President Mattarella to attend a ceremony in Florence on 4 November as Florence remembers the devastating flood and the “Mud Angels” who came to the city's rescue.Florence will on Wednesday 4 November mark 60 years since the River Arno flooded the city, leaving thousands homeless and damaging some of the world’s most treasured works of art.President Sergio Mattarella will attend the main ceremony on Wednesday afternoon, after marking National Unity and Armed Forces Day in the Tuscan capital that morning. The Great Flood On the night of 3-4 November 1966, after 10 days of relentless rain, the Arno overflowed in the Casentino and Upper Valdarno areas. When the flood reached Florence, a wave about three metres high surged through the streets at some 60 km an hour, according to Italy’s civil protection department. A plaque in Via dei Neri, in the Santa Croce district, records the highest level reached: 4.92 metres. There was no river-monitoring network to give advance warning, and many residents were caught by surprise. The fact that 4 November was a national holiday, with schools and offices closed, meant many people were at home. When the water receded on 6 November, it left behind an estimated 600,000 tonnes of mud. The death toll is still debated by historians, with estimates ranging from 35 to 47 across Tuscany. More than 46,000 people lost their homes. Cultural damage Some 1,500 artworks were destroyed or badly damaged, while over 1.3 million volumes at the National Central Library were submerged. In the Basilica of Santa Croce, floodwater reached more than five metres. Cimabue’s Crucifix, one of the key works of early Italian painting, lost a large share of its paint surface, with estimates ranging from 60 to 70 per cent. Mud Angels Police, carabinieri, soldiers and firefighters were rushed to the city. Firefighters alone carried out more than 9,000 rescue operations on the night of 4-5 November. But the military response lacked coordination, and a properly organised government relief effort took six days to materialise. Into that gap stepped thousands of volunteers from across Italy and abroad, reportedly from 70 countries. Dubbed the "angeli del fango" (Mud Angels) – a phrase attributed to journalist Giovanni Grazzini of the Corriere della Sera – students, artists and ordinary citizens worked, often with bare hands, to clear streets and rescue books and paintings. Anniversary programme The anniversary programme stems from an agreement between the city of Florence, the Tuscany Region, the University of Florence and the Metropolitan City. The main day, 4 November, begins at 09.00 with a Mass in Santa Croce led by Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti. A procession follows at 10.15 to Ponte alle Grazie, where a wreath will be laid in the Arno at 10.30. At midday, the Accademia di Belle Arti opens the exhibition Le forme del fango. The official ceremony, attended by Mattarella, takes place at 16.30 at Palazzo Vecchio. The exhibition Firenze per il mondo, il mondo per Firenze also opens that day in the Sala d’Arme and runs until 22 November. The State Archives, the National Central Library and the Zeffirelli Foundation will open specially. In the evening, singer Marco Masini performs at the Mandela Forum, and a documentary on Mayor Piero Bargellini, “Bargellini, il sindaco dell’Alluvione”, airs on LA7 at 23.30. Events before and after 4 November 29 October: the Italian Red Cross opens an exhibition at Santa Maria Novella station at 11.00. 2 November: the city unveils plaques honouring journalists who raised the alarm during the flood, including Enrico Mattei, editor of La Nazione, and Dante Nocentini, head of ANSA’s Tuscan office 3 November: the city council holds an extraordinary session on the Generation of the Mud Angels at 17.30. From 5 November: photography exhibitions at Palazzo Medici Riccardi and a conference, The Mud Angels Legacy, at the university’s Aula Magna at 15.00. The State Archives and the Fondazione CR Firenze are also behind Ri-Emergere. 1966-2026, which opens with a ceremony at 17.00 on 4 November. The exhibition runs until 6 February 2027. In Rome, the exhibition La memoria restituita. La risposta di Roma all’alluvione di Firenze del 1966 runs until 6 November.   Legacy The painstaking restoration of Cimabue's Crucifix helped lead to a new technique known as “chromatic abstraction”, later used on other works. Florence also became a centre for conservation science. Nationally, the flood exposed the lack of a system for forecasting, preventing and responding to disasters. A first legislative answer came in 1970 with Law 996, which set out a framework for civil protection and, for the first time, formally recognised the role of volunteers.

