Friday, April 18, or Good Friday, is the perfect day to start baking your schiacciata di Pasqua! This way, it will have risen and be ready to take pride of place on your table at Easter lunch. Find out how to make it here, theflr.net/me50jt.
Once you’ve left your schiacciata dough in a warm place to rise, make the short trip out to Grassina in the evening (bus 31) to see the traditional Easter Passion Play at 9pm. The annual Passion Play sees hundreds of residents recreating episodes from the New Testament, culminating in the Crucifixion. Various scenes from the life of Christ accompanied by music take place on a hill nearby. For more information about the play, which has been performed on and off for the past 300 years, see www.rievstoricagrassina.it.
Over the Easter weekend, you can still enjoy a spot of Florentine culture, with special museum opening hours. On Easter Sunday, museums observe normal public holiday opening hours. This year, on Easter Monday, or Pasquetta, the Uffizi Gallery, Accademia Gallery and the Medici Villa of Cerreto Guidi will be open all day, from 8.15am to 7pm. The Villa Medici at Poggio a Caiano and Petraia, as well as the Castello Villa gardens will also be open from 8.15am to 6.30pm. Other museums will observe normal opening hours, such as the Bargello Museum, 8.15am-5pm; San Marco Museum, 8.15am-4.50pm; and the Boboli Gardens, 8.15am-6.30pm.
On Saturday, April 19 and Sunday, April 20, have a rummage through the Antiques Market held in the Fortezza da Basso gardens. Stalls are set up around the garden’s fountain and lake from 9am-7.30pm. For more information call 055 270 5233.
Easter Sunday also welcomes the farmers’ market to piazza Santo Spirito. A fresh selection of seasonal fruit and vegetables, as well as organic, home-grown produce is on offer here. Open 9am-7pm.
Don’t miss Florence’s explosive Easter celebration on Easter Sunday: the famous ‘exploding cart’ (Scoppio del carro) in piazza Duomo. The ornate cart, “Brindellone”, carrying a lit candle, is pulled through the city by two white oxen from Porta al Prato to piazza del Duomo. The procession begins around 10am. Once arrived in piazza del Duomo, the Archbishop blesses the flame before lighting the colomba, or dove-shaped fuse, setting off fireworks and pyrotechnics. Legend has it that a successful explosion guarantees a year of good luck for the city. Explosion takes place around 11am.
Easter Services in English can be found at St Mark’s English Church, via Maggio 16. Sung High Mass of the Resurrection takes place at 10.30am, www.stmarksitaly.com.
At St James’ Episcopal Church, (via Rucellai 9) Easter Mass of the Resurrection is at 9am and 11am. At 12noon, there will be prosecco on the front Portico and an Easter egg hunt for children in the Parish gardens, http://stjames.it.
