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St. John the Baptist Day
Today is Florence's most important holiday which celebrates their Patron Saint, San Giovanni Battista (St. John the Baptist). The day is filled with celebrations all over town including a parade (in period costume), regatta races, a city marathon, historical soccer championship (more about this in the next blog), and a big fireworks display over the river. Florence's patron saint, or protector, was originally the God Marte, but when the city was transformed to Christianity around the 6th century, it became St. John. Like most things in Italy, the festival has been around for a while. About 800 years give or take. Anyway, here are a few pictures I took from the Ponte (bridge) Santa Trinita which is about a block down from our apartment. You can see the Ponte Vecchio (subject of another future post) in the foreground.
Today is Florence's most important holiday which celebrates their Patron Saint, San Giovanni Battista (St. John the Baptist). The day is filled with celebrations all over town including a parade (in period costume), regatta races, a city marathon, historical soccer championship (more about this in the next blog), and a big fireworks display over the river. Florence's patron saint, or protector, was originally the God Marte, but when the city was transformed to Christianity around the 6th century, it became St. John. Like most things in Italy, the festival has been around for a while. About 800 years give or take. Anyway, here are a few pictures I took from the Ponte (bridge) Santa Trinita which is about a block down from our apartment. You can see the Ponte Vecchio (subject of another future post) in the foreground.
