The students from La Canada High School in California along with their entourage of family and friends are sure keeping busy as they are exploring the beautiful Renaissance city of Florence today. A special highlight will be the first formal concert of their 2011 Italy Performance Tour at 7 pm at San Lorenzo Church (see special blog entry). Here are some city facts about Florence:
- Florence is the most populous city in Tuscany, with 367,569 inhabitants.
- A centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the richest and wealthiest cities of the time, Florence is often considered the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance; in fact, it has been called the Athens of the Middle Ages.
- The historic centre of Florence attracts millions of tourists each year and was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1982.
- It has been the birthplace or chosen home of many notable historical figures, such as Dante, Botticelli, Michelangelo, Galileo Galilei, Roberto Cavalli and Emilio Pucci.
- Florence being historically the first home of Italian fashion is also home to the legendary Italian fashion establishment Salvatore Ferragamo, notable as one of the oldest and most famous Italian fashion houses.
- Florence has been a setting for numerous works of fiction and movies, including the novels and associated films, such as "Hannibal", "A Room with a View", "Tea with Mussolini" and "Virgin Territory".
- The city is one of the great wine-growing regions in the world. The Chianti region is just south of the city, and its Sangiovese grapes figure prominently not only in its Chianti Classico wines but also in many of the more recently developed Supertuscan blends.
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