The ISI Florence Guide | Listing the Best Picks of the Month to Explore the City at its Best.
NAMSAL SIEDLECKI. ENDO
Where: Museo del Novecento, Piazza Santa Maria Novella
When: Mon to Sun (Closed Thu), 11:00am – 8:00pm
This exhibition blends traditional craftsmanship with modern technology, showcasing evolving objects that embody the dynamic nature of art.
Price: Tickets starting at € 4,50
ANSELM KIEFER – FALLEN ANGELS
Where: Palazzo Strozzi, Piazza Strozzi
When: Everyday 10:00am – 8:00pm
Palazzo Strozzi presents a major exhibition dedicated to one of the greatest masters of the 20th and 21st century art, Anselm Kiefer. Through painting, sculpture, installation and photography, Kiefer’s art offers deep introspection into the human condition.
Price: Tickets € 16,00 (€ 13,00 under 30)
ORSANMICHELE CHURCH REOPENING
Where: Via dell’Arte della Lana
When: Open Mon to Sat 8:30am – 6:30pm,
Sun 8:30am – 1:30pm (Closed on Tue)
After being closed for over a year, the church and museum have undergone an extensive restoration campaign that now sees the medieval complex returned to full glory.
Price: € 11,00
DOMENICA AL MUSEO: FREE ENTRANCE TO MUSEUMS
When: Sunday, March 3 – all day
Take advantage of free entrance to a selection of museums:
Galleria degli Uffizi, Galleria dell’Accademia, Museo delle Cappelle Medicee, Palazzo Pitti, Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Palazzo Davanzati, Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Casa Martelli, Museo di Orsanmichele, Villa Medicea di Castello, Villa il Ventaglio, Villa Corsini, Villa Medicea della Petraia.
INDIPENDENZA ANTIQUARIA
Where: Piazza Indipendenza
When: Saturday & Sunday, March 18 & 19
Monthly flea market near the city center where you can find vintage furniture, books, paintings, fine china and all sorts of interesting objects!
Free
MUSIC IS COMING
The Orchestra Lords of the Sound, led by the acclaimed Shahrokh Fathizadeh, will perform the soundtracks of the most iconic films and beloved TV series, including Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia, Avatar, Pirates of the Caribbean… and many more!
Where: Tuscany Hall, Lungarno Aldo Moro 1
When: Tuesday, March 12 – 8:45pm
Price: Tickets starting at € 42,00
FLORENCE KOREA FILM FEST
FKFF has come to its 22st edition, showcasing interesting new movies and shorts from Korea.
All movies are in Korean and feature both English and Italian subtitles.
When: Thursday, March 21 to Saturday, March 30
Where: Cinema La Compagnia, via Cavour 50/r
Pricing and screening time: https://koreafilmfest.com/en/programme/
FLORENTINE NEW YEAR
Up until 1749, Florence celebrated its New Year on March 25th. This tradition is kept alive today with historical re-enactments and parades by the members of the Order of Parte Guelfa.
When: Monday, March 25
Where: Florence’s city center, from Piazza di Parte Guelfa to Piazza SS. Annunziata
Free
A.C. FIORENTINA – HOME GAMES
Where: Stadio Artemio Franchi, Viale Manfredo Fanti
When:
Sunday, March 10 – 8:45pm (Fiorentina vs Roma)
Thursday, March 14 – 6:45pm (Fiorentina vs Maccabi Haifa)
Saturday, March 30 – 8:45pm (Fiorentina vs Roma)
Price: Varies
Website: https://www.bigliettifiorentina.com/en/
THE BIG EVENT
Give back to the city by helping clean public areas and gardens, removing garbage from streets and squares and stickers from street poles! Together with other American universities in Florence, ISI is taking part in the Big Event.
We believe that doing good for the city in such a big and visible way can show Florentines that American students can make a difference and are far more than simple tourists.
So, wear our Big Event t-shirt and help us keep this beautiful city clean.
When: Wednesday, March 20 from 3:00pm to 5:30pm
To SIGN UP find Serena in the Community Engagement Office (Palazzo Bargagli, 1st floor)
DANTEDì
Every year on March 25 the city of Florence dedicates a day to the “Supreme Poet”, Dante Alighieri.
