Capodanno Fiorentino and Pisano
Why settle for just one New Year's celebration? Learn why Florence and Pisa ring in the New Year also on March 25.
In Pisa and Florence New Year's Eve is celebrated twice a year: on January 1st and on March 25th.
The reason can be related to th the ancient "calendario pisano", a particular type of calendar in use in Pisa and other areas of Tuscany until the mid-18th century, according to which the year began on March 25 (Annunciation of the Virgin Mary), nine months before Christmas (25 December).
The calendar remained in force until November 20, 1749, when it was definitively abolished by Grand Duke Francis I of Lorraine with an edict which established that throughout Tuscany the new year would begin on the following January 1st.
But, obviously, both cities have not given up on traditional celebrations!
When the Gregorian calendar came into force in 1582, setting the beginning of the year on January 1st, Florence stubbornly continued to celebrate New Year's Eve on March 25 and it did so until the edict of Grand Duke Francis I.
Today the Florentine New Year is one of the official holidays of the Municipality of Florence and the anniversary is remembered with a historical procession that starts from the Palagio di Parte Guelfa, crosses the historic center and arrives at the Basilica of Santissima Annuziata. The Basilica is home of an image of the Madonna that is considered miraculous, an object of deep veneration till this day.
Capodanno Pisano, a ray of light
Every March 25 a historical procession crosses the city to the cathedral where a religious ceremony is held and the Pisan New Year is solemnly proclaimed.
More specifically, and suggestively, the beginning of the Pisan Year is marked by a sundial: a ray of sunlight enters the Cathedral from the “Sammarchina”, the smallest of the four round eyelets located under the dome, and hits a small egg-shaped shelf located on the pillar next to Giovanni Pisano’s pulpit, reassembled in 1926 and the celebrations culminate in a religious service at 12 o’clock, when the sunlight hits the egg! “For the greater glory of God and invoking the intercession of Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Ranieri, our Patron, we welcome the year 2026!”. The ritual phrase to greet the new year!
The Pisan Style New Year was observed until November 20th 1749, when Grand Duke Francis I of Lorraine decreed that all Tuscan territories should adopt the Gregorian calendar, beginning January 1st 1750. Therefore, Pisa also had to conform to the use of the Gregorian calendar. Only in the 1980s, people started talking about this anniversary again and since then New Year's Eve has returned to be celebrated with cultural and convivial initiatives that precede it.
On the 25th a historical parade of the Maritime Republic crosses the city until it proceeds to the Piazza dei Miracoli and then enters the Cathedral to await the ray of sunshine that heralds the arrival of the new year, nine months ahead of the rest of the world.
In recent years, numerous side events are also organized in the city in the days leading up to and afterwards.
