Every year on January 6, Florence celebrates Epiphany with the Cavalcata dei Magi, the Cavalcade of the Magi: a historical procession in Renaissance costume that recalls one of the city’s most fascinating traditions.
The event has deep roots in fifteenth-century Florence and is closely linked to the Medici family, to the ancient Compagnia dei Magi and to one of the most extraordinary pictorial cycles of the Renaissance: the frescoes by Benozzo Gozzoli in the Chapel of the Magi at Palazzo Medici Riccardi.
The origins of the Cavalcade of the Magi
In fifteenth-century Florence, devotion to the Three Kings was particularly strong. The Compagnia dei Magi, also known as the Compagnia della Stella, organised solemn celebrations for Epiphany and brought together members of some of the city’s most important families.
On January 6, three processions traditionally crossed Florence and met near the Baptistery, before continuing towards the convent of San Marco. The pageant combined religious devotion with civic spectacle and soon became one of the most distinctive celebrations of Renaissance Florence.
The Medici and the Compagnia dei Magi
The Medici had a particularly close relationship with the Compagnia dei Magi. For them, the theme of the journey of the Three Kings had both religious and political value: the richly dressed Magi and their retinue offered an ideal image of magnificence, prestige and good government.
This connection is reflected in the art commissioned by the family and especially in the private chapel of Palazzo Medici, where the procession of the Magi becomes a splendid celebration of the Medici world.
The Chapel of the Magi by Benozzo Gozzoli
In 1459, Benozzo Gozzoli decorated the chapel of Palazzo Medici with the famous Procession of the Magi. The biblical journey is transformed into a sumptuous Renaissance courtly parade, populated by richly dressed figures, horses, exotic animals and portraits linked to the Medici circle.
The frescoes are among the most vivid images of Medici Florence and help us understand why the theme of the Magi became so closely associated with the family and with the city’s public celebrations.
The end of the tradition and its revival
After the expulsion of the Medici from Florence in 1494, the political and social world that had supported the old celebration changed profoundly, and the tradition gradually faded.
The Cavalcade was revived in 1997, on the occasion of the seven-hundredth anniversary of the foundation of Florence Cathedral. Since then, the procession has once again become one of the most recognisable events in the city’s calendar of historical traditions.
The Cavalcade of the Magi today
Today the procession traditionally starts from Palazzo Pitti and crosses the historic centre with figures in Renaissance costume, musicians, flag bearers and representatives of the Florentine historical tradition.
The Three Kings reach Piazza del Duomo, where they symbolically offer their gifts. It is a particularly evocative way to experience Florence on Epiphany and to rediscover the city’s Renaissance past through a tradition that unites history, art and public celebration.
A Florence that returns to the Renaissance
The Cavalcata dei Magi is not simply a costume parade. It brings together places, artworks and memories that are essential to Florence’s identity: the Medici, Palazzo Medici Riccardi, the Baptistery, the Cathedral and the great tradition of Renaissance pageantry.
Following the procession through the streets of the historic centre is therefore also a way of reading Florence through its history and of seeing how the city’s past continues to live in its traditions.
