CITY MUSEUMS OPEN FOR EASTER!

Good news if you're planning to visit a museum in Florence this Easter - a proposed strike by ticket office workers has been cancelled.

Meanwhile, the city's museums will take part in “Domenica al museo” free openings on Easter Sunday .... Museo Novecento, Church of Santa Maria Novella, Brancacci Chapel, Palazzo Vecchio and Museo Stefano Bardini will have no entrance fee that day.

On Easter Monday, a number of museums which would usually be closed on a Monday will be open. This includes the Uffizi Gallery, the Boboli Gardens and the Galleria dell'Accademia where you can see the Statue of David.

Buona Pasqua tutti! 

Cars to go from Piazzale Michelangelo

The Florence City Council has voted to ban cars from the Piazzale Michelangelo from March 8th.

Cars will be allowed to park in specially created areas in Viale Poggi and in Via delle Porte Sante.

The Piazzale is where tourists get their best photographs of Florence and is also home to the city's second copy of the Statue of David, which overlooks the Florence.

The view from P. Michelangelo

The Statue of David copy

Baptistery to be cleaned

For anyone who's visited Florence over the past 10 years you'll know that scaffolding has been a regular sight around the top of Duomo, while cranes have tended to dominate the Florence skyline (thank goodness for Photoshop!)

Well, now scaffolding is set to dominate Piazza del Duomo at ground level, as work to restore the ancient Bapstistery begins in March.

The restoration of the eight outer facades, as well as the roof, is expected to cost nearly two million Euros. Meanwhile, there are plans to clean up the rest of the piazza, with all outer marble and buildings in the area to be spruced up this year.

The Baptistery will get a much needed clean

San Lorenzo outdoor market stalls gone - but for how long?

The City of Florence has made good on a promise to tidy up the area around the S. Lorenzo Basilica by moving the 80 or so market stalls to what's been described as a temporary location. 

Local vendors have been protesting for years that their shopfronts are blocked by the market stalls, blocking possible trade from the thousands of tourists who pass each day.

There's been concern, too, that the market stalls are no longer staffed by local merchants and are heavy with cheap, foreign-made goods.

Market stall owners are furious and recently held a day-long protest against the move.

The city council says it wanted to appease the local residents and make the Basilico of San Lorenzo more accessible.

The building, which houses the remains of the principal members of the Medici family, was consecrated in 393 but there's conjecture as to whether it's the oldest church in Florence.

The magnificent indoor San Lorenzo food market remains where it is - it's just a bit easier to get in to it now!

A market stall at the back of the S. Lorenzo Basilica

Baptistery doors restoration uncovers gold

Restorers are continuing their work on the north doors of the ancient Florence San Giovanni Baptisery. The doors, created by Lorenzo Ghiberti and dating to around 1402-24, are often overlooked for the more famous Gates of Paradise, on the eastern side.

The restoration, which it's hoped will be finished by the end of next year, has discovered gold gilding under the thick layers of black dust. Previously it was thought the doors contained only bronze.

Like the original east doors, (both sets are currently replaced by copies on the Baptistery), the restored north doors will eventually be housed in the Opera del Duomo museum.

A restorer works on the North Doors of the S. Giovanni Baptistery
(Picture courtesy of Google Images)

  

Winter tyre laws in Florence

If you're planning to do some driving while you're in Florence, you should know that until April 15th this year it's law to either have winter tyres on your vehicle, or carry a set of snow chains on roads at risk of snow fall or ice formation.

Special road signs mark the areas.

The fine for failing to comply is up to 318 Euro.

Worth remembering if you're planning to drive up the very steep, but picturesque, hillside to Abbey Villambrosa.

Abbey Villambrosa - picture courtesy of Google Images

Marilyn Monroe's preferred shoemaker

As always, there are so many exhibitions in Florence but this one caught our eye.

Until March 31st, at the Ferragamo Museum in piazza Santa Trinita, you can see the wonderful shoes of Salvatore Ferragamo, preferred shoemaker to many celebrities, including Marilyn Monroe.

Although not born in Florence, Ferragamo moved there in 1927, after living for a while in the US - he'd studied shoemaking in Naples. Ferragamo died in 1960.

The exhibition tells the Ferragamo story, through films and artworks. More details at www.museoferragamo.it 

The Ferragamo Museum in Florence