The party in the square
Every week, Florence’s squares stage the same short spectacle. A thesis is approved inside an aula at the Università degli Studi di Firenze; ten minutes later a graduate steps into Piazza della Repubblica wearing a fresh bay-leaf crown the “corona d’alloro” while friends fire paper confetti that settles between the mosaics of the porticoes. The ritual eaches back to Apollo’s laurel tree and to Roman triumphs, which is why the degree itself is called a “laurea” and the new graduate acquires the courtesy title dottore or dottoressa, prompting the chorus you hear “do-TTO-re, do-TTO-re!” from every corner of the piazza.
The crown of laurel
The wreath is almost never plain. Florentine florists thread through satin ribbons whose colours telegraph the graduate’s faculty: medicine and most life-sciences shades of red; law dark blue; economics yellow; architecture and engineering black; humanities white; agriculture green; political science purple, and so on.
The red of confetti
Red reappears in the confetti not paper this time but sugar-coated almonds. Five almonds in a sheer pouch stand for happiness, health, fertility, longevity and wealth; red is reserved for graduation, just as white is for wedding. At the end of the ceremony, guests pocket a sachet as a lucky talisman.
Florence and its “superstitions”
Florence adds its own superstition: until the diploma is in hand, students avoid the 463 steps of Brunelleschi’s Dome and the neighbouring Campanile di Giotto. The logic is pure folklore: climbing too early, and you will jinx the thesis but once the laurel crown is secured, graduates race up both towers for celebratory photos above the terracotta rooftops.The festivities
After the piazza photographs, families migrate upward to literal and symbolic elevation: rooftops such as the Rinascente terrace on Via dei Calzaiuoli or the loggia of the Museo degli Innocenti. Prosecco replaces study-hall espresso; platters of crostini circulate; and the wreath is passed around for selfies. One leaf is often plucked and handed to a younger friend folklore says the smaller the leaf, the sooner that friend will graduate next.
The whole Graduation ceremony may seem chaotic – Latin mythology, colored ribbons, crooked choirs, sweetened almonds – but each element has its own weight. The laurel confers the title, the ribbon identifies the faculty, the chorus adds a vein of humor to success and the confetti and the toast on the terrace soften the fatigue of years of study!
If you want to know more about the histories and traditions of Florence, visit this web page!
