the city in Piazza della Signoria is Bartolomeo Ammanati's Fountain of Neptune, which is a masterpiece of marble sculpture at the terminus of a still functioning Roman aqueduct.
The Duomo
The Duomo
Church of Santa Felicita.
Church of Santa Felicita.
The Duomo in Florence is constantly being cleaned to remove the effects of pollution.
The Duomo in Florence is constantly being cleaned to remove the effects of pollution.
The Duomo in the evening sun.
The Duomo in the evening sun.
The bridges of Florence at sunset from Piazzale Michelangelo.
The bridges of Florence at sunset from Piazzale Michelangelo.
The Arno river, which cuts through the old part of the city, is as much a character in Florentine history as many of the men who lived there. Historically, the locals have had a love-hate relationship with the Arno — which alternated from 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 carried Vasari's elevated corridor linking the Uffizi to the Medici residence (Palazzo Pitti). First constructed by the Etruscans in ancient times, this bridge is the only one in the city to have survived World War II intact.
The San Lorenzo contains the Medici Chapel, the mausoleum of the Medici family - the most powerful family in Florence from the 15th to the 18th century. Nearby is the Uffizi Gallery, one of the finest art galleries in the world - founded on a large bequest from the last member of the Medici family.
The Uffizi ("offices") itself is located on the corner of Piazza della Signoria, a site important for three main reasons:
* In 1301, Dante was sent into Exile from here (a plaque on one of the walls of the Uffizi commemorates the event).
* In 1497, it was the location of the Bonfire of the Vanities (a plaque in the middle of the plaza commemorates that event), followed in 1498 by the execution of its instigator, Girolamo Savonarola
* In 1504, it was the original location of Michelangelo's David (now replaced by a reproduction as the original was moved indoors to the Accademia dell'Arte del Disegno), in front of the Palazzo della Signoria (also known as Palazzo Vecchio).
In addition to the Uffizi, Florence has other world-class museums:
The Bargello concentrates on sculpture, containing many priceless works of art created by such sculptors as 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 Pitti Palace containing part of the Medici family's former private collection. In addition to the Medici collection the palace's galleries contain a large number of Renaissance works, including several by Raphael and Titian as well as a large collection of modern art, costumes, cattiages, and porcerlain. 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.
The city's principal football team is AC Fiorentina.
Florence has been the setting for numerous works of fiction and movies, including the novels and associated films Hannibal, Tea with Mussolini and A Room with a View.
[edit] Other points of interest
* Institute and Museum of the History of Science
* Museo di Storia Naturale di Firenze
* Orto Botanico di Firenze
* Palazzo Medici Riccardi
[edit] Demography
As of 2004, the greater Firenze (Florence) area had a population of 957,949 inhabitants, 93.30% being ethnic Italian. Immigrants in the city number 6.70% of the greater Firenze area. Of the 64,421 immigrants living in the Firenze area, 27,759 are of European origins other than Italian. The majority are of Albanian, Romanian, and German ethnicities. An increasing Asian population numbers 19,488, mostly recent immigrants of Chinese and Filipino origins. The African population numbers 10,364, of which half are North African Arabs and the other half sub-Saharan blacks. The remaining numbers constitute immigrants from the Americas.[3]
Age structure[4]
* 00 - 14 (115,175) = 12.02%
* 15 - 64 (619 961) = 64.63%
* 65+ (223,613) = 23.34%
The city is undergoing an aging process due to the low fertility rates among the women like much of Europe. As a result, the pensioner population outnumbers that of youths. However, in the past decade there has been an increase in the number of births contributing to the slow, continuing positive growth of the city.[citation needed]
[edit] Language
For more details on this topic, see Tuscan dialect.
Florentine (fiorentino), spoken by inhabitants of Florence and its environs, is a Tuscan dialect and an immediate parent language to modern Italian. (Many linguists and scholars of Dante, Boccaccio, and Petrarch consider modern Italian to be, in fact, modern Florentine.) Its vocabulary and pronunciation are largely identical to Italian, though the hard c [k], when it is 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, frequent usage of the modern subjunctive instead of the present, which may be viewed as incorrect in comparison to standard Italian, and a reduced definite article [i] in the pronounce.
[edit] Transport
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 is also another important station, Campo Di Marte, but it is not as well-known as Santa Maria Novella; 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 center, 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. This is enforced by cameras located on all the roads into the city, which photograph licence plates that pass by.[citation needed]
[edit] Future developments
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.[2] 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.
[edit] Economy and industry
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.
Florence is also home to the legendary Italian fashion establishment Salvatore Ferragamo, notable as one of the oldest and most famous Italian fashion houses not located in Milan. Gucci, Prada, Roberto Cavalli, and Chanel also have large offices and stores in Florence or its outskirts.
Certain textile industries employing largely immigrant populations can be found to the north and north-west of the city, continuing its long tradition as a centre of fine fabrics.[citation needed]
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 reds. More recently, the Bolgheri region (about 100 miles/200 kilometres southwest of Florence) has become celebrated for its Supertuscan reds like Sassicaia.[citation needed]
[edit] Cuisine
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 and butter-less Tuscan bread frequently features in Florentine courses, especially in its famous soups, ribollita and pappa al pomodoro, both usually served with local olive oil, and 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 huge 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.
[edit] Notable residents
See also category:People from Florence
* Leone Battista Alberti, polymath.
* Dante Alighieri, poet.
* Filippo Brunelleschi, famous architect.
* Giovanni Boccaccio, famous poet.
* Giotto di Bondone, early 14th century painter[5] (Uffizi Gallery).
* Michelangelo Buonarroti, a famous sculptor, also famous for the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
* Medici Family
* Girolamo Mei, historian and humanist
* Lorenzo Ghiberti, sculptor
* Donatello, sculptor
* Masaccio, painter.
* Raphael, painter.
* Leonardo da Vinci, famous for his Mona Lisa and other paintings, inventions, and scientific experiments.
* Niccolò Machiavelli, famous Renaissance poet and philosopher
* Giorgio Vasari, painter, architect, and historian
* Galileo Galilei, Italian physicist, astronomer, and philosopher.
* Vincenzo Galilei
* Frescobaldi Family, notable bankers and wine producers
* Oriana Fallaci, journalist and author
* Florence Nightingale, pioneer of modern nursing, and a noted statistician.
* Salvatore Ferragamo, Legendary "shoemaker to the stars"
* Angelo Acciaioli, first bishop of Florence
* Michael Cassio, fictional arithmetician and Lieutenant in Venetian army in Othello.