Published on Tuesday, September 5, 2017 by Kathy McCabe Almost two years after its renovation and reopening, the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo in Florence is employing a creative strategy to attract visitors. Drawing upon an idea put forth by its director, Monsignor Timothy Verdon, the museum is looking at religious artworks in a re-created religious environment, exploring the messaging that motivated artists in a way that ...

Published on Thursday, August 24, 2017 by Kathy McCabe Beginning March 1, 2018, visitors to the Uffizi Gallery, the Pitti Palace and the Boboli Gardens will pay more for tickets as the museums switch to a season-based admission system with higher prices for visitors coming in spring and summer. In peak season (March 1 to October 31), tickets to the Uffizi will cost 20€; in the remainder of the year, they will cost 12...

Published on Thursday, August 17, 2017 by Kathy McCabe When the Gelato Festival returns to Florence for the eighth time in September, it will unite Europe’s best ice cream makers – and ice cream lovers – to crown the continent’s best ice cream. Sixteen ice cream makers will compete in Florence and present flavors designed especially for the festival. A panel of journalists and gelato experts, along with a popular ...

Published on Monday, August 14, 2017 by Kathy McCabe A new bus run by Florentine transportation body Ataf is bringing visitors from Florence’s historic center to the hillside Forte di Belvedere and Villa Bardini, with the goal of improving access to these sites for both locals and tourists . The temporary route was created by the City of Florence, Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze (an organization that supports...

Published on Friday, July 7, 2017 by Kathy McCabe The first part of the Vasari Corridor, which connects Palazzo Pitti, the Uffizi Gallery and Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, has reopened to the public after being closed since 1871. The first part of the corridor links Palazzo Vecchio and the Uffizi Gallery and travels above Via della Ninna. Previously, parts of the corridor were only open for guided tours, but now the p...

Published on Wednesday, June 21, 2017 by Kathy McCabe To discourage tourists from loitering, eating lunch and leaving trash on the steps of two of its most famous churches, Florence street cleaners will hose down the steps and prohibit people from entering the area. The Basilica di Santa Croce, where Michelangelo is buried, and the Chiesa di Santo Spirito – along with the streets of the city center, a UNESCO World Heri...

Published on Saturday, April 29, 2017 by Kathy McCabe The Basilica di Santo Spirito in Florence has opened its cloister to the public for the first time. The cloister of the former monastery and convent was a space that connected different parts of the complex, such as the basilica and the dining hall, that the monks who lived there used daily. It comprises two refectories and a sacristy. To enter the cloister from th...

Published on Thursday, April 13, 2017 by Kathy McCabe Italian fashion house Gucci announced that it will donate  2 million euros to beautify and restore the famous Boboli Gardens in Florence. One of the most beautiful parks in Italy, the Boboli Gardens inspired other elegant European green spaces such as those at the Palace of Versailles in Paris. Laid out in a formal Renaissance style, the Boboli Gardens contain a l...

Published on Thursday, April 6, 2017 by Kathy McCabe Leonardo da Vinci’s Adoration of the Magi has been successfully restored and returned to the Uffizi Gallery. The painting spent six years in the Opificio delle Pietre Dure, a Florence research and conservation institute, whose conservation team left the painting cleaner and brighter. The artist received a commission for the piece from Augustinian monks who in...

Published on Wednesday, March 29, 2017 by Kathy McCabe A new video installation, running through July 23, at Palazzo Strozzi  in Florence celebrates the contemporary work of Bill Viola. The exhibit, Bill Viola. Electronic Renaissance, links the artist’s contemporary work with that of Renaissance painters. Viola, an American contemporary video artist, worked in Florence at video production center Art/Tapes/22 during ...