Florence has been for centuries the propelling centre of art, a city anciently inhabited by important patrons of art, enlightened men and great artists, now an organized and fascinating site for anyone who wishes to admire its ancient and present splendour.
Just the other day in Piazza del Duomo in Florence a fifteenth-century main door opened up to receive tourists with a new inviting proposal. Indeed, the regional capital of Tuscany has inaugurated the Art and Culture Opa-Centre, a centre characterized by high technological performances, that will lead visitors and travellers through a multimedia journey, encouraging them to find out and appreciate even more the monuments of the beautiful Florence, in particular the cathedral, the baptistery and the bell-tower. Not by chance the venue chosen is the ex rectory of San Giovanni located in the homonymous square, centre of tourism and cultural activities in Florence, just like the date 24th June, patronal festival of John The Baptist, for the inauguration attended by cardinal Ennio Antonelli.
The centre is ready to respond adequately to the needs of a city that lives on tourism, feeds itself on culture and wants to offer its incoming tourists a dynamic and state-of-the-art service, where it is possible to organize guided tours and didactic itineraries, attend video projections and publications.
The ex rectory, previously occupied by private individuals, has been warily restructured and predisposed to host the new multi-purpose centre.
The realization of this ambitious project cost about 4 million euros; a space of 1.200 square metres distributed on three levels, linked by a crystal lift, have been arranged to house 300 people, who will be able to benefit from 22 toilettes, a large bookshop, 3 rooms provided with projectors and maxi-screens, interconnected between each other with the possibility of wi-fi connection. Moreover the rooms can be rented to whom requests them and, thanks to an advanced digitalized system, this operation will be practical and fast: indeed, the interested user will be given a personal electronic key, that can be activated when needed, via telephone or internet, for a specific period.
Strangely enough but true, all this technology is in total harmony with the context; the building has not been compromised in any way, restructuration has been done in total respect of the pre-existing heritage: on the second floor there is still a fourteenth-century fresco with the annunciation and, furthermore, the opening of the centre was deferred due to some archaeological findings discovered during the works.
The extraordinary initiative of the city of Florence is not limited to proposing a simple check point, but aims at becoming an important reference point for anyone who wants to expand their knowledge on the cultural and spiritual value of the monuments in Piazza Duomo. It seems that these types of projects are taking root in Italy: in Padua, before visiting the Cappella degli Scrovegni frescoed by Giotto, tourists are spaced out and then hosted in a glass antechamber, where monitors show a instructive clip on the history of the monument and the restored frescos. This way the public enters prepared and does not have problems orienting itself or interpreting the illustrated sequences inside Giotto’s small “jewel”.
An intervention similar to the one in Tuscany was carried out  last year in Pozzuoli, in the ancient villa Livia, imperial residence, modified during the Middle Ages. Thanks to a private economic intervention of the owners of the land where the Augustan villa is situated, the wonderful residence was restored and turned into an enchanting cultural centre.
Apparently a sodality between new technologies and evidence from antiquity with respect to art seems possible.

For information http://www.operaduomo.firenze.it

translated by Giorgina Arcuri