Urban decor, from the exhibition on creative recycling to cleaning actions: Florence celebrates 15 years of the Angeli del Bello
From October 11th to 21st, ten days of events will celebrate the anniversary of the Foundation, founded in the Tuscan capital and spread to other municipalities. President Moretti: "Civic sense and care for common goods can change a city."
Florence, October 6, 2025 – It is a small community that, without asking for anything in return, generously commits to taking care of the territory. They are the "Angeli del Bello” who for 15 years have been protecting the beauty and decorum of squares, gardens, buildings, and monuments every day, picking up rubbish, caring for plants, flowers, and lawns, and erasing scribbles from walls.
The Foundation Angeli del Bello celebrates its fifteenth anniversary with a program of initiatives from October 11th to 21st, involving Florence and its affiliated municipalities in symbolic events that showcase the power of civic volunteering and the value of beauty as a common good. The final event will be on Tuesday, October 21st in the Salone dei Cinquecento in Palazzo Vecchio with the initiative "The Beauty of Doing": it will bring together volunteers from across Italy for a solemn moment of recognition and sharing.
Founded in Florence in 2010, over the years the Foundation has built a team of thousands of citizens who have chosen to dedicate their time and energy to caring for the places they live. From this experience, a network was born that now includes over twenty local organizations throughout Italy, from Milan to Naples, up to the latest affiliate in Bari.
“This anniversary is not just a recurrence – comments Giorgio Moretti, president of the Foundation Angeli del Bello – but rather the demonstration that civic sense and care for common goods can transform a city. Florence was the starting point, but today we are present in many other Italian cities. Every intervention is a testimony: beauty is not inherited, it is cultivated and protected.
The program will kick off on Saturday, October 11th, in Empoli's Piazza Matteotti with the "Together for Empoli" event, which will see volunteers working with students from the Virgilio Institute and local institutions to remove graffiti defaced walls in the historic center. In Florence, volunteers will be in the Legnaia-Soffiano neighborhood to clean up the garden on Via Tribolo and the surrounding area.
The following day, Sunday, October 12, the spotlight will be on the Mugnone in Florence with the initiative “Let's take care of urban watercourses,” organized with WWF Italy and Erasmus students.
On Monday, October 13th, the focus will be on Stibbert Park in Florence (together with students from Fairfield University), the area around Torregalli Hospital (with the CamminPulendo Q4 Group, “Erba voglio senza un foglio”), and the Bellariva Garden.
In Florence, Tuesday, October 14th will be the turn of the garden of the Villa Medicea di Castello (under the watchful eye of the professionals from the new Autonomous Museum of Florentine Villas and Monumental Residences of the MiC) and Piazza de' Ciompi (with students from California State University); Wednesday, October 15th at Parco San Donato (where at 11 a.m. the project "Sowing Ideas. Learning to Design, Create, and Care for a Wild Garden" will be presented, developed with the L'Erba Canta association and with the contribution of the Fondazione CR Firenze), the Chess Garden on Via Danti, the Iris Garden, and the Horticultural Garden (here with the students from the Cannocchiale Day Center).
On Thursday, October 16th, the spotlight will be on the Campo di Marte playground and Piazza Puccini, while on Friday, October 17th, cleaning will take place at the Rose Garden in Florence, in Piazza Pertini in Pontassieve, and at the Gasometro park in Florence (with all the entities of the Gasometro Park Condominium and the Voci del Gasometro community).
On the same day the new group will be born at Sammezzano Castle Angeli del Bello Reggello-Sammezzano, further confirmation of the vitality of a constantly growing national network.
On Saturday 18th October in the morning (from 11am to 12pm) in Piazza Brunelleschi in Florence, the Rotonda del Brunelleschi will be presented, restored to its former glory thanks to the work of the Custodi del Bello, the protocol with the Superintendency, the protocol with the Municipality of Florence, the assistance of ANMIG – National Association of War Invalids and Mutilated, and the support of the Museo de' Medici. At 12:00 PM at the Museo de' Medici, located at the Rotonda, the Santa Croce REFIT project will be presented, the urban regeneration of one of Florence's iconic neighborhoods with the help and contribution of Crédit Agricole Italia. In the afternoon, from 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM, the Casa del Bello per Firenze at Porta San Frediano will open the exhibition "Beauty Reborn: Between Art and Sustainability." The exhibition brings together works of urban art born from recycling, created over the years with wood and branches, beer caps, and markers. The artists themselves will present works alongside a selection of works from Second Life, the art contest promoted by Plures Alia. Born in 2021-2022 as an initiative dedicated to the recovery and second life of matter, Second Life has so far involved hundreds of young Italian and international artists, who have chosen to explore their creative vein on the relationship with sustainability.
A guided tour of the garden of the Medici Villa Castello is scheduled for Sunday, October 19th.
The conference "Towards a New Criminal Justice System: Between Community, Territory, and the Care of Beauty" will be held on Monday, October 20th (followed by a tour of the Palazzo dedicated to volunteers), coordinated by Alessandro Crini, a former magistrate and member of the Foundation's board of directors. Angeli del BelloParticipants will include: Silvana Sciarra, President Emeritus of the Constitutional Court and currently Chair of the Steering Committee of the Scuola Superiore della Magistratura; Francesco Palazzo, Professor Emeritus of Criminal Law at the University of Florence; Tommaso Greco, Professor of Philosophy of Law at the University of Pisa; Roberto Bartoli, Professor of Criminal Law at the University of Florence; Marcello Bortolato, President of the Surveillance Court of Florence; and Giulia Moleri, Director of the Interdistrict Penal Enforcement Office.
In the afternoon, micro-cleaning actions took place in Independence Square, with students from New York University.
On Tuesday 21 October in the Salone dei Cinquecento of Palazzo Vecchio the event “The Beauty of Doing” will bring together volunteers from all over Italy for a solemn moment of recognition and sharing: fifteen years of Angeli del Bello They tell a story that doesn't belong only to Florence, a widespread community that demonstrates how beauty is not a passive legacy, but a daily commitment that unites citizens, institutions, and businesses.
