Florence, opening date 18-02-2006, closing date 18-02-2006.

Historical parade of the Florentine Republic to commemorate Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici's donation of the family heritage to the city.

This commemoration-day is the reverence paid by the city to the last great person of the Medici dynasty. Anna Maria Luisa, better known by the title of Elector Palatine. She was a woman of great determination and foresight who with her last will and testament, known as "The Family Pact", transferred all the possessions collected over the centuries by the Medici’s to her successors, the Grand Dukes of Lorraine on condition that they were preserved "for ever" in the city of Florence.

Thanks to "The Family Pact" the majority of the famous Medici art-collections was prevented from being split up and scattered as they most certainly would have otherwise; the paintings, statues, libraries, jewels and precious ornaments which make the Florentine artistic heritage unique.

On the anniversary of her death, which took place on 18th February 1743, the Florence commemorates her with a historic procession, which leads through the streets from Piazza della Signoria to the Princes Chapel in San Lorenzo where Anna Maria Luisa was buried. The commemoration will end with an official ceremony and a conference in Palazzo Vecchio in the presence of the city authorities On the day, there will be free-guided tours of the Medici Chapels and other museums in the city.

Edition 2006: 16.00 – procession starts from Piazzetta di Parte Guelfa arriving at the Cappelle Medicee; 16.45 – From the Cappelle Medicee to the Sala d’Arme of Palazzo Vecchio; 17.00 – Palazzo Vecchio – Piazza della Signoria: conference on the Elettrice Palatina.

For more information visit

• http://www.comune.fi.it