Florence is a charming Renaissance city with a distinguished culture, many art and architecture masterpieces, excellent shopping, and famous landmarks, including the Cathedral (‘Duomo di Firenze’) and The Uffizi Gallery.

The Tuscan capital is also home to some of the world’s most striking frescoes, significant piazze, and tastiest local cuisine. This article will explore three of the most charming things about Florence culture.

Frescoes

A fresco is a mural created by putting water-based paint directly onto wet plaster. Frescoes became a substitute for mosaics and flourished between the 12th and 17th centuries, mainly to educate an illiterate population.

Frescoes are a recurring sight in Florentine art, so there are many to choose from in the capital of Tuscany. Here are a few of the most renowned frescoes:

Church of Santa Croce

Giotto, the 14th-century painter who inspired Masaccio and Michelangelo, frescoed the Bardi and Peruzzi Chapel inside the Church of Santa Croce. You can also see the works of Giotto’s most renowned pupil, Taddeo Gaddi, in the Church’s Baroncelli-Giugni Chapel.

Church of Santa Maria del Carmine

Inside Santa Maria del Carmine Church’s Brancacci Chapel lies one of the most studied frescoes in the history of art, ‘The Life of Saint Peter’.

San Marco Museum

Fra Angelico, painter and Dominican friar, frescoed the San Marco Museum – when it was a convent – with something sensitive and moving.

Santa Maria Novella Church

This Church contains some of the finest frescoes in Florence, including ‘Trinity’ by Masaccio (pictured below) and the frescoed Tornabuoni Chapel and Strozzi Chapel.

Piazze

Piazze (plural of piazza) are public squares or marketplaces in Italian towns and cities. In Florence culture, the plethora of piazze have become gathering spots for tourists and locals alike.

Here are some of the squares you must visit or embark on a free walking tour of Florence to see them all:

Piazza della Signoria

The largest and most famous square in Florence (pictured below), a prominent location in many films, is home to several beautiful statues from the Renaissance era.

Piazza del Duomo

This Unesco World Heritage Site is one of the most visited places in Europe because it houses many famous landmarks in one place, including Florence Cathedral (‘Duomo di Firenze’), Giotto’s Campanile, and the Florence Baptistery.

Piazza Santa Croce

This large square is home to the Church of Santa Croce and regularly hosts rallies and events, including the annual Calcio Storico match, which sees locals play a 16th-century ball game in traditional dress.

Piazza Santo Spirito

This square, home to the Santo Spirito Church, is a key part of Florence culture and is favored by Florentines because of its daily food market, which is open from 8am to 2pm.

Local Cuisines

An ‘Italian’ restaurant in the US will likely serve pizza, spaghetti and meatballs, and chicken parmesan. However, these dishes aren’t widely eaten in Italy as ingredients differ from region to region.

Tuscan food originates from cucina povera (‘the kitchen of the poor’) cooking techniques, so the region’s specialties are humble dishes made using ingredients available in the countryside.

Here are some of the most popular local dishes in Florence and the Tuscany region:

Panzanella

This bread-based salad is one of the most iconic summer dishes you can try in Tuscany. It typically consists of stale bread, tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, olive oil, vinegar, basil, and salt.

Ribollita

This hearty vegetable soup combines seasonal ingredients like white beans, kale, and Swiss chard with carrots, celery, onion, rosemary, laurel, and stale bread.

Ragu di cinghiale

This meat and tomato sauce dish is similar to a popular ragu bolognese, but it’s most commonly made with wild boar in Tuscany.

Bistecca alla Fiorentina

This T-bone steak is one of the most iconic Tuscan dishes because it comes from white cows bred in Tuscany’s Chiana Valley.

Lampredotto

This street food sandwich served on a crusty roll, is made with a cow’s fourth stomach that’s been cooked for a long time in a tomato-based broth.

Crostini

These thin slices of toasted bread are topped with various things. A favorite variation in Florence is crostini with chicken liver paté.

Cantucci

This rustic, crunchy cookie studded with almonds is not very sweet, so Tuscans like to dunk them in Vin Santo, a local sweet wine.

Budino di riso

This emblematic little oval pastry (pictured below) is made with rice and pastry cream flavored with orange and vanilla and baked into a shortcrust pastry.

Florence Culture: Experience History, Art, and Tuscan Cuisine

Florence is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe and the most charming in the Tuscany region. Florence is a wonderful place to immerse yourself in history, see some world-famous paintings, and indulge in Tuscan cuisine.