Florence, a wonderful city for history, culture, cuisine and traditions. It is fully among the places to visit at least once in a lifetime! Let's read together 10 curiosities about Florence that you just don't know.
1. The Florentine Statue of Liberty: the first of ten curiosities about Florence
In the Basilica of Santa Croce and by Pio Fedi, it is still possible to admire a statute created to celebrate the figure of Giovanni Battista Niccolini. The Italian playwright who lived at the end of the eighteenth century and well known in the cultural environment of the time, was remembered with this statue that recalls the features of the Statue of Liberty. The latter was erected only in 1888 while the Florentine Statue of Liberty dates back to 1870-1877.
2. For 400 years a window always open on Florence
In Florence, walking through Piazza Santissima Annunziata and looking upwards, you can see Palazzo Grifoni and its shutters, one of which, exactly the last on the right, is always wide open. For four hundred years, to the detriment of any climatic condition, this window has remained wide open. It is said that a woman has remained at the window waiting for her lover for an infinite time, without ever seeing him return over the years.
3. Do you know Berta?
A Florence you greet Berta, or you feel suddenly observed by a presence ... we are talking about a stone statue set in the side facade of the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, depicting a woman intent on looking down. There is a legend linked to a spell launched at the woman who had looked out to ensure that the condemned to death, Cecco d'Ascoli, was denied the water she had asked to drink. We are talking about September 16, 1327 when witches, spells and fires were the order of the day. The woman, worried that Cecco could benefit from the water for his "magical" powers, threw herself in desperate denial from the window. But Cecco, somewhat annoyed, replied to Berta that he would never move his head from there again, "petrifying her" forever. Greetings to Berta is always welcome!
4. The Florentine coin, the Florin among the 10 curiosities about Florence
Massimo Troisi made it one of his best-known jokes, but the Fiorino remains the ancient coin of Florence minted for the first time in 1252 and inspired by the lily flower.
5. The door of the Brindellone
In via Prato there is a very high and very mysterious door, over ten meters high. This door is used every year to bring out the Easter chariot, eleven meters high, and directed to Piazza Maggiore. Its name derives from the many trinkets hanging from the cart.
6. The bull of the Duomo
Set among the sculptural wonders of the Duomo, this bull visible with a little spirit of observation is truly special. It is said that in the Florentine legend it was sculpted by a man, a stonecutter who loved a woman who lived beyond the square, whose husband must have been a tailor. To underline how much the woman's husband was "horned", the stonemason would have imprinted the memory of the loving gesture in the stone of the Cathedral, turning the gaze of the beast to the direction of the tailor's house ... incredible!
7. Michelangelo's street art among the 10 curiosities about Florence
A street art ante litteram that of Michelangelo Buonarroti that he would have been disturbed more than once by a man passing through Piazza della Signoria. To pass the time, he would have engraved "the importunate" with the chisel behind his back, the first form of "famous" street art.
8. Upside down balcony in Florence
The number 12 of Borgo Ognissanti has a balcony that is decidedly out of the ordinary. It looks upside down and so it is at the behest of the landlord of the time, a certain Baldovinetti, who went against the ordinances of Alessandro De'Medici, enriching his house with a sumptuous balcony.
9. The out of tune stone of Palazzo Pitti
In the majestic Palazzo Pitti and carefully visible to the naked eye, there are two stones of several meters in length, different from the others. It seems that the Pitti family, rival of the De Medici, asked for this different manufacture precisely to enter into competition with the home of the rivals, with the aim of having their windows larger than the Medici door.
10. The Madonna del Puzzo
There is a Madonna with a blocked nose, as if to defend herself from an unpleasant smell between Via Toscanella and Borgo San Jacopo. Very recent, this work dates back to 1984 and was created by Mario Mariotti who put it there to protest against the presence of garbage bins.
And how many curiosities do you know about Florence? Tell us too!
