EVENT NAME: Florentine New Year

EVENT PLACE: Florence

EVENT DATE: March 25, 2024

EVENT TIME:

EVENT DESCRIPTION

The Florentine New Year is one of the official holidays of the Municipality of Florence and is celebrated on March 25 every year.

The origin of this particular location dates back to the Middle Ages when March 25 (the day on which the Church celebrates the Annunciation of the Incarnation received by the Virgin Mary, corresponding to the ninth month before the birth of Jesus) was taken by the city as the beginning of the civil calendar.

In 1582 the Gregorian calendar came into force, which set the start of the year on January 1, but Florence stubbornly continued to consider March 25 as its New Year, until, in November 1749, the Grand Duke Francesco III of Lorraine issued a decree that also set January 1st for Florence as the starting date from which to start the calendar year.

The event is commemorated with a historical procession that starting from the Palagio di Parte Guelfa winds through the city streets, up to the Basilica of SS. Annunziata, where the people of the countryside went on pilgrimage to pay homage to the sacred effigy of the Madonna.