The Sacred Belt of the Prato Cathedral is a thin strip of green fabric with gold brocades and a green tassel and band at the ends. As told in an ancient oriental apocryphal text after the Blessed Virgin's death St. Thomas was carried by angels to the mount of Olives; there he contemplated the Virgin while she was taken up into the Heaven, and received the gift of the belt in proof of the event. According to Prato medieval tradition the sacred belt was then entrusted to a priest and preserved by his descendants. After the first crusade, a Prato pilgrim of modest origins called Michele, fell in love with Maria, the daughter of an oriental priest and married her in secret, against her father's wish and received as dowry the "Sacred Belt" in a small basket made of rushes. After returning to Prato around 1141, Michele spoke to no one about the holy relic and only on his death bed (1172), he donated it to the provost of the nearby church of St. Stephen. The sacred Belt furthermore was considered the most valuable treasure of the entire city, so much so that its public display was established by the bylaws of Commune which still today has in custody a set of the keys required to take it out of the altar. Up to the end of 13th century the holy relic was kept close to the high altar but in 1346 it moved to the left of the main entrance of the ancient church and later Cathedral where in 1386-90  was built, on a project by Lorenzo di Filippo, the chapel that stores the holy relic. The chapel is decorated with frescoes of Stories of the Virgin and of the belt (1392-95), a series of amazing figurative unity painted by Agnolo Gaddi with a faultless technique and luminous colors. On the corner of the façade is the amazing pulpit by Donatello and Michelozzo which was finished in 1438 and created for the display of the Sacred Belt in order to show it to the congregation gathered in the Cathedral square. 

Currently, the Exhibition of the Girdle is held for Christmas, Easter, May 1st, August 15th, and in the most solemn manner on September 8th, coinciding with the ancient Fair and the Historical Procession at 6 PM.

Also this year at the International Handicrafts Trade Fair, the best of the arts and crafts from the various Italian regions as well from all over the world will be on show. 

Carefully selected traditional and innovating works will be on show, between originality and design, following an itinerary privileging productive traditions as well as the main territory attractions – local crafts, tourism, food & wine, landscape identities, and so on.

Florence - The International Handicrafts Trade Fair

When: April 25 - May 1, 2025

Where: Fortezza da Basso, Florence

More information:

☞ https://mostrartigianato.it/

The Festival is devoted to classical music and opera fans, its main purpose is to highlight the town’s musical  tradition, especially the great operas. 

This  season’s program, from April to October, presents 19 events, set in the most attractive thermal building of  Montecatini Terme, the Terme Tettuccio, which welcomes everybody as in a warm hug and where you can still hear the musical echo of the great composers  who have made Italian classic music famous all over the world.

Free Guided Tours, Special Openings, Special Initiatives.

The feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross is celebrated with particular solemnity in Lucca, motivated by the presence of the precious medieval wooden crucifix known as the Holy Face. On this day, as for the feast of the Triumph of the Holy Cross on September 14, the crucifix is displayed and decorated with the precious ancient garments and jewels, gifts and alms from the faithful.

The famous Antiques Fair of Arezzo is one of the most important and largest antique fairs in Italy, held every first Sunday of the month and the preceding Saturday.

Pictures and paintings, small jewels, ancient and modern furniture, carpets, clocks, silverware, toys, books and vintage prints, collection stamps, musical instruments, gramophones and radios: it is easy to be charmed and indulge in discovering one of the biggest and oldest Italian Antiques Fairs. 

In 1968 a famous antiquarian and collector of Arezzo, Ivan Bruschi, gave birth to this fair which still today fills with its curious bric-a-brac the old town centre, its streets, yards, Vasari Loggia and wonderful Piazza Grande, every first weekend of the month.

For two days the town changes into a multicolor scenery of treasures waiting to be discovered by tourists and collectors: over five hundreds exhibitors from all over Italy meet here with their furniture and objects of all periods and styles, while antiquarians and restorers have multiplied their business, opening their shops during the fair and showing their best items. Experts of antiques and

modern antique collecting find here plenty of particular specializations, such as, for instance, scientific tools, Art-Nouveau stained glass windows, Art Deco furnishing.

