by
Sandro Pintus
The tourist boom in Florence
Over 7 million art lovers in 1996
Florence is becoming more and more popular with tourists and this
has recently been confirmed by the Azienda di Promozione Turistica. 1996
was in fact a boom year for tourism, in fact 7 million 274 people have visited
its museums and places of art. As usual the Uffizi
Gallery came first and foremost among the museums, with a 10% increase in
its number of visitors, and selling almost 1 million 200 thousand tickets.
Visited above all by Americans and Japanese, the' Academy
Gallery containing Michelangelo's David
came a close second, with almost 900 thousand visitors, in other words,
a 3,5% increase in tourists; the Boboli Gardens came third with almost 800
thousand visitors, in spite of its recent introduction of an entrance fee.
The Uffizi Museum (photo FAN ©1997)
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However the Laurentian Library was the museum that had the highest
percentage of visitor increase in one year, with a rise of almost 100
thousand people, passing from 72 thousand in 1995 to 170 thousand in 1996.
The Palatine Gallery was also
repaid for staying open all day (8.30-19.00) because it had an 18,7% increase,
with over 400 thousand visitors; after its 15 year long restoration, the
Cupola of Brunelleschi was visited by a
public of over 365 thousand, while as many as 281 thousand people visited
Giotto's Belltower The latest
Museums to have opened in Florence Museums, the Diocese Museum of Santo
Stefano al Ponte, damaged in the same bomb explosion as the Accademia
dei Georgofili in 1993, and the Museum of Orsanmichele, have also
had a huge success with the public. On the other hand, there has been
an 11,5% decrease in visits to Palazzo
Vecchio probably due to the increase in ticket prices at the time
of the Caravaggio exhibition, although
at least 365 thousand people went round it last year. The museums in Fiesole
were also extremely popular: the Bandini Museum, the Roman Amphitheatre
and the Archeological Museum were able to welcome over 130 thousand visitors;
Leonardo has also been very popular with
visitors: the Leonardo Museum at Vinci has in fact had over 116 thousand
visitors.
FAN-Florence ART
News Email: csplanet@comune.firenze.it
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