Florence Culture

Florence carries a reputation that would flatten most cities: the place where the Renaissance happened, preserved well enough that the claim is visibly true. The interesting question is what the city does with that now, and the answer is less museum-like than the reputation suggests.

The trades are still trades

In the Oltrarno, leather, gilding, bookbinding, paper marbling and furniture restoration are working occupations with workshops, apprentices and customers. They sit a few streets from shops selling imported goods described in the same words, which is why the city's own campaign asks visitors to “choose local craftsmanship and traditional food experiences” rather than leaving it to chance.

A student city under the surface

Florence has a large university and one of the largest concentrations of foreign students in Italy. It is the least visible layer of the city to a short-stay visitor and the one that keeps the bars around Santo Spirito and San Marco busy on an ordinary weekday evening, and it is why the city is livelier out of season than its visitor profile would suggest.

Rituals the city keeps for itself

The Scoppio del Carro at Easter and the Calcio Storico in June are not visitor events that residents tolerate; they are neighbourhood events that visitors watch. The Calcio in particular is played between the city's four historic quarters, which is a form of local identity most Italian cities have long since let go.

Food that is plainer than the art

Florentine cooking is not refined in the way the city's reputation implies: bread soups, tripe, beans, grilled meat, and a bread made without salt. The market at Sant'Ambrogio serves the neighbourhood rather than the visitor, and the standing tripe counters are an ordinary lunch rather than an experience.