Art free in Florence, when?Spring and Summer 2011

The Uffizi Galleri

Following the success of last year's Art Tuesdays, which give residents and visitors further opportunities to enjoy Italy's vast cultural heritage, the Italian ministry of culture is offering once-a-month free entrance during extended evening hours to Italy's state museums. For the rest of 2011, admission is free on the following evenings: April 26, May 31, June 28, July 26, August 30, September 27, October 25, November 29 and December 27. In Florence, the participating museums are the Uffizi Gallery; Galleria dell'Accademia; Bargello Museum; Medici Chapels; San Marco Museum; Museum of Palazzo Davanzati; Gallery of Modern Art and Palatine Gallery, both in Palazzo Pitti.

  Reserve a room at Hotel Mario's, the art Hotel of Florence and enjoy what the real people of Florence can give you.

We are in Via Faenza 89, just across the train station of Santa Maria Novella. We also have an agreement in place with a parking, that is just 50 meter far from the hotel. Choose Hotel Mario's for your visit of the wonderful Florence.

www.hotelmarios.com

info@hotelmarios.com

Florence

Italy

Glad to be people from Florence

Florence: the Fountain of Neptune

Stay at

Mario's Hotel

and its staff helps you to visit Florence

The Fountain of Neptune is a fountain in Florence, Italy, situated on the Piazza della Signoria (Signoria square), in front of the Palazzo Vecchio.

Fountain of Neptune

This work by Bartolomeo Ammannati (1563–1565) and some assistants, such as Giambologna, was commissioned on the occasion of the wedding of Francesco I de' Medici with grand duchess Johanna of Austria in 1565. The assignment had first been given to Baccio Bandinelli, who designed the model but he died before he could start working on the block of Apuan marble.
The Neptune figure, whose face resembles that of Cosimo I de' Medici, was meant to be an allusion to the dominion of the Florentines over the sea. The figure stands on a high pedestal in the middle of an octagonal fountain. The pedestal in the middle is decorated with the mythical chained figures of Scylla and Charybdis. The statue of Neptune is a copy made in the nineteenth century, while the original is in the National Museum.
However, when the work was finished, it was not appreciated in particular by the Florentines, who called it Il Biancone (the white giant).
Work continued on this fountain during the next ten years. Ammannati, with the assistance of the best Florentine sculptors and casters, added around the perimeter of the basin, in a mannerist style, suave, reclining, bronze river gods, laughing satyrs and marble sea-horses emerging from the water. The monumental marble and the dynamic bronzes give nevertheless a coherent impression. The fountain served as an example for future fountain-makers.

YOUR STAY AT HOTEL MARIO'S

MARIO'S HOTEL:

Choose your right promotion for your stay in Florence

Welcome to Mario’s 3 Star Hotel in the Renaissance city of Firenze. With a cosy and friendly atmosphere and a great central location, Mario’s is a family run Guest House style hotel which offers comfort and service with a smile to guests from all over the world. Blending the old world charm of Florence in the fixtures and fittings of a 17th century building with the modern luxuries and comforts expected by today’s traveller, The Florentine hotel owners Leonardo and his brothers like to personally afford each and every guest that personal touch and leave you with happy memories of a pleasant and fruitful stay in Florence. 

 

The ornate renaissance building which houses Mario’s Hotel dates back to the 17th century, when it was the aristocratic residence of a noble of the great Florentine Republic and was converted into a hotel in 1872. Today, Mario's is still run by a Florentine family who have been in the hospitality industry for generations. Leonardo and his brothers will make sure that the 3 Star Hotel Marios continues to remain the value for money, charming Florentine Guest House for which it is famous. Now refurbished and improved, through continuous change Mario’s Guest House is a perfect blend of charm and splendour from the cradle of the renaissance with modern customer service and with only 16 rooms we’re able to give each and every guest personal service.

The entire property is air conditioned and central heated, with 21st century insulation and a range of mod cons like power showers, international satellite TV and a Hotel Bar with internet point where you can relax and catch up on those emails. Business clients are welcome to use our fax and photocopier and will be pleased to know we’re located right by the Fortezza da Basso Exhibition Centre.

