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Florence is the capital of Tuscany and has been a cultural centre since the early Middle Ages. From the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, a huge proportion of the western world’s most prominent artists, scientists and architects were born or trained in Florence, which in those days was a financial and cultural centre admired and respected by the rest of Europe. Examples of internationally famous Florentines include Boccaccio, Dante, Giotto, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Botticelli and Brunelleschi.
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The city still has the atmosphere and the architectural wonders of its splendid past, although nowadays the streets are teeming with tourists from all over the world, and it’s rather difficult to locate a ‘real’ Florentine. If you travel to Tuscany, you really should pay Florence a visit at some point: Ponte Vecchio, Palazzo Vecchio, Piazza della Signoria, the Uffizi Gallery, the churches Santa Maria Novella and Santa Croce, Palazzo Pitti and its exhibitions, the cathedral with Brunelleschi’s vault and Giotto’s bell tower... You don’t have to know the names of all the architects, engineers, painters and stonemasons to be impressed by Florence’s works of art! But, make no mistake: Florence is still very much a cultural centre! Florence and its surrounding areas still produce artists who include Roberto Benigni and a plethora of actors, directors, authors and singers who are famous all over Italy (and to a lesser extent in the rest of the world).
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Florence is part of Italy’s ’red belt’. During the cold war, Italy was clearly divided into the political left and right. A huge proportion (over 60 per cent) of the Tuscan and Emilian population held communist views. For this reason, focus in these regions has been on the socialist aspects of society: development of a reliable public transportation network, and public health- and social services, which have even elicited praise from American experts, and which have served as a model for many development projects in other areas and countries. But it was also in these years that Italy experienced intensive growth where the sky was the limit.
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Today Florence is a well-developed city, admittedly with its own problems, but one at least which is not drowning in cement, since the local government decided to encourage the rural population to stay in the countryside, rather than move to the city and create an over-populated metropolis in the midst of deserted countryside.
You find that many people who had originally relocated to the industrial areas closer to the city are moving back to old farm houses in the countryside, which slowly are being restored – meaning that the old country villages are coming back to life, as they were in the days before Italy became an industrialized nation.
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The Florentine people are friendly and ironic, influenced by Tuscan culture and spirit. Florentines are generally proud of their city and history, and with good reason! If you understand Italian, the dialect here (which originally laid the basis for modern Italian) is one of Italy’s most fascinating, with its silent c’s and t’s and its very soft tone.
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Football was ’invented’ in Florence. Florentines played football even when they were under siege in days gone by. Then, however, it was more, more like a violent game of rugby than real football: the only real rule was that the ball had to get into the net! You can still watch these football matches every year at the start of the summer. To football lovers that can’t get to Florence at this time, we can recommend watching an Italian A-division match, where the local football team Fiorentina plays.
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You can get to Florence by plane to Firenze Peretola or Galileo Galilei airport in Pisa or by train. The main station is called Firenze Santa Maria Novella and is right in the middle of the historic centre. We don’t recommend driving into the city, since Florence is one of the most congested cities in Italy. The local government does its utmost to encourage people to park outside the city, so expect a maze of one-way streets and pedestrian areas if you do still choose to take your car into Florence. Public transport in Florence is great and can get you to many places that are inaccessible by private car. Plus bus travel is inexpensive. Note that tickets are always sold in bars, Tabbacchi or similar places, and are generally not available on the buses themselves.
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