April 3, 2025

Florence World Heritage, the new book about the city's beauty

A journey into this Unesco World Heritage jewel through the shots of Massimo Listri and Massimo Sestini and the words of Carlo Francini

Florence is a jewel of art and history that has enchanted the entire world for centuries. Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982, Florence is a place where every corner tells a story, where shapes and colors blend into an unparalleled urban landscape.

Edited by Carlo Francini, director of the Florentine Civic Museums and head of the Florence World Heritage Office of the City of Florence, published by Gruppo Editoriale and produced with the support of the City of Florence, the Ministry of Tourism, Feel Florence and Florence World Heritage, Florence World Heritage explores the iconic places of Florence through the photographs of two Florentine photographers, artists of international renown: Massimo Listri, known for his exhibitions in the most prestigious museums in the world, and Massimo Sestini, famous for his aerial photographs and winner of the World Press Photo of the Year.

Florence World Heritage is a collector's book, an elegant 256-page coffee table book made of precious red canvas, which gathers the essence of the city in a large and refined format. A work that celebrates the art, history and culture of Florence, making it accessible to all through photographic art.

Flipping through the pages of Florence World Heritage is like taking an exciting journey into the heart of the city. Each photograph captures the essence of Florence, capturing iconic monuments and places such as the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, with its majestic Brunelleschi dome, Palazzo Vecchio and the Uffizi, home to one of the world's most important art collections. Massimo Listri and Massimo Sestini's images offer unique perspectives of the city: while Listri guides us in a visual reflection that combines past and present, Sestini gives us an aerial view of an urban network that transforms but remains unchanged in its essence. The Cathedral, the Palazzo Vecchio, and the masterpieces of artists such as Masaccio, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Leonardo come to life, telling the story of an era that gave the world immeasurable cultural treasures.

As the Mayor of Florence, Sara Funaro, points out, “Scrolling through this volume means rediscovering the beating heart of Florence, a city that, as Carlo Francini explains, has been able to write pages of history and donate beauty, expertise, and knowledge to the entire world. It is a legacy of which we must be aware, first and foremost those who have the honor of administering, and it must be the lever on which to build cutting-edge policies, because the certainty of having been protagonists in our past must guide us to still be protagonists in today and in the future.”