LORENZO DE' MEDICI, known as THE MAGNIFICENT

Lorenzo by Girolamo Macchietti

MARIO'S HOTEL staff wants to take you into the history of Florence.

Lorenzo de' Medici (January 1, 1449 – April 9, 1492) was an Italian statesman and de facto ruler of the Florentine Republic during the Italian Renaissance. Known as Lorenzo the Magnificent (Lorenzo il Magnifico) by contemporary Florentines, he was a diplomat, politician and patron of scholars, artists and poets. His life coincided with the high point of the early Italian Renaissance; his death marked the end of the Golden Age of Florence. The fragile peace he helped maintain between the various Italian states collapsed with his death. Lorenzo de' Medici is buried in the Medici Chapel in Florence.

Lorenzo's court included artists such as Piero and Antonio del Pollaiuolo, Andrea del Verrocchio, Leonardo da Vinci, Sandro Botticelli, Domenico Ghirlandaio, and Michelangelo Buonarroti who were involved in XV century Renaissance. Although he did not commission many works himself, he helped them secure commissions from other patrons. Michelangelo lived with Lorenzo and his family for several years, dining at the family table and attending meetings of the Neo-Platonic Academy.

Lorenzo was an artist himself, writing poetry in his native Tuscan. In his poetry he celebrates life even while - particularly in his later works - acknowledging with melancholy the fragility and instability of the human condition. Love, feasts and light dominate his verse.

Cosimo had started the collection of books which became the Medici Library (also called the Laurentian Library) and Lorenzo expanded it. Lorenzo's agents retrieved from the East large numbers of classical works, and he employed a large workshop to copy his books and disseminate their content across Europe. He supported the development of humanism through his circle of scholarly friends who studied Greek philosophers, and attempted to merge the ideas of Plato with Christianity; among this group were the philosophers Marsilio Ficino, Poliziano and Giovanni Pico della Mirandola.

PONTE VECCHIO

Visit Florence and stay at Hotel Mario's: its staff will help you in your visit!!!

Ponte Vecchio is a Medieval bridge over the Arno River, in Florence, Italy, noted for still having shops built along it, as was once common. Butchers initially occupied the shops; the present tenants are jewellers, art dealers and souvenir sellers. It has been described as Europe's oldest wholly-stone, closed-spandrel segmental arch bridge, but there are far older segmental arch bridges such as Alconétar Bridge. Ponte Vecchio's two neighbouring bridges are Ponte Santa Trinità and Ponte alle Grazie.

The bridge spans the Arno at its narrowest point where it is believed that a bridge was first built in Roman times, when the via Cassia crossed the river at this point. The Roman piers were of stone, the superstructure of wood. The bridge first appears in a document of 996. After being destroyed by a flood in 1117 it was reconstructed in stone but swept away again in 1333 save two of its central piers, as noted by Giovanni Villani in his Nuova Cronica. It was rebuilt in 1345, Giorgio Vasari recorded the tradition in his day, that attributed its design to Taddeo Gaddi, besides Giotto one of the few artistic names of the trecento still recalled two hundred years later. Modern historians present Neri di Fioravanti as a possible candidate. Sheltered in a little loggia at the central opening of the bridge is a weathered dedication stone.

The Torre dei Mannelli was built at the southeast corner of the bridge to defend it.

The bridge consists of three segmental arches: the main arch has a span of 30 meters (98 ft) the two side arches each span 27 meters (88 ft). The rise of the arches is between 3.5 and 4.4 meters (11½ to 14½ feet), and the span-to-rise ratio 5:1.

It has always hosted shops and merchants who displayed their goods on tables before their premises, after authorization of the Bargello (a sort of a lord mayor, a magistrate and a police authority). The back shops (retrobotteghe) that may be seen from upriver, were added in the seventeenth century.

