Mysteries of Florence

CALCIO STORICO = HISTORIC FOOTBALL: Ritual, Rivalry and What Else?

Florence's famous football in Renaissance guise...

NO! They are not "doing it for the tourists"!

Mysteries of Florence
Sports (Florence)
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PUNKED BY A MIME ARTIST OUTSIDE THE UFFIZI GALLERY

Don't mess with Florentine Street Performers.

They are smarter and tougher than you!

Mysteries of Florence
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PLAGUE ART MINIMALISM AT FLORENCE'S SANTISSIMA ANNUNZIATA

Florence was coming back to life after an excruciating COVID lockdown and I was leaving my adopted hometown, more or less forever.

Could things get any weirder?

Mysteries of Florence
Plague Diary
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THE APOCALYPSE COMES TO CAMPO DI MARTE: Florentine Street Art in the Time of COVID

Nothing was normal during the Pandemic.

Every horseman heralded the End of Days and rainbows took on a desperate life of their own.

Especially in the realm of children's art, which is often the most revealing of all.

Mysteries of Florence
Plague Diary
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DWARF ENVY: Rampaging Garden Gnomes in Florence’s Oltrarno District

In Italy, vendetta is both a fine art and comic relief.

Mysteries of Florence
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ANNO FASCISTA = FASCIST YEAR: Florence’s Mussolini-era sewer caps

Benito Mussolini had a rare knack for signs and symbols. Throughout Italy, they still follow us wherever we go.

What about Florence's ubiquitous "Anno Fascista = Fascist Year" sewer caps?

Thereby hangs many a tale...

Mussolini
Mysteries of Florence
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