First Sunday of the month: museums free entrance

It is a very important event involving all the State Museums with specials and free tickets access. Therefore, if you plan to visit Florence, Pisa, Lucca or any other Tuscan town our countless masterpieces without spending one Euro!

For instance in Florence you can visit: the Uffizi Gallery, Academy Museum, Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens, Bargello Museum, Medici Chapels, and many other attractions. All of them free of charge!

List of  State Museums in Tuscany HERE. 

In Pistoia, the second Saturday and Sunday of the month an antique fair is held which attracts  many dealers from all over Tuscany. Here you can find very valuable antiques: furniture, majolica, porcelain, jewelery, clocks, coins, old lacework, crystal goblets and profane and religious period paintings.

On the stalls you can find clothing, utensils and ethnic products, as well as magazines, comics, used garments and other items from the past. 

The market takes place in the so called Cattedrale - not to confuse with the real Cathedral - (Via Pertini) - eccept July and August.

There are about 100 exhibitors who animate the historic city center with various kinds of antiques every second Saturday and Sunday of the month except July and August.

You will find ceramics, glassware and cutlery for a romantic table setting and a very good range of embroidered linen (perhaps an untouched trousseau from a failed marriage). Also sepia paintings, watercolours, vintage  postcards (full of insight into how we lived in the past and complete with shaky handwriting), out-of-print books for the attentive book collector, silver and gold coins from every corner of the globe and much, much more.

Where: Pisa, Piazza dei Cavalieri, Piazza Garibaldi

At Querceta, the first Sunday in May, small, stocky and stubbom donkeys take the field, proud to compete in the “Palio dei Micci”. The event, created as for joke in 1956 as a tourist attaction, changed over the years into a much felt event in the village of Querceta, close to Forte dei Marmi. Every year since then, eight districts challenge each other, led by their stubbom “micci” (donkeys in vemacular), that fiercely almost make you doubt about who the real jockey is. Set in medieval times, with hundreds of people who interpret historical or fictional characters, the Palio takes place the first Sunday in May. The event starts in the morning, with a parade of eight districts ( Cervia, Leon d’Oro, Lizard, Madonnina, Bridge, Well, Oak and Frog) through the streets of Querceta. The route starts from Piazza Matteotti, it stops at the church of Santa Maria Lauretana for the Holy Mass, then returns to the streets for the blessing of the four-hooves legged duelists, to end with the reading of the official invitations to challenge of the suburbs.

The Palio is held in the afternoon in the stadium “Buon riposo”: the first district to enter is the winner of the previous edition, followed by the left seven ones according to the draw. Here the challenge starts on several fronts. The costumed participants are involved in theatrical and spectacular performances, competing for the prize “historical parade” and for the “themed parade”, while groups of musicians will play for the prize “Brothers Meccheri”. Once the individual  performances of the districts are done, you will enjoy a foretaste of the Palio: a full show for style and attractions, with over 300 participants including musicians and flag bearers, an apotheosis of medieval folklore. At the end of this, at around 7 p.m., the prancing donkeys ean finally give vent to their capacity, beginning the race that includes six laps in a circular circuit. The district that will cut the finish line first will have the honor to keep for one year the prize, a banner depicting the Holy Family, and they can also to put their arms on it. While the stubborn donkeys just have to enjoy glory and fame, being able to look down on their noblest cousins, for one day. 

☞ https://www.prolocoquerceta.it/

Would you like to have an idea of what earthly paradise might look like? Do you want to forget about everyday life for a day and let yourself be intoxicated by scents, colors, stunning views, enchanting music, and reconcile with yourself and the world?

Then you cannot miss the visit to Buggiano Castello on Sunday, April 28th and Sunday, May 5th, days when the citrus orchards and secret gardens of the citrus village are open to the public.

