Italian president Sergio Mattarella visits Florence

Italian president Sergio Mattarella visits Florence

A security stronghold of more than 180 soldiers will be guarding Sergio Mattarella and Florence’s most historic buildings today. The Italian president is visiting the city to mark the end of 150th commemorations of Florence as the former capital of Italy ("Firenze Capitale"). In the morning, Mattarella will

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Thu 05 Nov 2015 11:00 AM

A security stronghold of more than 180 soldiers will be guarding Sergio Mattarella and Florence’s most historic buildings today. The Italian president is visiting the city to mark the end of 150th commemorations of Florence as the former capital of Italy (“Firenze Capitale”).

In the morning, Mattarella will attend the ceremony commemorating when the lower house of the Italian parliament took up office in the Palazzo Vecchio’s Salone dei Cinquecento, back when Florence became the Italian capital in 1865. During the celebrations, Mattarella will be appointed honorary academician at the historic Accademia della Crusca. Later in the day, he will visit the Medici villa at Castello, home to the Accademia della Crusca.

 

This is a major security test for Florence in the wake of the recent terror attacks in Paris and ahead of the NATO summit, which will take place at the Palazzo Vecchio on November 26 and 27.

 

The presidential visit comes as Dario Nardella’s city administration considers the return of metal detectors at the Palazzo Vecchio, which former mayor Matteo Renzi had removed in 2009.

 

The city’s museums are also raising their security levels. New director of the Uffizi Eike Schmidt: “We are about to reinstall metal detectors at Palazzo Vecchio too… Those at the Uffizi already work perfectly. We are working on new supplementary measures, invisible ones however.”

 

Today, active checks have been reinforced at the American Consulate, the Synagogue, the Curia, Duomo and the basilicas of Santa Croce, Santo Spirito and San Lorenzo.

 

Yesterday morning, the Carabinieri intervened amid fears of a bomb along via Torta in the Santa Croce neighbourhood. Checks revealed the box to contain batteries.

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