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Florence Facts & Worksheets

Florence, is the capital of Italy’s Tuscany region and is the home to many masterpieces of Renaissance art and architecture.

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Florence, is the capital of Italy’s Tuscany region and is the home to many masterpieces of Renaissance art and architecture. One of its most iconic sights is the Duomo, a cathedral with a terracotta-tiled dome engineered by Brunelleschi and a bell tower by Giotto.

See the fact file below for more information on the Florence or alternatively, you can download our 19-page Florence worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

DESCRIPTION

  • Florence, Italian Firenze, Latin Florentia, is the city capital of Firenze provincia (province) and Toscana (Tuscany) regione (region), central Italy.
  • The city is located about 145 miles (230 km) northwest of Rome, and is surrounded by gently rolling hills that are covered with villas and farms, vineyards, and orchards.
  • Florence was founded as a Roman military colony about the 1st century BCE, and during its long history it has been a republic, a seat of the duchy of Tuscany, and a capital (1865–70) of Italy.
  • During the 14th–16th century, Florence achieved prominence in commerce and finance, learning, and the arts.
  • The present glory of Florence is mainly its past. Its historic centre was inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1982.

HISTORY

  • The foundation of Florence dates back to Roman times, despite evidence existing to show that Florence was already occupied in prehistoric times.
  • The oldest part of the city bears the imprint of these Roman origins as it originated as one of Caesar’s colonies.
  • For the sake of defense, the city was set at the confluence of two streams, the Arno and the Mugnone, where the oldest populations had previously been located.
  • Rectangular in plan, it was enclosed in a wall about 1800 meters long. The built-up area, like all the cities founded by the Romans, was characterized by straight roads which crossed at right angles.
  • The two main roads led to four towered gates and converged on a central square, the forum urbis, now Piazza della Repubblica, where the Curia and the Temple dedicated to the Capitoline Triad (Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva) were later to rise.
  • Archaeological finds, many of which came to light during the course of works “gave new life” to the old city center. Through this, it was possible to locate and identify the remains of various important public works such as the Capitoline Baths, the Baths of Capaccio, the sewage system, the pavement of the streets, and the Temple of Isis, in Piazza San Firenze.

FLORENTIA

  • By the time Julius Caesar was made a consul in 59 BC, much had changed.
  • By force of arms and diplomacy, Rome had passed from being the head of a federation of two thirds of the Italian peninsula, to master of the greatest empire ever seen, stretching from Spain to the Middle East.
  • In 88 BC, civil war had induced the Empire to grant full Roman citizenship – and hence substantial equality of rights – to its federated Italian allies, including the Etruscan cities.
  • The flip side was that, henceforth, Roman public and private law, along with the Latin language, came to dominate the peninsula and indigenous cultures were eased out of existence.
  • In the year he became consul, Caesar established a garrison town for army veterans on the Arno, naming it Florentia (‘the flourishing one’).
  • The project was part of his lex Iulia (which allotted farm plots to veterans) and construction probably began around 30 BC. Whether or not Florentia was built on the site of a pre-existing village remains a matter of learned dispute.
  • Florentia lay on a strategic river crossing and was laid out in classic Roman form, with the main east–west street, the decumanus, intersected from north to south by the cardo. The first corresponds to Via del Corso and Via degli Strozzi, the latter Via Roma and Via Calimala.
  • Piazza della Repubblica marks the site of the forum. The town walls followed Via del Proconsolo, Via de’ Cerretani, Via de’ Tornabuoni and, to the south, a rough line from Piazza Santa Trinita to the Palazzo Vecchio.

CLIMATE

  • Florence’s location is in a small basin encircled by hills which is a determining factor for its changeable climate.
  • Summers tend to be extremely hot and humid, and winters are cool and wet.
  • The average monthly temperature for July and August is about 73 to 75 °F (23 to 24 °C), with an average daytime high of about 95 °F (35 °C); the average monthly temperature for January is 41 °F (5 °C).
  • Winters tend to be short-lived, ending generally in mid-March, and bring rain rather than snow. Unpleasantly cold showers can persist into April, much to the discomfort of the throng of Easter tourists.
  • The most delightful seasons in which to visit Florence are late spring and fall, when the sky becomes an azure vault and the sun warms but does not scorch.

PEOPLE

  • Florence’s greatest poet, Dante, harshly characterized his city’s people as tightfisted, envious, and haughty. A touch of this severe judgment still clings to the Florentines, in whose makeup one tends to miss the exuberance and warmth associated with Italians in other towns and regions.
  • Perhaps the Florentines, many of whom are descendants of long lines of Florentines, are reserved in self-defense against the massive stream of tourists, several million of whom crowd the historic sections of Florence.

Florence Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about the Florence across 19 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Florence worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about the Florence, which is the capital of Italy’s Tuscany region and is the home to many masterpieces of Renaissance art and architecture. One of its most iconic sights is the Duomo, a cathedral with a terracotta-tiled dome engineered by Brunelleschi and a bell tower by Giotto.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Florence Facts
  • Fascinating Facts
  • Florence Timeline
  • Complete Me
  • For Me…
  • Description
  • Pin the Pics
  • World’s Capital City
  • Florence Puzzle
  • Florence Tour
  • What’s New?

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Link will appear as Florence Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, October 30, 2019

Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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