Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 9.djvu/343

 FLORENCE 331 longest day is 15 hours 23 minutes ; the shortest, 8 hours 50 minutes. The average annual rainfall is about 9 inches. The drainage of the city is imperfect, and it is ill supplied with water, which is largely impregnated with carbonate of lime. The wells are shallow, not above 20 or 22 feet deep. The best drinking water is conveyed in pipes from a distance of seven miles north of Florence to the Palazzo Pitti. The water of the Arno above the town has latterly been filtered and pumped up to a reservoir for distribution in the city. Public Buildings, Parks, and Charitable Foundations. Florence contains more than 170 churches, several of which are Italian Evangelical, besides English, American, French, and German Protestant, and a large Jewish synagogue lately erected. The most remarkable arc the Badia or ancient abbey, the cathedral with its campanile, and the baptistry, Sta Maria Novella, San Marco, the SS. Annunziata, and Or San Michole, with San Miiiiato and San Francesco beyond the walls. Of the palaces, whose construction of rough hovn stone gives a peculiar character to the city, those of greatest interest are the royal residence of the Pitti, the Palazzo Vecchio or municipal palace, and the Palazzo Pdccardi, once the mansion of the Medici, but now the palace of the prefect. To these may be added the private palaces of the Strozzi, llucellai, Corsini, Corsi, Quaratesi, Gondi, Albizzi, and Alessandri. The streets of modern Florence bear the names of many illustrious citizens of the past, and in the older narrower streets which have been left standing, the former homes of Dante, Macchiavelli, Guicciardini, &c., have tablets with their names inscribed. Some of the tabernacles, or frames containing pictures of sacred subjects, with lamps burning before them, still remain, commemorating the ancient usage of praying in the corners of the streets. The walls of Florence north of the Arno have been demolished, leaving the gates isolated, huge monuments of the past. South of the Aruo the four gates of Romana, San Frediano, San Giorgio, and San Nicolo, remain as of old. The city is intersected from S.E. to N.W. by the river, which is crossed by six bridges. Two are suspension bridges, the remaining four of stone. The Ponte Vecchio, or jewellers bridge, alone retains its ancient form, and is still flanked on both sides by goldsmiths shops ; the bridge of the S. Trinita is adorned with statues, and is remarkable for the perfect symmetry of the arches. The fortresses of Belvedere and Del Basso are now only used as barracks for soldiers. Since the annexation of Tuscany to the Italian kingdom the convents in Florence have been sup pressed. A few monks are allowed to remain in each sanc tuary, but the Government has prohibited any new monks or nuns to be added to the present number. This prohibi tion is, however, constantly evaded, and some of the schools for the young continue in their hands. There are twelve hospitals, including those for the blind, deaf and dumb, and insane. The hospital for the sick of Sta Maria Nuova, was founded by Folco Portinari, the father of Dante s Beatrice, and the institute for the relief of the poveri vergognosi, or those ashamed to beg, by the good bishop Antonino, in the 15th century. One of the most important and beneficial charities is that of the Misericordia, or brothers of mercy.