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Painting the Town Green

Mayor Matteo Renzi continues on his mission to make Florence “green.” In November 2009, he closed the Piazza del Duomo to all vehicular traffic. In summer 2011, he closed additional streets, including the bustling via Tornabuoni and parts of Piazza Pitti.

What’s resulted is often lovely, pedestrian-only piazze, as well as confusing new traffic patterns and bus routes. Under Renzi’s administration, the city has also offered a major water fountain that provides an alternative to bottled water: it’s just behind the Neptune Fountain in Piazza della Signoria. Bring your own bottle and fill it up for free.

Controversial Trams

Controversy still swirls around a three-line tram system designed to crisscross Florence. Work started in 2005 and remains unfinished.

The only operative line runs entirely aboveground and connects the central Santa Maria Novella train station with Scandicci, a commuter suburb to the southwest. Initially, the tram thoroughly divided Florentines: politically, those opposed were usually center to center right; those for, on the left.

Now that one line is operational, Florentines, regardless of political affiliation, have taken to this way of getting from the suburbs to the city with great aplomb. The ticket price is the same as that of the bus.

Florence’s New Museum Pass

Serious museumgoers might want to invest €50 in the new Firenze Card (www.firenzecard.it). This allows entrance to most major museums (including the Uffizi and the Accademia), and allows you to skip the lines. It’s good for 72 hours once it’s activated, and also includes free bus and tram transportation.

Art Closings and Controversy in Florence

In 2011 the Museo Firenze com’Era closed; it will be reborn (at a yet-to-be-determined date) as the Museo Civico.

At press time, a somewhat controversial project to uncover a possible lost fresco by Leonardo da Vinci in the Salone del Cinquecento in Palazzo Vecchio was in the works.

Dr. Maurizio Seracini has insisted for many years that this fresco exists under a large painting by Vasari. He has many adherents, and many detractors. Sophisticated imaging began in summer 2011, but work proceeds slowly.

Another artistic controversy is brewing thanks to Mayor Matteo Renzi’s suggestion that the long-unfinished facade of the basilica of San Lorenzo be completed according to Michelangelo’s early-16th-century design. This would involve a lot of money, as Michelangelo envisioned an all-marble facade.

A major new opera house in Florence was scheduled to be completed by the end of 2012. Unfortunately, funds have run dry.

If and when funding is reestablished and the project is completed, Maggio Musicale will abandon Teatro Comunale, where it has staged operas, classical concerts, recitals, and the like for many years, and relocate to the new structure in Piazza Leopoldo—practically a stone’s throw away.

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