Ein Rundgang durch die Gedenkstätten

The Spadolini Nuova Antologia Foundation, established by Giovanni Spadolini in 1980 by decree of the President of the Republic, Sandro Pertini, is based in Florence, on the hill of Pian dei Giullari, above Piazzale Michelangelo: in accordance with its statutes, it makes available to scholars the vast cultural heritage and library that the statesman bequeathed to it upon his death in 1994.

Better known as the “House of Books” or “The Circle of Cypresses”, the villa – built in the 1960s – overlooks Florence’s most famous monuments and houses a rich cultural heritage: a prestigious library containing antique volumes, collections of Napoleonic and Risorgimento memorabilia, as well as works by Tuscan artists such as Guido Spadolini, Ottone Rosai and Ardengo Soffici, alongside masters from the rest of Italy, such as Giorgio Morandi and Nino Caffé.

Robert Browning und Elizabeth Barrett zogen 1847 nach Florenz, als Elizabeth bereits eine etablierte Dichterin war: Sie blieben dort 14 Jahre lang bis zu ihrem Tod und schlossen Freundschaft mit vielen berühmten Italienern.

Elizabeth hatte sich den Namen "Casa Guidi" ausgedacht, um die Vorstellung eines Familienwohnsitzes zu vermitteln, und bis auf einige wertvolle Stücke wurden alle Gemälde und Möbel von Florentiner Gebrauchthändlern gekauft.  Heute hat die Wohnung noch weitgehend das Aussehen der damaligen Zeit beibehalten.

Der barocke Garten der Villa, der einst im Besitz der Familie Capponi war, wurde im 19. Jahrhundert in einen englischen Garten umgestaltet. 
Der heutige Garten wurde ab 1904 auf Wunsch des Eigentümers Arthur Acton von den großen Gärtnern jener Zeit angelegt: Ambroziewicz, Bonaiuti, Castellucci, Dodge und Watson. Der Garten stellt die natürliche Fortsetzung der Villa dar und schafft eine nahtlose Verbindung zwischen Innen und Außen.

Das System ist terrassenförmig angelegt, wie es für den toskanischen Garten typisch ist, mit „Stanze di verzura“ (Grünzimmern), die der barocken Tradition entsprechen und in denen sich Architektur und Statuen venezianischer Herkunft befinden.
In dem Garten und in der Villa verbrachte Sir Harold Acton, Schriftsteller, Intellektueller und Ästhet, sein Leben.

The building is named after the last owner, Luigi Pozzolini, who bought it in 1859 at an auction of properties of the Ginori family.

The construction of the villa dates back to the 16th century, possibly to a design by Bernardo Buontalenti; it is surrounded by a wonderful formal garden and by a 12-hectare park, formerly used as a hunting reserve.

Gesualda Malenchini Pozzolini, who was Luigi's wife, funded in her villa a rural school for the children of the peasants. It was the very first example of popular education in unitarian Italy

The villa is currently used as a location for events and weddings.

Piero Bargellini (1897-1980) is, in the memory of all Florentines, the mayor of Florence who had to face the terrible tragedy of the 1966 flood. But not only that, from 1051 to 1956 he had been the Councillor for Fine Arts for the Municipality of Florence and, later, he also was a member of Parliament during two legislatures.

A prolific writer, passionate about the history of his city, during his long career he published more than 60 books.

His studio in the very centre of Florence was a meeting place for artists and writers, cinema and showbusiness personalities and intellectuals.

In the 16th century palazzo Da Cepparello, bought by Bargellini in 1946, you can visit the Studio, as it had been preserved and conceived by its owner: with high coffered ceilings and a cycle of 14th century frescoes hailing from the Chiesa delle Busche church near Carmignano (Prato).

The bond between Enrico Caruso and the Bellosguardo Hill above Lastra a Signa was a love one, born after the relationship withAda Giachetti. They visited the ruined country house together, bought it and lived there more uxorio. Caruso invested a huge amount of money in the re-building of the house, giving work to the locals in a time when the major source of income -the straw manifacturing- had a strong crisis. The result was a beautiful mansion, in a dominant position above the Arno valley, with a majestic Italian garden and agricultural estate.