Based on Bloomsday in Dublin (which celebrates James Joyce’s Ulysses), you can find cultural initiatives all around the city, with people reading passages from the Divine Comedy aloud.
Walk around the city following important locations of Dante’s life, such as Museo Casa di Dante (Via Santa Margherita 1) or hop on a train and head to Ravenna! There you can visit Dante’s resting place as well as amazing Byzantine mosaics.
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY
Together with many countries in the world, on March 8 Italy celebrates International Women’s Day, which commemorates the ongoing fight for the rights of women worldwide. Traditionally on Women’s Day, women in Italy are gifted a small branch of silver wattle (called “mimosa”) by partners, friends, and family as a way to celebrate the important role that women play in their life.
In the city center demonstrations are held by feminist groups such as Non Una Di Meno, usually in Piazza della Santissima Annunziata, where a series of pink fabric squares are affixed to a railing to remember Italian women killed at the hands of men.
EASTER IN ITALY
Easter is widely celebrated in Italy by virtue of being both a religious festivity and a national holiday. Easter Sunday and Monday (in Italian “Pasquetta”, which means “little Easter”) are a time in which religious Italians attend mass and the population in general relaxes and indulges in delicious food. For many, lamb is the go-to choice for Easter lunch, where it is served roasted with potatoes.
The “pièce de résistance” of Easter lunch, however, usually comes at the end of the meal, when Italians eat “colomba”, a traditional cake baked in the shape of a dove. Colomba’s dough includes candied orange cubes, raisins and almonds, that decorate the top of the cake together with sugar sprinkles. For young and old there are also Easter eggs. Contrary to the small chocolate eggs found in the U.S., chocolate Easter eggs in Italy are bigger and empty, save for a small box that contains a present. They can be purchased in any supermarket around Easter time and usually come in dark or milk chocolate. In recent years we have seen a rise in more “creative” eggs, made with pistachios or decorated with white chocolate and nuts.
While many simply crack them open, children often get playful, using karate chops or even their heads!
EASTER IN FLORENCE – Scoppio del Carro
“Scoppio del Carro” (Explosion of the Cart) is Florence’s most renowned Easter tradition, dating back hundreds of years.
Every year, for Easter, a colorful cart full of fireworks called “Brindellone” gets paraded through Florence, pulled by two oxen adorned with flowers, and arrives in front of the Santa Maria del Fiore church.
At around 11:30 am, during Easter mass, a rocket in the shape of a white dove (colombina) flies on a wire from the altar to the cart, where a small fuse attached to it lights up the fireworks, starting the beautiful display of lights. The white dove should then fly back to the altar.
It is Florentine superstition that if the dove “comes back”, the following harvest will be plentiful and the city will overall have good luck. Interestingly, on Easter morning in 1966 (the year that had a devastating flood in November), the white dove stopped before getting back to the altar.
The Scoppio del Carro is a very popular event among Florentines, so make sure to get there early to find a spot with the best view!
LA SPECOLA
The Museum of Zoology and Natural History, best known as La Specola, is an eclectic natural history museum located next to Pitti Palace. The museum has deep ties with history; parts of the collection can be traced back to the Medici Family. It is known for its collection of wax anatomical models from the 18th century. It is the oldest scientific Museum of Europe. It was founded in 1771 by Grand Duke Peter Leopold to display publicly the large collection of natural curiosities such as fossils, animals, minerals and exotic plants acquired by several generations of the Medici family. The museum spans 34 rooms and contains not only zoological subjects, such as a stuffed hippopotamus (a 17th-century Medici pet, that once lived in the Boboli Gardens), but also a collection of anatomical waxes, an art developed in Florence in the 17th century for the purpose of teaching medicine. This collection is known worldwide for the extraordinary accuracy and realism of the details, copied from corpses. The museum also houses historical medical ans scientific instruments.
CORTONA
Popularized by the movie “Under the Tuscan Sun”, Cortona is a charming small town near Arezzo. Cortona is rich with history: its roots are Etruscan, but the town has held importance during Roman times, throughout the Middle Ages and today is a popular spot to enjoy the Tuscan countryside.
Getting there: There are frequent regional trains from Florence SMN station to Camucia-Cortona, which is 2 miles from Cortona proper. To get to the town there are frequent busses from the train station.