Florence will on Wednesday 4 November mark 60 years since the River Arno flooded the city, leaving thousands homeless and damaging some of the world’s most treasured works of art. President Sergio Mattarella will attend the  on Wednesday afternoon, after marking in the Tuscan capital that morning. On the night of 3-4 November 1966, after 10 days of relentless rain, the Arno overflowed in the Casentino and Upper Valdarno areas. When the flood reached Florence, a wave about three metres high surged through the streets at some 60 km an hour, according to Italy’s civil protection department. A plaque in Via dei Neri, in the Santa Croce district, records the highest level reached: 4.92 metres. There was no river-monitoring network to give advance warning, and many residents were caught by surprise. The fact that 4 November was a national holiday, with schools and offices closed, meant many people were at home. When the water receded on 6 November, it left behind an estimated 600,000 tonnes of mud. The death toll is still debated by historians, with estimates ranging from 35 to 47 across Tuscany. More than 46,000 people lost their homes. Some 1,500 artworks were destroyed or badly damaged, while over 1.3 million volumes at the National Central Library were submerged. In the Basilica of Santa Croce, floodwater reached more than five metres. Cimabue’s Crucifix, one of the key works of early Italian painting, lost a large share of its paint surface, with estimates ranging from 60 to 70 per cent. Police, carabinieri, soldiers and firefighters were rushed to the city. Firefighters alone carried out more than 9,000 rescue operations on the night of 4-5 November. But the military response lacked coordination, and a properly organised government relief effort took six days to materialise. Into that gap stepped thousands of volunteers from across Italy and abroad, reportedly from 70 countries. Dubbed the "angeli del fango" (Mud Angels) – a phrase attributed to journalist Giovanni Grazzini of the Corriere della Sera – students, artists and ordinary citizens worked, often with bare hands, to clear streets and rescue books and paintings. The  stems from an agreement between the city of Florence, the Tuscany Region, the University of Florence and the Metropolitan City. The main day, 4 November, begins at 09.00 with a Mass in Santa Croce led by Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti. A procession follows at 10.15 to Ponte alle Grazie, where a wreath will be laid in the Arno at 10.30. At midday, the Accademia di Belle Arti opens the exhibition Le forme del fango. The official ceremony, attended by Mattarella, takes place at 16.30 at Palazzo Vecchio. The exhibition Firenze per il mondo, il mondo per Firenze also opens that day in the Sala d’Arme and runs until 22 November. The State Archives, the National Central Library and the Zeffirelli Foundation will open specially. In the evening, singer Marco Masini performs at the Mandela Forum, and a documentary on Mayor Piero Bargellini, “Bargellini, il sindaco dell’Alluvione”, airs on LA7 at 23.30.

• 29 October: the Italian Red Cross opens an exhibition at Santa Maria Novella station at 11.00.
• 2 November: the city unveils plaques
  honouring journalists
  who raised the alarm during the flood, including Enrico Mattei, editor of La Nazione, and Dante Nocentini, head of ANSA’s Tuscan office
• 3 November: the city council holds an extraordinary session on the Generation of the Mud Angels at 17.30.
• From 5 November: photography exhibitions at Palazzo Medici Riccardi and a conference, The Mud Angels Legacy, at the university’s Aula Magna at 15.00.

The State Archives and the Fondazione CR Firenze are also behind Ri-Emergere. 1966-2026, which opens with a ceremony at 17.00 on 4 November. The exhibition runs until 6 February 2027. In Rome,  La memoria restituita. La risposta di Roma all’alluvione di Firenze del 1966 runs until 6 November.   The painstaking restoration of Cimabue's Crucifix helped lead to a new technique known as “chromatic abstraction”, later used on other works. Florence also became a centre for conservation science. Nationally, the flood exposed the lack of a system for forecasting, preventing and responding to disasters. A first legislative answer came in 1970 with Law 996, which set out a framework for civil protection and, for the first time, formally recognised the role of volunteers.