Florentine New Year. What it is and why it is celebrated on March 25

Our city has its own start of the year: we reveal its origins and special initiatives to celebrate

Many people do not know that on March 25 the city of Florence celebrates the Florentine New Year. The City has included this date in the annual calendar of popular festivals and traditions and official celebrations.

Il Corteo del Capodanno Fiorentino

From the Middle Ages until 1750, in fact, this was the day on which the Church recalled the announcement of the Incarnation received from the Virgin Mary and was taken as the beginning of the civil calendar.

In the Tuscan capital this was the date on which New Year's Day was celebrated, even when in the rest of Italy the Gregorian calendar was already in force, according to which the year began on January 1st.

While the states conformed to this religious dictate, Florence, linked to the Marian cult, decided not to abandon the feast of March 25. This recurrence for the Florentines will last for 168 years and will cease in the month of November 1750, when a decree of Grand Duke Francis II of Lorraine imposed the use of the Gregorian calendar, fixing also for Florence the beginning of the year on January 1 (under the Loggia dei Lanzi there is the plaque that commemorates the decree of the suppression of the feast).

La targa di Loggia Lanzi che decreta la soppressione del Capodanno Fiorentino

A celebration that has symbolically survived until today and that also unites us with some of our "neighbors". A hundred kilometers away, under the Leaning Tower, the Pisan New Year is celebrated on the same day (but in "advance" of 365 days).

Nowadays, this ancient New Year's Eve remains the oldest tradition, officially revived by the Municipality of Florence since 2000 with the parade of the historical procession of the Florentine Republic from the Palagio di Parte Guelfa to Santissima Annunziata, the main Marian shrine of the city.

The symbol of the festival is in fact the fresco depicting the Annunciation, kept inside the basilica, where once the peasants went on pilgrimage to pay homage to the effigy of the Annunciation, on which there is a legend.

The work would be miraculous: it is said that the painter, a certain friar Bartolomeo, could not complete the scene because he was not able to portray the features of the Madonna's face. To finish the masterpiece - always according to the myth - would have been a prodigious hand, that of angels.

il dipinto miracoloso di fra bartolomeo in santissima annunziata

APPOINTMENTS IN THE CITY

A bill of events, through March 27, to celebrate the Florentine New Year. A special evening dedicated to Francesco Nuti. On Friday 24 at 7:30 p.m., an appointment with Io, Chiara e lo Scuro 40 anni dopo: Leonardo Pieraccioni, Carlo Conti, Marco Masini, Massimo Ceccherini, Gianfranco Monti and Antonio Petrocelli, among others, will speak. It is the occasion for the presentation of a special lifetime achievement award to Nuti. The film screening will follow - free admission info@filmarea.it.

Among the many events, a panel discussion dedicated to La Fiorentinità: being Florentine. Tradition, Art, Language and Custom by the Society of St. John the Baptist on Thursday 23 at 5:30 p.m. at the conference room of the Canottieri Society. Info and reservations info@sangiovannifirenze.it

Also on Thursday, at 7 p.m., space for a well-known Florentine literary figure. With "In the Footsteps of Commissioner Bordelli," writer Marco Vichi together with actor Lorenzo Degl'Innocenti takes the audience through the streets of the Florentine historic center recounted in his novels.

Libraries play a central role in the review, hosting many initiatives. On Wednesday 22 at 5 p.m. at BibioteCaNova the protagonist of a meeting is the well-known Florentine actor Alessandro Benvenuti, conducted by Andrea Muzzi. Until April 1 at the Oblate Library, in the Conservation Section, there is a bibliographic exhibition of modern and historical volumes concerning the city's traditions, customs and culture. At the Thouar Library on Tuesday 21 at 5 p.m. Presentation Florentine Stories with Books by Marco Stilci, at 5:30 p.m. at the Buonarroti Library presentation of Nicoletta Manetti's essay Anja and Dostievsky in Florence , same time at the Pieraccioni Library reading Il Capodanno di Firenze, Friday 24 at 5 p.m. at the Horticultural Library guided tours The Horticultural Garden, a place of Florence's botany and history, same time at the Thouar Library presentation of the book Florence Summer 21, at 5:30 p.m. at the Oblate Library in the Dino Campana Room presentation of the volume Una fiorentina di altri tempi. The ornithology of Cecilia Picchi in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Pietro Giovacchini. Saturday 25 at 10:30 a.m. at the Biblioteca delle Oblate in the Sibilla Aleramo room presentation of Gli strabilianti casi di Paolina Ventiquattrore investigatrice - Su il si curtain si muore by Gianni Greco in art G, at 11 a.m. at the Children and Youth Section The Medals of Florence by Draghi di Santo Spirito, at 10:30 a.m. at Thouar presentation The Colors of Piazza Tasso by ANPI Oltrarno and APS Progress, at 5 p.m. at the Villa Bandini Library Stories of women and the mafia with the Libera Association on the mafias. Appointments also at the Marucelliana Library with Collodian paths in collaboration with Pinocchio a casa sua association scheduled for Tuesday, 21.

