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A
city of about half a million inhabitants, Florence is situated on the
bank of the river Arno, between the triennia sea and the Adriatic sea,
more or less in the centre of the Italian peninsula. It is a lively city
as regards the industrial and artisan activities, the commercial and
cultural exchanges, the artistic and scientific life. Florence preserves
an excellent artistic property witnessing its centuries-old civilization.
In Florence lived: Cimabue and Giotto (fathers of the italian painting);
Arnolfo and Andrea Pisano (who renewed both architecture and sculpture);
Brunelleschi, Donatello and Masaccio (initiators of the Renaissance age);
Giberti and the Della Robbia's; Filippo Lippi and Angelico; Botticelli
and Paolo Uccello
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Leonardo
and Michelangelo's world wide known genius. Their works, in addition to
those by many other artists, until our century's masters, are collected
in the numerous local museums: the Uffizi, the most selected
picture-gallery in the world; the Palatine Gallery, with the paintings
belonging to the "Golden centuries"; the Bargello, with the
sculptures belonging to the Renaissance; The St.Mark museum, with works
by Angelico; the Academy, the "Medicee" chapels and
Buonarroti's house, with sculpture's by Michelangelo; the Bardini, Horne,
Stibbert, Romano, Corsini museums; the Modern Art Galley; the
Opera-house Museum; the Cathedral Museum; the Silver Museum And the
Semi-precious Stone
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Museum.
Great monuments mark the stages of the Florentine artistic civilization:
the Baptistery with its mosaics; the Cathedral with its sculptures; the
Medieval Churches with its cycles of frescos; many public and private
palaces; Palazzo Vecchio; Pitti palace; Medici-Riccardi Palace;
Davanzati palace; monasteries and cloisters; convents and dining-rooms;
the Certosa. Etruscan civilization is richly documented at the
Archaeological Museum. In Florence: the Italian language was born thanks
to Dante; the literary studies became popular thanks to Petrarca and
Boccaccio; philosophy was renewed and classical culture made valuable
thanks to humanism; the new modern political science was born thanks to
Machiavelli; the historical prose was born thanks to Guicciardini; the
new experimental science was born and became popular thanks to Galileo
and
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its
school. Up to Charles the Great age, Florence had been seat of: a
University that nowadays comprehends lots of specialized institutes and
a Cultural Centre for Foreigners; Academies and Art schools; Scientific
institutes (like the Astrophysics observatory in Arcetri, the Research
Institute on electro-magnetic waves, the Nuclear Medicine Centre); the
Foreign Universities; the History of Art and folk-culture Centres. All
these institutes contribute to the intense activity of the city in
different fields. Numerous and particularly interesting are the
Scientific museums: the Science history museums, the Geology and
palaeontology museum, the Botanic museum, the Mineralogy museum, the
Anthropology and ethnology museum, the glorious "Specola".
Extensive bibliographic collections are kept in the Central National
Library. as in other famous libraries: the Medicea.Laurenziana, the
Riccardiana, the Marucelliana. Documents of great value are cherished in
the State Archives and in the town council archives. During all the
year, shows and displays that can satisfy various demands, take
place in Florence; in the town where the
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modern
Opera was born as well as the modern scenography and choreography, music
shows are particularly relevant: an example is the so-called
"Maggio musicale Fiorentino" whose summer and winter lyric
session is displayed in the rooms of the town theatre. The Italian
fashion centre in Florence organizes many commercial manifestations
during all the year.
Many international level exhibitions concerning modern art as well as
particular aspects and figures belonging to ancient art are organized in
Florence, especially on the occasion of centenarian festivities.
Characteristic traditional displays are the fancy-dress soccer, the
outburst of the cart ( on Easter time), St.John feast, etc...... .
Florence is known for its high-class manufacture, heir of an age-old
tradition, as well as for its elegant and excellent taste creations.
Many desirable objects can be
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conveniently
bought by people of different tastes, age and means: the straw, a
typical Florentine product, is used to make original and nice clothes
objects and furnishing. Moreover leather objects are known for their
refinement; like the potteries and glasswares; wood- and metalworks;
fornitures and gew-gaws. Clothing are made particularly gracious, pretty
and original in Florence: known are the articles of underwear as well as
the precious embroideries. Very refined, in the city where Benvenuto
Cellini was born, are the silver- and goldsmith’s shops, the jewels
and the filigrees, the typical mosaics made with semi-precious stones. A special
call comes from antiques: Florence is actually a lively centre of
antique's trade. Since the XIIIth century, travellers had praised the
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hospitality
then developed into a great hotel organization with more than 400
hotels
of different categories and by now reaching a capacity of about 20.000
beds. Numerous are also the local
camping-sites and the youth hostels.
Dozens of restaurants and the characteristic inns situated in the
town-centre and in the nearby hills, offer the pleasure of a cousine
characterized by ordinary and genuine plates. This kind of cousine
matches with Tuscan wines produced in Chianti and in the neighbouring
zones: the red wine, more graceful; the sweet wines and the so-called
"Vin Santo". A complete equipment and many agonistic displays
draw in Florence people fond of every kind of
sport. In addition to the
stadiums where to play soccer, the race-courses for trotting- and gallopingraces; the cycle-track
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for
bicycle-races; this city owns many tennis-courts, swimming-pools, the
Ugolino golf-field with 18 holes, shooting-ranges and bowls-fields;
rowing- and waterpolo centres; horse centres and riding-schools; a
flying club; skating-rinks; etc....... . Modern
sport complexes are in Coverciano, Bellariva, Cascine and Campo di
Marte.
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The Coast