Fireworks of San Giovanni on Ponte Vecchio
On June 24th Florence celebrates its beloved patron San Giovanni with several events, such as Calcio Storico Fiorentino and the great fireworks at night.
A bit of history
Initially the patron of Florence was the Roman god of war, Mars whose statue was placed on Ponte Vecchio until 1333, when the flood took it away together with the bridge. Saint John the Baptist became the patron of Florence when the city was completely converted to Catholicism around the 8th century.
For commemorating the new patron Florentines started the construction of the magnificent Baptistery between 6th and 7th centuries. It was built over the ancient temple dedicated to Mars. The first celebrations for Saint John the Baptist took place in the 13th century and used to end with the fire of a big candle in front of the Baptistery. The candle was brought there from Piazza della Signoria on a special cart. This tradition gave origin to the explosion of the cart, that later became the most important event on Easter.
San Giovanni program 2012
Since 13th century celebrations never stopped and every year get better and better. This year there is a rich program to celebrate San Giovanni.
Costume Parade in Florence
At 8.00 am Holy Mess into the Baptistery commemorating the deads of the “San Giovanni Society”
At 9.00 am The costume parade departing from Via del Corso 1 and arriving to Palazzo Vecchio
At 9.30 am The parade greets Florence Mayor and departs towards Piazza Duomo
At 10.00 am The exposition of the Holy Relic of San Giovanni. Then the authorities offer the candles
At 10.30 am Solemn celebrations in the Duomo
At 4.00 pm The costume parade departs from Piazza Santa Maria Novella and arrives in Piazza Santa Croce around 5pm
At 5.00 pm Calcio Storico Fiorentino: the Whites vs the Blues
At 10.30 pm Fireworks from Piazzale Michelangelo (after the end of the soccer game)
Other events
On San Giovanni the Arnolfo Tower of Palazzo Vecchio open to the public for the first time. The entrance is free and you climb up the tower from 9am to 9pm by reserving your entrance calling 055-2768224 or 2768558, mailing to info.museoragazzi@comune.fi.it. Then it will be open everyday on payment. Even San Niccolò Tower will be open to the public.
At Florence city beach underneath Piaggia Poggi there is the Riverside pic-nic on the beach organized by Easy Living for waiting all together the “fochi of San Giovanni”, the great fireworks.
And when you are in Florence don’t forget to download TooMuchFirenze, the unconventional guide about Florence available for iPhone and Android
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