The Florentine Civic Museums and MUS.E are organizing special tours and initiatives that will emphasize the origin of the holiday and the sense of Florentine-ness attached to this celebration. In conjunction with the installation of Pinocchio by Edoardo Malagigi, an imaginary journey among the events of the famous puppet, led by Andrea Rauch, who plumbed its image from 1881 to the present (March 19 h11 and h15, duration 1h15'). Throughout the week a calendar of thematic visits to the various city museums, some of them also in LIS: Monday 20 (h15 and h16, duration 50') at the Salvatore Romano Foundation, Tuesday 21 (h15 and h16, duration 50') at the Murate complex, Wednesday 22 at the Museo Novecento, Thursday 23 (h15 and h16, duration 50') at the Santa Maria Novella complex, Friday 24 (h15 and h16, duration 50') at the Museo Stefano Bardini. On the day of the Florentine New Year, Saturday 25, and Sunday 26 in Palazzo Vecchio in the morning the youngest children can take part in the fairy tale Per fare una città ci vuole un fior" (h10, h11, h12, duration 50') and adults in the visits dedicated to Tracce di Firenze (h10.30, h11.30, h12.30, duration 50'), while in the afternoon appointment with Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici, the last exponent of the Medici grand ducal branch (h14.45 and h16.15, duration 1h). In the city, again, it will be exceptionally possible to visit Torre della Zecca (March 25 from h15 to h18, visits every half hour, in case of rain visits are suspended) and Porta Romana (March 26 from h15 to h18, visits every half hour, in case of rain visits are suspended); also return the Walks along the Walls (March 26 h11 and h15, departure from Porta San Giorgio and ending at Piazzale Michelangelo, duration about 2h) and then the opportunity for a treasure hunt in the city center (March 26 from h10 to h18, departures from Palazzo Vecchio every half hour). All initiatives are free of charge, reservations are required (max 5 people). For information and reservations: info@musefirenze.it 055-2768224.

Many events dedicated to enhancing the city's craft and store fabric. From March 20 to 26 a contest for the most beautiful shop window with Firenze in vetrina!, organized by CCN Firenze Confesercenti Firenze. From March 20 to 25 with Firenze creativa five itineraries to discover artisan workshops curated by Artex - info and routes at www.firenzecreativa.it. From March 20 to 26 artisans protagonists with Lavorazioni "IN-BOTTEGA," an event organized by CNA metropolitan Florence by the InBottega.org Association and in collaboration with the Garbo Association, workings carried out live by the artisans afferent to the project. Also, live social broadcasts on Artex channels of the Master Artisans, Monday 20 and Tuesday 21 at 5 p.m. Tuesday 22 visit Ratafià Painting on Fabric, a dedicated visit and painting workshop. Friday 24 at 11:30 a.m. in the Firenze Capitale room at Palazzo Vecchio screening of "Artisans in Florence," a documentary made in collaboration with CNA Florence by Lgc Factory.

And then there is no shortage of fairs and markets throughout the week, from the Sound Markets in the city's main squares, organized by Bang association, to the St. Joseph's Fair in Piazza Santa Croce, the Lenten Fair in Cascine Park and the Fierucola in Santo Spirito on Sunday 19, and then the Curiosando market on Thursday 23 in Piazza dei Ciompi organized by Confcommercio, experiential tours with artisans and artists (Tuesday 21 organized by Cna Firenze metropolitana by the Tuscan Tourist Guide Center), Arts and Crafts, Florentine New Year in the Square on Friday 24 organized by Confesercenti Firenze and Confartigianato Imprese Firenze. Events intensify over the weekend of Florentine New Year. Throughout the day of March 25, meetings with historic Florentine Cassettai by the association of the same name in Piazza Signoria, Piazza Duomo, Piazza Santissima Annunziata, from 10 a.m. to noon stornelli among the stalls of the market of Sant'Ambrogio with Beltrando Mugnai, the Florentine New Year's Fair in Piazza Santissima Annunziata by Fivag Felsea Cisl, and starting at 10 a.m. with a ribbon-cutting ceremony with Councillor Bettarini, and until Sunday 26, Mercato Fiorentino, the New Year's Eve in the Square in Piazza santa Maria Novella. A list of restaurants participating in Florentine Week will also have a special menu with traditional dishes all week long.

Many other initiatives are planned. Tuesday 21 in the Sala della Musica in the spaces of the Zeffirelli Foundation screening of the documentary Firenze città d'acque, storie e miti per raccontare una città by Massimo Becattini, Sandro Nardoni, Luciano Nocentini. On Friday 24 the historic Palazzo Coppini opens to citizens for two free tours - info@palazzocoppini.org - while at the Nota space conference on The dress as an expression of social role: women's fashion in the 1500s and, at 4 p.m. at La Mimosa senior center A grandfather poet, the history of Florence in rhyme, Eleonora Cappelletti pays tribute to grandfather Giuseppe; at 9 p.m. at Le Murate literary café Stornelli Toscani! with Alessandro Gobbi and Pasquale Rimolo curated by Bang cultural association. Saturday 25 Let's discover the old symbols of Florence at the Conventino, pottery workshops curated by officina creativa by Artex; at 12 noon at the Quarto Podere literary café live curated by Bang association; at 5 p.m. initiative dedicated to children at the Savoy hotel in collaboration with Dreoni giocattoli, a path among toys and presentation of the book Toystellers - stories of toys, collections and collectors by Federico Ghiso. On Sunday, 26, guided tour by Confcommercio and Confguide to the places of music in Florence From Puccini to Piero Pelù and, finally, at 9 p.m. stage of the Florence Sounds Contest at the literary café Le Murate.