June 25, 2026

Forte Belvedere: summer 2026 among art, music and culture

A packed schedule of concerts, talks, guided tours, and a cafeteria with a view of Florence: find out how to experience one of the city's most iconic places

Forte Belvedere returns as a highlight of Florence’s cultural summer. Through October 16, the historic Medici complex will be transformed into a vast hub of ideas, art, and community engagement thanks to a rich, multidisciplinary program featuring exhibitions, concerts, talks, guided tours, and cultural outreach activities.

Promoted by the City of Florence and organized by the MUS.E Foundation—which has been managing the spaces since 2025 under the new name Belvedere Firenze—the 2026 season features over thirty events designed to highlight one of the city’s most iconic sites, where historical heritage and contemporary culture engage in an ongoing dialogue.

The goal is to return the Fort to the city as an open, inclusive, and participatory space, offering citizens and visitors an experience that combines culture, landscape, and social interaction at one of Florence’s most evocative vantage points.

Exhibitions at Forte Belvedere: The Drama: Four Acts Project

The exhibition season will open with “Drama: Four Acts”, a project conceived and curated by Sergio Risaliti, designed as a narrative divided into four acts that addresses universal themes such as memory, conflict, fragility, and collective responsibility.

The first chapter is God Year, a solo exhibition by Paolo Canevari hosted on the first floor of the Palazzina. The series continues on July 16 with No Heroes, dedicated to Marino Marini—one of the most important Italian artists of the 20th century—through a selection of bronze sculptures that will engage in a dialogue with Canevari’s works. In September, the third act will take place with Oscuro Abbagliante, a site-specific installation by Norwegian artist Per Barclay, which will engage with the sculptural and symbolic language of Marino Marini. Rounding out the exhibition experience will be a sound installation by Friedrich Andreoni located on the bastion overlooking the city, designed to accompany visitors along the route.

Forte in Musica: Live Concerts All Summer Long

The Forte once again proves itself to be a premier venue for live music thanks to the “Forte in Musica” series, which will run throughout the season featuring artists from diverse musical backgrounds.

The lineup will include, among others, Francesco Cangi & Masneo, Daniele di Bonaventura and Peo Alfonsi, Riccardo Tesi, Don Antonio, Michela Lombardi, Alta Madera, Glenn Ferris and Giulio Stracciati, Petra Magoni & Ottolini, Free Shots in collaboration with the Firenze Jazz Festival, Giulia Galliani and Gal, Etna Calling, Tiziano Mazzoni, and Cecchini Funky with Soul Check. A lineup that spansjazz, world music, singer-songwriter, electronic, and experimental genres, transforming Belvedere Firenze into one of the city’s premier musical destinations this summer.

L'attualità del bello: conversations with journalists, writers, and scholars

Alongside art and music, the 2026 season features The Relevance of Beauty, a series of conversations dedicated to the most relevant issues of our time.

Guests include journalist Venanzio Postiglione; theologian and expert on the ethics of artificial intelligence Fra Paolo Benanti; actor Luca Ward; writer Nicoletta Verna; journalist Elisa Del Mese; Matteo Pucciarelli; Simona Rinaldi; Cristina Dell’Acqua; Claudio Cerasa; Alfredo Accatino; Alessandra Minello; Vittorio Lingiardi; Serena Bortone; and Mariangela Pira.

The program weaves together culture, current events, literature, technology, and society, offering the public opportunities for discussion and deeper exploration in a unique setting.

Guided Tours and Activities for the Public

The MUS.E Foundation will devote significant resources to cultural promotion and outreach. Every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, guided tours will be held at 5:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. to explore the history of Forte Belvedere and the current exhibitions. The tours will allow visitors to explore the most fascinating areas of the complex, built in the late 16th century at the behest of Grand Duke Ferdinando I de’ Medici, including the gun ports, the treasure room, and the spectacular panoramic views of the city.

The panoramic café overlooking Florence

Rounding out the Belvedere Firenze experience is the panoramic café, open to everyone and accessible even without visiting the exhibitions.Overlooking the Florentine skyline, it is one of the city’s most evocative spots to take a break, enjoy an aperitif, or simply savor a unique perspective on Florence, helping to reinforce the Fort’s role as a shared public space that is part of daily life.

Hours and Tickets

The Forte di Belvedere is open Tuesday through Sunday, with continuous hours from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. (last admission at 7:00 p.m.). The café is open Tuesday from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and Wednesday through Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. (last admission 30 minutes prior).

Free admission for residents of the Metropolitan City of Florence
Full-price ticket: €8 | Reduced-price ticket : €5
Fees for guided tours and cultural activities: full price: €8.00 (in addition to the ticket price) and reduced price: €4.00 (in addition to the ticket price) for residents
Free access to the café and events on the terraces
Info and reservations: info@musefirenze.it oppure 055 0541450

History of Forte Belvedere

It will be possible to appreciate the history and spaces of Fort San Giorgio, the construction of which was started in 1590 at the behest of Ferdinand I de' Medici as the last part of an update of the Oltrarno defensive program, devoting special attention to the bastions, gunboats, the palace and the mysterious treasure room.

Forte Belvedere, in addition to being a famous vantage point, is in fact also a fine piece of architecture. It was built at the end of the 1500s to a design by Bernardo Buontalenti and on the orders of Grand Duke Ferdinand I de' Medici, who had just returned to Florence after his banishment from an intolerant city, and who, in order to shelter himself from possible attacks in moving from his home (Palazzo Pitti) to his offices (Palazzo Vecchio), had the famous corridor built by Vasari. The fortress of Belvedere was to be the last stage of the Vasarian Corridor and was intended to protect the seat of government, Palazzo Pitti, the southern part of the city, to demonstrate by its majesty all the Medicean power and finally to guarantee the Grand Duke a refuge from possible uprisings. It was also planned as a hiding place for the family treasure: a crypt protected by death traps was discovered at the bottom of a well dug inside the central building.

The site on which the fort was built had already been identified at the time of the Siege of Florence by Michelangelo as a site of great strategic importance. As in other works by Buontalenti, the originality of Forte Belvedere, an urban fortress that therefore had to feature fine finishes, is manifested in the unique details of the construction of both the fortification and the inner villa, the elegant and white three-story Palazzetto del Belvederethat dominates the entire building.

The central building, the Grand Duke's residence in unhealthy times such as during the plague epidemic of the 1600s, did not fit military principles, but with its white Medici villa walls it constitutes a visible sign of Medici rule.

Grand Duke Peter Leopold in the late 18th century made public the unparalleled balcony over Florence: the fort never suffered a siege, nor did its artillery ever fire a shot. The fort's cannon blasts announced only noon for centuries, so much so that for Florentines that din was good-naturedly called "the cannon of pasta."