Buggiano Castello is located on a hill near Montecatini Terme and enjoys a particular privilege: it has a south-facing exposure that creates a microclimate allowing the happy growth of all kinds of citrus fruits and plants that require plenty of sunshine, mild winter temperatures, protection from cold winds, and the right amount of water. In Buggiano Castello, this combination is perfect and produces a magical blend where on every terraced hillside, even where space is tight, all those plants that struggle to grow in less fortunate places thrive abundantly in an explosion of colors and scents that truly make us feel in paradise.

On the days when the gardens are open, the inhabitants share the privilege of enjoying these beauties with all those who wish to, opening their gardens called "secret" not by chance: these small plots of land are lovingly cultivated by the owners and are hidden within the walls of the houses. They are revealed only every two years, on the occasion of their opening during the festival called "the countryside within the walls."

On these days, there is a sort of competition among cultivators: each garden is adorned, and guests are welcomed with sweet music and themed refreshments; they are accompanied by warm winds, the scents of flowers, smells of oranges and lemons, sounds of instruments, and words in conversation.

The gardens were originally created as subsistence gardens (the only exception is the Baroque garden of Villa Sermolli, a noble residence since the 17th century) and only later transformed into ornamental treasures.

Even citrus fruits have had the same fate closely linked to the growth of well-being: they were used to produce jams, now they are elements of "uniqueness." Now, the secret gardens total sixteen, all gathered in an open-air museum system; each of them can be identified by name, character, structure, and by its own story to be revealed.

Public opening of the private gardens of Buggiano Castello on Sunday, April 28th and Sunday, May 5th from 9 am to 1 pm and from 2 pm to 7 pm; the visit to the citrus village is estimated to take about three hours.

Opening hours

from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm and from 2:00 pm to 7:00 pm

Admission including shuttle service

Full ticket 12.00 euros

Reduced ticket (over 65 years old) 10.00 euros

Free admission for children under 12 years old

Visitors will be welcomed in Borgo a Buggiano, where they will leave their cars in designated parking areas, to ascend to the Castle with comfortable free shuttles or on foot through fields cultivated with olive trees.

☞  www.lacampagnadentrolemura.it

First Sunday of the month: museums free entrance

It is a very important event involving all the State Museums with specials and free tickets access. Therefore, if you plan to visit Florence, Pisa, Lucca or any other Tuscan town our countless masterpieces without spending one Euro!

For instance in Florence you can visit: the Uffizi Gallery, Academy Museum, Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens, Bargello Museum, Medici Chapels, and many other attractions. All of them free of charge!

List of  State Museums in Tuscany HERE. 

The Festival is devoted to classical music and opera fans, its main purpose is to highlight the town’s musical  tradition, especially the great operas. 

This  season’s program, from April to October, presents 19 events, set in the most attractive thermal building of  Montecatini Terme, the Terme Tettuccio, which welcomes everybody as in a warm hug and where you can still hear the musical echo of the great composers  who have made Italian classic music famous all over the world.

Opera concerts in which at least 2 singers alternate among the most beautiful voices of the national opera scene accompanied on the piano. The most famous opera arias from the repertoire of Italian and international opera are scheduled, as well as the most famous classic Neapolitan songs.

90 minutes of live music with a break during which guests can enjoy a typical sweet of the city.

The concerts will take place every Wednesday from May to October 2024 in the Music Hall of the Grand Hotel Croce di Malta in Montecatini Terme in Via IV Novembre, 18 at 9.15 pm.

Tickets can be booked by calling +39 3518066988 or by sending an email to info@operaconcerto.it even on the day of the concert.

Further information is available on the website

www.thebestofopera.com.

Organ concerts with the presence of internationally renowned organists.

FREE ADMISSION

Program:

Friday, May 17th at 9:00 PM

PRESCOTT CHORALE (U.S.A.)

Conductor: Dennis Houser

W.A. MOZART - REQUIEM K 626.