HOTEL MARIO'S - FLORENCE

The ornate renaissance building which houses Mario’s Hotel dates back to the 17th century, when it was the aristocratic residence of a noble of the great Florentine Republic and was converted into a hotel in 1872. Today, Mario's is still run by a Florentine family who have been in the hospitality industry for generations. Leonardo and his brothers will make sure that the 3 Star Hotel Mario's continues to remain the value for money, charming Florentine Guest House for which it is famous. Now refurbished and improved, through continuous change Mario’s Guest House is a perfect blend of charm and splendour from the cradle of the renaissance with modern customer service and with only 16 rooms we’re able to give each and every guest personal service.
The entire property is air conditioned and central heated, with 21st century insulation and a range of mod cons like power showers, international satellite TV and a Hotel Bar with internet point where you can relax and catch up on those emails. Business clients are welcome to use our fax and photocopier and will be pleased to know we’re located right by the Fortezza da Basso Exhibition Centre.

EMERGENCY 2010 - FIRENZE: 9° Emergency national meeting

Oltre 20 mila presenze in sei giorni: nel 2009 l'8° Incontro Nazionale dei volontari di Emergency si è chiuso con una partecipazione calorosa ed emozionante.
Nel 2010 vogliamo ripetere questa esperienza straordinaria.

Dal 7 al 12 settembre, rinnoviamo il nostro appuntamento a Firenze per il 9° Incontro Nazionale di Emergency: incontri, mostre fotografiche, spettacoli e conferenze per raccontare Emergency.

Sei giorni per stare insieme - volontari, sostenitori, personale medico, amici e simpatizzanti -, per vedere, capire e confrontarsi.

Filosofi, giornalisti, intellettuali, scrittori, artisti e musicisti sono nuovamente chiamati a raccolta per discutere del lavoro di Emergency e soprattutto dei valori e dei principi che lo ispirano.
Parleremo di guerra, ma anche di salute, uguaglianza, democrazia, informazione; parleremo non solo del "cosa", ma anche e soprattutto del "come" e del "perché“.

Pitti Immagine - Fragranze 8 - From September 10, 2010 To September 12, 2010

Pitti Immagine presents the artistic perfume collections and body and home fragrances. The event highlights the latest and best proposals from the creative perfume world in one of Florence's most enchanting locations. This year the event will be held once again in the halls of the Leopolda Station.
The event concept is "Liquidity pierced, made iridescent and as if distilled by light". The new settings is based on this theme, merging plays on shadows, shapes, light and the actual expo spaces. The event is designed to offer the public direct contact and a fabulous sensorial experience throughout the entire location.
The stars of the event are thus the most exclusive fragrances, personal care products, cosmetic specialties and perfumed beauty accessories.
Pitti Immagine is one of the lead fashion event organizers in the world. Its professional experience includes elegant international expos for the textile-clothing, perfume and gourmet food and wine markets. It intends to create innovative events and projects with high communication impact, relying on partnerships with leaders in modern creative research.

Florens 2010, International Week on Cultural Heritage and Landscape

In November 2010 there will take place in Florence something extraordinary, that is been well presented in New York , last June, in a press conference ( http://www.fc-tv.com/webcast/wmpg/ ).As written on the official website of the event, this opportunity is been created to make "a Florence-based, permanent international lab where main players and decision makers can debate on cultural heritage and landscape as key drivers of economic development and social wealth.
Promote a new model for the valorization of cultural heritage and landscape, and a holistic vision for culture, environment, technology and economy", Florens 2010 will features a host of events that will be held through Florence but also Scandicci, Bagno a Ripoli and Campi Bisenzio.It will cost 2 million of Euro and its media partener will be National Geographic Society.To know wich daily events will take place in Florens 2010 just give a look to the website www.florens2010.com
As central Hotel in the city of Florence, we are pleased to host many visitors from all the world. Hotel Mario's is a small hotel in the area between the market of San Lorenzo and the Raiway station of Santa Maria Novella. We are in via Faenza 89, zip code 50123, Florence. Contact : info@hotelmarios.com tel: +39055216801 www.hotelmarios.com
Hotel Mario's, the right place where to stay in Florence