World of Stamps: Florence By Geir Sør-Reime In the February Stamp News Online, we looked at Rome, the capital city of modern Italy since 1871. We recall that Italy was divided into a num- ber of petty states prior to unification 1860-70. In 1859-61, most of Italy except the core of the Papal States and the Austrian domains around Venice (acquired Street map showing Florence attractions 1866) was united into one king- dom, cen- tered round the Royal H o u s e o f Savoy, re- s i d i n g i n Turin. Left, Italy 1970 for centenary union of Naturally, Turin be- Papal States with the rest of Italy and came the first capital showing buildings in the three capitals city of unified Italy, of re-united Italy (Turin, Florence (Old but already in 1865, Palace) and Rome) (Sc. 1019); right, 2011 Canopy for celebration of Italian the Royal Family and re-unification the government of Italy moved to Florence, which then became the provisional capital city of Italy until 1871. During Napoleon’s rule over Italy, he also used Florence as his city of residence. Otherwise, Florence was the capital of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. Issue 21 - September 7, 2012 - StampNewsOnline.net If you enjoy this article, and are not already a subscriber, for $12 a year you can enjoy 60+ pages a month. To subscribe, email
[email protected] Florence was a Roman city, and was originally named Fluentia, later corrupted to Florentia. During the 14th to 16th centuries, it was probably the most important city of Europe, politically, economically, culturally and artisti- cally.