Thursday, May 23rd at 6:30 PM

Andreas Meisner Altenberg (DE)

Friday, June 21st at 6:30 PM

Bernhard Marx Freiburg/Sankt Blasien (DE)

Friday, July 19th at 6:30 PM

Elisa Teglia Bologna (ITA)

Thursday, July 25th at 6:30 PM

Jean-Christophe Geiser Lausanne (CH)

Wednesday, July 31st at 6:30 PM

Przemyslaw Kapitula Warsaw (PL)

Thursday, August 8th at 6:30 PM

Franz Günthner Leuthkirch (DE)

Tuesday, August 20th at 6:30 PM

Josef Still Trier (DE)

Friday, August 23rd at 6:30 PM

Konstantin Reymaier Vienna (AU)

Tuesday, November 26th at 9:00 PM

MOSAIC Canadian Vocal Ensemble Ontario - Canada

Conductor: Gordon Mansell

More details here

Antiques market, vintage clothing, collectibles, crafts and home accessories. 

9 am - 8 pm 

Piazza S. Maria delle Carceri

Info: +39 3483396638

Saturday Night Spa

Saturday, May 11, 18 and 25 

from 7:00 PM to midnight

For an evening of pure relaxation, pamper yourself with a soothing bath under the stars in the thermal pool with rejuvenating whirlpools and

reinvigorate yourself with a steam bath in Europe's largest thermal cave at 34°C.

Includes:

Steam bath in natural thermal cave at 34°C (20 minutes)

Bathing under the stars in the 750 sqm thermal pool at 34°C with underwater whirlpools

Bathing in the Bioaquam thermal path at 34°C with rejuvenating whirlpools

Access to the Thermarium area

Access to the "Bioaquam Pavilion" the new covered and heated relaxation area of 310 m2

Lounge music

€35.00 by reservation

Bioaquam Café poolside open with à la carte menu

(payment upon consumption)

For more information, call 

+39 0572/9077992 or email terme@grottagiustispa.com

Second among the antique-dealers' market places of Tuscany for the number of its exhibitors and length of life, the Antique market of Lucca can boast of a solid tradition of quality and reliability thanks to professional antiquarians of high prestige who have always been an important presence in town. 

At the third weekend of each month (on Saturday and Sunday), from 8 am to 7 pm, Lucca opens its gates for a joyful event involving a large portion of the historical centre: from Piazza S. Martino, Piazza Antelminelli and Via Del Battistero - the historical antique dealers' street- ‚ to Piazza San Giusto, and Piazza S. Giovanni up to Piazza Bernardini. It is a gorgeous display of colorful stalls offering not only past vestiges of remarkable artistic value, but also traces of souvenirs impressed on a post-card, on a book, on a knick-knack or on an ornament. 

Furniture, clothes, fabrics, paintings, rare components of old instruments, lamps and chandeliers, old working tools, records..... a wide pattern of old or antique objects‚ patiently gathered and collected after explorations which

are getting more and more difficult. All these things speak to both the tourist and the lover, of a world, which has gone, but not willing to be forgotten yet.

Two unforgettable days around the most charming

streets of the town. It is Art facing Art, History meeting History. A really unique occasion to know Lucca better and taste the pleasure of peeping through the stalls in search of something beautiful to take home and - why not?- probably also making a good bargain! 

Since 1981 the Palio has been run at Fucecchio, a town in the province of Florence that is famous as the birthplace of the historian and writer Indro Montanelli: twelve contrade compete first in a historic parade and then in a horse race to award themselves with the “cencio”, the longed-for painted drape in recognition of the winner of the most important event of this Tuscan town. The Palio was created as the reconstruction of a contention held in Fucecchio around 1200. According to the documents found in the local historical archive, the last Palio was disputed on 14 June 1863, when the joust was abandoned for the last time until the twelve Contrade decided to resume the custom of this ancient challenge almost a century on. Since its rebirth, there has been a constantly growing enthusiasm and interest in this event, so much so that it has taken on a primary role in the daily life of every Fucecchiese and among the historical events of Tuscany. This year, the event will take place on 19 May. At 9:00 in the morning the historic parade will take place along the streets in the centre, with over 1,200 figures in medieval dress, flag-bearers and musicians, but the much awaited moment will occur at 15:00 at the “Buca d’Andrea” with the horse race, where nationally known horses and jockeys take place every year, many of whom come from the Palio at Siena. Don’t miss out on one of the twelve Vigil Banquets that take place on the evening of 18 May throughout the centre of Fucecchio at the offices of each Contrada, with typical dishes of the best Tuscan food and the magical atmosphere of songs and toasts of goodwill to the rider. 