Enrico Caruso was the very first Italian divo, a tenor who knew how to use all the tools belonging to that age, from the (silent) cinema to the recording on vinyl to amplify his voice over and over, in addiction to the stage exhibitions. The exposition is in the rooms of the noble floor of the mansion, including the tenor bedroom, with original furniture. In another room there are Caruso's drawings, mostly caricatures that Caruso used to draw to relax. There is also a collection of gramophones of the first years of XX century, all working, to testify the importance of recording his works. You will see then photos, both private and of shows and colleagues, shedules of the numerous theatres where Caruso performed all over the world, and scenes costumes, that will be exposed in rotation.

The museum also boasts special visual and audio effects, the sonor gushes, that you can enjoy in the music room: as if Caruso's voice invests the vistor who comes closer to the showcase. The Enrico Caruso Museum is in Villa Caruso Bellosguardo, above Lasta a Signa.

Das Fahrradmuseum, nach dem toskanischen Radweltmeister Gino Bartali benannt, befindet sich in Ponte a Ema, gerade wo der große Radfahrer geboren wurde und seine sportliche Karriere begann. Das Gebäude besteht aus drei Etagen und umfasst mehr als 1000 Qm.

Im Untergeschoss befindet sich der Raum mit der Ausstellung von historischen Fahrrädern, die einen Überblick über deren technische Entwicklung bieten, während im ersten Stock die Ausstellung von Velozipeden, Fahrrädern, Kleidung und Memorabilien, die die Geschichte des Radsports und die Heldentaten von Gino Bartali und anderen Champions dokumentieren, zu bewundern sind.
Sammlungen von Zeitungen der damaligen Zeit, zahlreiche Publikationen und Filme ergänzen den Rundgang.

Das Museum ist für alle Kinder und Jugendlichen empfohlen, die Radfahren lieben oder die Geschichte des Radfahrens kennenlernen möchten.

The House of Franco and Lidia Luciani was built in the mid-1920s with funds from the employees of Società Elettrica Sert Valdarno (today ENEL, the so-called "Gruppo Luce"). The House is located in the Gavinana district in the south-east part of Florence.

The House displays their hand-selected collection of paintings, engravings, prints, ceramics, majolica, bronzes, books, ancient postcards, and antique furnitures.

Both Franco and Lidia had a classical studies background: Franco was a pharmacist, and Lidia was an Italian Literature and History teacher. Both were particularly passionate about 19th century Tuscan paintings and, throughout their lives together, they bought numerous paintings by Macchiaioli and Post-Macchiaioli masters. These artists, starting from 1860, animated the Italian pictorial panorama and contributed decisively to the renewal of traditional pictorial aesthetics, and the anticipators of impressionism.

The collection in the house started to grow in the 1950’s thanks to Franco’s passion and Lidia’s support, year after year untill 2006, when Franco became ill and passed away. Many of the paintings in the house were loaned for exhibition and vernissages. Among the artists we mention Nomellini, Lomi, Natali, March, Filippelli, Corcos, and the Florentine Macchiaioli painters Signorini, Cabianca, Tommasi, Borrani.

With Franco and Lidia both gone, the collection they built and shaped remains intact and displayed just as it was when they lived – a precious collection that Franco and Lidia proudly showed to their family and friends.

So now, their two daughters would be delighted to share these works of art with sector experts, scholars or simply art lovers

The House is member of the Associazione Nazionale Case della memoria.

The 15th-century Villa Le Coste, for many years the home of the Florentine painter Primo Conti, is now occupied by the foundation that takes his name. It consists of an archive with over 100,000 documents, relating principally to Futurism and its leading exponents, and a museum. Here there are about 60 paintings and 150 drawings covering a period from 1911 to 1985. Through Conti’s work it is possible to observe the development of trends in 20th-century Italian and European art.

