Palazzo Pitti's Royal Apartments Open to Public for First Time

For the first time, the Duchess of Savoy's apartment in Florence's Palazzo Pitti is regularly accessible to the public, following restoration. The apartment, named after Anna of France—widow of Duke Amedeo of Aosta who lived there until after WWII—opens on September 29 and then every Sunday from November, with guided tours. Located on the noble floor overlooking the Boboli Gardens, it was a private residence for grand dukes, kings, and queens from the 16th to 20th centuries. Originally acquired by Cosimo I de' Medici and Eleonora of Toledo in the 16th century, it later housed Maria de' Medici, Ferdinando II and Vittoria della Rovere, and Cardinal Leopoldo's Accademia del Cimento. In the 18th century, it passed to the Lorraine and then Savoy families, becoming the "Winter Quarter." After the Grand Duchy of Tuscany ended, it was called "Apartment of His Majesty the King." Uffizi Galleries director Simone Verde stated this opening is a key step in Palazzo Pitti's relaunch plan, with more spaces to follow: the Treasury of the Grand Dukes on the ground floor and the Royal Apartments on the first floor. Currently visitable rooms include the Red Salon (with 18th-century console and round table), the Study (with bronze and wood chandelier and portrait of Umberto I by Eurisio Capocci), and the King's Room (with canopy bed, monumental stove, and 19th-century copy of Raphael's Madonna della Seggiola).