Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share The flooding of Florence
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
The flooding of Florence
In November, 1966, Florence suffered one of the worst floods in its history after heavy rainfall caused the River Arno to burst.
The Italian city was submerged under tons of mud, rubble and sewage, leaving thousands homeless and destroying around 14,000 art treasures, and millions of books and manuscripts.
Among those who came to the rescue were the so-called ‘mud angels’ – young people from around the world who wanted to help in the clean-up.
Antonina Bargellini, then the 22-year-old daughter of the city’s mayor, recalls days of deep mud and stinking streets. She tells Jane Wilkinson about what happened.
Archive from BBC, British Pathe and Associated Press, plus Florence: Days of Destruction, directed by Franco Zeffirelli in 1966.
Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there.
For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.
Recent episodes explore everything from the death of Adolf Hitler, the first spacewalk and the making of the movie Jaws, to celebrity tortoise Lonesome George, the Kobe earthquake and the invention of superglue.
We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: Eva Peron – Argentina’s Evita; President Ronald Reagan and his famous ‘tear down this wall’ speech; Thomas Keneally on why he wrote Schindler’s List; and Jacques Derrida, France’s ‘rock star’ philosopher.
You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the civil rights swimming protest; the disastrous D-Day rehearsal; and the death of one of the world’s oldest languages.
(Photo: Flooded street in Florence, 1966. Credit: Giorgio Lotti/Mondadori via Getty Image)
View all episodes
By BBC World Service
4.5
903903 ratings
In November, 1966, Florence suffered one of the worst floods in its history after heavy rainfall caused the River Arno to burst.
The Italian city was submerged under tons of mud, rubble and sewage, leaving thousands homeless and destroying around 14,000 art treasures, and millions of books and manuscripts.
Among those who came to the rescue were the so-called ‘mud angels’ – young people from around the world who wanted to help in the clean-up.
Antonina Bargellini, then the 22-year-old daughter of the city’s mayor, recalls days of deep mud and stinking streets. She tells Jane Wilkinson about what happened.
Archive from BBC, British Pathe and Associated Press, plus Florence: Days of Destruction, directed by Franco Zeffirelli in 1966.
Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there.
For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.
Recent episodes explore everything from the death of Adolf Hitler, the first spacewalk and the making of the movie Jaws, to celebrity tortoise Lonesome George, the Kobe earthquake and the invention of superglue.
We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: Eva Peron – Argentina’s Evita; President Ronald Reagan and his famous ‘tear down this wall’ speech; Thomas Keneally on why he wrote Schindler’s List; and Jacques Derrida, France’s ‘rock star’ philosopher.
You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the civil rights swimming protest; the disastrous D-Day rehearsal; and the death of one of the world’s oldest languages.
(Photo: Flooded street in Florence, 1966. Credit: Giorgio Lotti/Mondadori via Getty Image)
More shows like Witness History
View all
Global News Podcast
7,913 Listeners
From Our Own Correspondent
376 Listeners
Business Daily
523 Listeners
More or Less
863 Listeners
Newshour
1,067 Listeners
World Business Report
296 Listeners
In Our Time
5,576 Listeners
The Documentary Podcast
1,808 Listeners
HistoryExtra podcast
3,196 Listeners
The History Hour
586 Listeners
Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4
2,113 Listeners
Great Lives
488 Listeners
The Interview
357 Listeners
Lives Less Ordinary
580 Listeners
The Inquiry
746 Listeners
The Life Scientific
227 Listeners
The Audio Long Read
841 Listeners
Unexpected Elements
363 Listeners
CrowdScience
471 Listeners
Evil Genius with Russell Kane
346 Listeners
Have You Heard George's Podcast?
235 Listeners
Elis James and John Robins
326 Listeners
You're Dead to Me
3,245 Listeners
Sport's Strangest Crimes
73 Listeners
Uncanny
689 Listeners
Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley
528 Listeners
Believe in Magic
630 Listeners
History's Heroes
504 Listeners
The Global Story
394 Listeners
Miss Me?
239 Listeners
The History Podcast
54 Listeners
Rory Stewart: The Long History of...
80 Listeners
The History Bureau
96 Listeners