Astrology in Florence

I am really amazed about how many references to astrology  there are  here! The above image is from San Marco Museum, a Dominican Monastery.

Astrology was once considered, with astronomy, one of the basic teachings of the Quadrivium, together with music, geometry and arithmetic. And the Quadrivium, together with the Trivium (Grammar, Rhetoric and dialectic) were  the "Liberal Arts", the traditional academic program in Western higher education, so much celebrated in our city, even at the base of the wonderful Giotto's Belltower!

The Liberal Arts are related to planets and zodiac signs, as you can see in the 14th Century fresco in the Santa Maria Novella complex.

This is part of a very ancient knowledge that we can investigate. In many works of art  we can discover traces of this...

A walk through  Florence with us can help you discover these (often) forgotten images ;)

The culture week!

From April 14th to 22nd in Italy all state museums will be free for everybody. In Florence you might have heard of Uffizi Museum or Gallery of the Academy , but this is a good occasion to get and see the other wonderful museums, such as the Bargello, with the collection of Donatello masterpieces and the original panels casted by Brunelleschi and Ghiberti for the Baptistry...and the Baccus by Michelangelo...

... or the breathtaking rooms of Palazzo Pitti, with the paintings by Titian, Raphael, Caravaggio...just to mention the most famous ones. If the weather is fine don't forget the Gardens: Boboli and Bardini Gardens are open and during these spring days you can get there as well. You can contact us for museum or garden tours. See you in Florence!

Firenze Card on March 25th!

Today is the first day of a new Florentine year! The Capodanno Fiorentino has been celebrated for centuries on March 25th...It corresponds to the equinoxe, the beginning of spring, and to the Annunciation.
Even though the year begins officially on January 1st since 1750 now, Florentines cannot imagine this special day without any special event!
Today there were guided tours and pageants in the city up to the church of SS. Annunziata. But we are also glad to inform everybody that the Firenze Card is now available in the city and in the tourist information office of Via Cavour n. 1r (close to the Medici Palace). It is promoted by the Municipality of Florence, the Ministry for the Arts and Cultural Activities, the Regional Direction of Cultural Heritage, the Special Superintendence for Historical, Artistic and Ethnic-anthropological Heritage and for the Museum Circuit of the city of Florence, the Province of Florence and the Chamber of Commerce of Florence, in collaboration with ATAF.

With the Firenze card you won't have to queue anymore and for 72 hours you will be admitted to over 30 museums and city buses. The Firenze card costs 50€ per person. See details: www.firenzecard.it ....and have a nice stay!