Empoli
Stories of love, musicians, painters and glassmakers

“Belltower-ism” is a serious thing in Tuscany! Want an example of this civic pride? Take, for instance, the Volo del Ciuco, which takes place every year in Empoli on the occasion of Corpus Domini, remembering the conquest of San Miniato by the Empolesi in 1397: a donkey-shaped puppet is thrown off the belltower of the famous Collegiata down to the piazza below.

In Empoli music is front and centre everywhere and anytime! The Pia Corale Santa Cecilia and Centro Studi Musicali Ferruccio Busoni begin the autumn concert season, followed by a series of concerts as late as the summer. It’s worth naming them one by one, beginning with Parole e Musica nei Musei, in which art and music come together in the city’s museums. Empoli Musica: the big spring showcase featuring music schools from all over Tuscany. Empoli Jazz Summer Festival: starring top names in the world of jazz playing in the Torrione Santa Brigida gardens and the original Opera in Piazza at the end of July. The Parco di Serravalle hosts the Beat Festival in August: contemporary sound, street food and plenty of greenery for everyone! Then there’s Nottissima, a late night of culture, and things come to a close with INBANDA!, the autumn street band event.

If you’re at the Glass Museum and someone behind you exclaims “Mother in law and daughter in law! It was used to serve oil and vinegar!" while you’re looking at a vial, don’t worry. If these shapes surprise you it just means that you’re not originally from Empoli, where someone in every family has worked in the glass factories. So many people have worked surrounded by greenery here, the colour of labour and hard work.
Today these spacious places are open to take that greenery symbolically by the hand and to connect city and country as was the case once upon a time in glassworks. The Arnovecchio Nature Park, the major Parco urbano di Serravalle Urban, a short distance from the bustling town, and the Torre dei Sogni above Villanova are all places that promise love that transcends generations.