☞ https://www.paliodifucecchio.it/

Next to the panorama that can be admired from Piazzale Michelangelo, a stone's throw from David, the symbol of Florence appears. In fact, more than 1500 varieties of the flower are grown in the Iris garden, which since 1251 has been a symbol of the city. The varieties of Iris, coming from all over the world, are cared for by the Italian Iris Society, owner of the garden and organizer every year of the competition that for over half a century has awarded the most beautiful and particular specimens and the most new and original varieties.

The garden can be visited from April 25 to May 20, the month in which the lily or iris bloom. This year it will open its gates every day from 10am to 6 pm, last admission at 5.30pm.

The largest widespread museum in Italy reopens its doors for free. The National Day of the Italian Historic Houses Association is back, this year in its XIII edition: over 500 exclusive places such as castles, fortresses, villas, parks and gardens can be visited for free, in an immersion in the history that still makes our country today identifiable in the world and which could form the cornerstone of its long-term sustainable development

More information:

☞ https://www.associazionedimorestoricheitaliane.it/?lan=en

"Dialoghi sull'uomo" is a cultural festival held every year in Pistoia. It is an event that includes numerous meetings, debates, and conferences on topics related to human being, from art to science, from philosophy to politics. The festival will take place in the squares of Pistoia’s old city center, and its program features talks by Italian and foreign anthropologists, sociologists, philosophers and scientists who, in an accessible language, will offer new insights, new tools to better understand the reality of contemporary man and the societies in which we live. 

The 2024 edition of the Dialogues is titled "Are we what we eat? Nourishing the body and mind." 

Program 2024 HERE

Small, round, red, delicious and rich in precious vitamins: it’s said that you eat one and you want another. It’s so true since it is truly impossible to resist this exquisite fruit that takes us hand in hand through a season that is all too brief.

In Lari, a lovely village that even charmed the Grand-Duke of Tuscany in the 19th century with its breathtaking views, the truly local cherry has been celebrated for over half a century since 1957, to be precise, with what is now one of the leading events in Italy devoted to this fruit. The event takes place in May 25th and 26th, and May 31, 1 and 2 June where the Pisan town, the Tuscan centre of cherry cultivation, showcases many colourful stalls that bring the village streets to life with the best produce that compete to win the “golden cherry”.

A popular people’s festival that is enriched with itinerant shows, music, exhibitions, and gastronomic stands.

But the true and undisputed queen will still be certainly her: the cherry and the 19 different traditional varieties of this fruit that are produced in Lari and surroundings and other also "modern variations" of recent introduction: all worth tasting! Good, tasty, with more or less intense flavor, but ready to satisfy all tastes! 

More information:

Lari Tourist Office: +39 0587646258

Arti e Mestieri is an arts and crafts market in the historic center of Lucca, with a big number of exhibitors that meet every last weekend of the month in Piazza San Giusto, Piazza Cittadella and Piazza XX Settembre with many traditional and original products from Tuscany.

At Arti e Mestieri there are ceramists, painters, sculptors, leather, glass and papier-mâché artisans, weavers, jewelers, cabinet makers, seamstresses and embroiderers, knitting and crochet experts. The artisans-artists offer their exclusive products in a colorful market: bijoux in silver, ceramic and crochet, natural products for body care, fountain pens worked on the lathe, bags, belts and leather bracelets, painted stones, scented lavender, splendid paintings and sculptures.