Giovanni Michelucci, ein großer Protagonist der italienischen Kultur des 20. Jahrhunderts, war einer der größten italienischen Architektendes 20. Jahrhunderts. Im Sitz der Stiftung, Villa Il Roseto oder dem Haus, in dem er die letzten Jahre seines Lebens verbrachte, können das Archiv, die Memoiren des Architekten, die Zeichnungen, die Modelle und die Bibliotheksbestände angesehen werden. Man kann die von ihm entworfenen Möbel und die Gemälde seiner Frau Eloisa Pacini sowie viele Kunstwerke seiner befreundeten Architekten und Künstler bewundern.

Nach 35 Jahren Tätigkeit zeichnet sich die Stiftung als origineller und etablierter Bezugspunkt für Forschungen/Projekte zu den Themen sozialer Lebensraum und die Beziehung zwischen Raum und Gesellschaft aus. Auch die Herausgabe der Zeitschrift La Nuova Città ist mit der Stiftung verbunden.

Von der Villa Il Roseto, in der die Stiftung ihren Sitz hat, hat man einen der schönsten Ausblicke auf Florenz und das Arno-Tal. Darüber hinaus können Sie einen komplett terrassierten Garten voller Hortensien, Rosen, Azaleen und geschmückter Bäume bewundern: Olivenbäume, Zypressen, Orangenbäume, Granatäpfel, Kirschbäume und typische Pflanzen der mediterranen Macchia.

***Die Villa ist derzeit geschlossen

Villa il Gioiello, auch Villa Galileo genannt, ist das Haus, in dem der große Wissenschaftler Galilei den letzten Teil seines Lebens verbrachte, der durch die Verurteilung des Heiligen Offiziums im Jahre 1633 unter Hausarrest gestellt wurde. Die Universität von Florenz ist für die Erhaltung und Aufwertung der Villa und des Geländes, in dem sich der Galileische Garten befand, verantwortlich. 2006 wurde die Villa restauriert. Heute beherbergt die Villa Konferenzen und Seminare, die von Forschungs- und Hochschulzentren in Arcetri organisiert werden.

Michelangelo Buonarroti erwarb das Anwesen um 1510. Der Palast nahm sein heutiges Ansehen dank seines Großneffen Michelangelo il Giovane (Michelangelo Buonarroti der Junge) an, einer außergewöhnlichen Figur der Florentiner Kultur im 17. Jahrhundert, der vier Räumen mit Gemälden zur Verherrlichung der Familie dekorieren ließ. Den Werken von Michelangelo, wie die Sammlung von Zeichnungen, die Madonna della Scala und die Battaglia dei Centauri (Schlacht der Zentauren) kamen im Lauf der Zeit römische Skulpturen, Gemälde aus den 16. und 17. Jahrhundert, robbianische Majoliken und schließlich etruskische Fundstücke hinzu. Das große Holzmodell für die Fassade der Kirche von S. Lorenzo und das Dio Fluviale (Flussgott), bildhauerisches Modell für die Neue Sakristei, beide von Michelangelo, kommen aus anderen Florentiner Museen, während kleinere Einheiten der Sammlung von Zeichnungen Michelangelos werden im Rotationsverfahren ausgestellt.

The Filippo Dobrilla House Museum and Arts Center is a place where art and everyday life are deeply intertwined. It was here that the sculptor Filippo Dobrilla (1968–2021) lived and worked, allowing time, movement and material to interact naturally. 
The rooms still retain the authentic atmosphere of a lived-in home, conveying the artist’s living presence through the spaces, the tools and the works that fill them.

Filippo Dobrilla carved marble with respect and dedication, following the stone’s own voice and accepting its resistance as part of the creative process. His work sprang from a direct, physical relationship with the material, characterised by patience, attentiveness and profound understanding.
Each sculpture bears the mark of a long, shared process, in which the form emerged little by little. 

Alongside art, the land played a central role in his life. Cultivating the fields, following the rhythm of the seasons and tending to the plants were activities that complemented his work as a sculptor. The earth and marble – different materials, yet equally alive – marked the rhythm of his days, providing a profound balance between artistic creation and agricultural labour.

Visiting the house-museum means stepping into a world where art is not separate from life, but is a natural extension of it. It is a place of memory and presence, where one can still sense the strong bond between people, materials and nature, and where visitors are invited to slow down, observe and listen.