Next weekend come back there FAI Spring Day promoted by the Italian Environment Fund: among the various places to discover in our beautiful country, certainly not to be missed is the Stibbert Museum of Florence. On 23 and 24 March, in fact, theadmission will be free for all visitors: an opportunity to take on the fly for those who are tired of the most famous tourist routes and prefer slightly more unusual destinations.
Located just outside the historic center, it is a small museum very little known but able to fascinate young and old with a fairytale atmosphere and incredible collections. Its creator, moreover, was an absolutely out of the ordinary person: Frederick Stibbert he was born in the Tuscan capital in 1838 from an English father and a Florentine mother and throughout his life he was a collector of great intuition; over the years it turned into a private museum the family villa, which on his death he wanted to donate to the city of Florence.
From room to room, the visit unfolds in a crescendo of emotions that accompany the visitor on an extraordinary journey that goes from Europe to China and Japan, passing through the Middle East: from paintings (including a Madonna by Botticelli) to leather upholstery, from antique furniture to nineteenth-century porcelain to European, Indian, Korean, Middle Eastern costumes and even the dress worn by Napoleon I for the coronation.
On the other hand, however, these are not Stibbert's most amazing collections but the spaces dedicated to weapons of all ages and country: armor and firearms, sabers and swords, a vast collection of archaeological, European, Islamic and Japanese pieces. What certainly leaves you speechless is the display of objects that are nothing short of "scenographic". The visitor, in fact, finds himself admiring not "empty" armors but real ones processions of soldiers and knights fully armed and ready for battle, arranged in breathtaking rooms created and decorated specifically. In short, an unforgettable experience for children of all ages!
To complete the visit, it is a must and equally fascinating to look around for the beautiful English park... and do not be surprised if you will find very different structures, such as the Limonaia, the Stable, the Hellenistic Temple and the Egyptian temple overlooking the small lake, complete with obelisks, statues and sphinxes.
The Stibbert Museum is easily accessible from the center by taking thebus n. 4 from piazza dell'Unità Italiana, very close to the Santa Maria Novella railway station. The bus ticket costs 1,20 euros and is valid for 90 minutes. In 10-15 minutes you arrive at the “Gioia” stop in via Fabroni and from there you have to “hike” for about 200 meters going up via Frederick Stibbert up to the museum from which it takes its name. A small effort that is really worth doing to visit a small one “hidden” treasure a few minutes from the heart of Florence.
