Florence visitors simply cannot miss to visit Piazza Santa Croce – this is one of the most beautiful squares in Florence and in the world. You can easily find it from every hotel in downtown. Just move your feet to historic center and pass Piazza della Signoria and Borgo dei Greci. If you are not sure you understand the direction, ask a Florence map in your hotel. Usually they give maps for free.

Here, 15 minutes from Duomo, is located this masterpiece. You can also find Santa Croce church nearby. Both church and piazza were built in medieval times. They served for religious purposes – ceremonies in Santa Croce were frequent and attracted many people so piazza needed to hold them all. Also quite often it was used for various holiday activities like festivals, rides or different games. One of them, Calcio storico or Historical Football, took place at Piazza Santa Croce annually at San Giovanni day (the 24th of June). Certainly, this wasn’t a football in our modern sense. For us this game would remind more Rugby than football. This game was unbelievably popular and attracted people from the whole city as teams representing Florence districts participated and first place in this game was honorable and widely celebrated.

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Posted: February 16th, 2009 under Tourism.
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