SILFIspa

The municipality of Florence together with Silfispa, an enterprise which has been working in the private field for fifty years, are now carrying out a fundamental public service in a modern and efficient way through advanced technology, expertise and professionalism.

Operating the lighting system of a great city is a complex task: the growing number of lights, the new technologies of artificial lighting, and the ever increasing traffic, require high professionalism and reliability.
Lighting as a public service took place in Florence at the beginning of the ninenteenth century and passed through different modes and dimensions: from oil lampposts to gas lighting, and to electricity starting from the end of the century.

Every evening, in the Florentine district, more than 44.000 lamps are switched on. The electric power employed is of about 8.000 KW, and it is distributed to 637 trunks.
The 40.000 supports – lamp-holders, posts, and brackets – are distributed along more than 900 kilometers of streets, squares and green areas. With the artificial light another city takes life, while proposing once again, though differently, the routes and the rhythms of the daylight city.

Starting from the end of the ninenteenth century, the discovery of electricity has overcome darkness and modified the habits of mankind by opening a new night life. In this third millenium, the artificail lighting of the cities provides safety, and induces people to exploit the urban spaces and to reconcile work with entertainment. An efficient lighting is particularly important in the historical and architectural context of Florence, since it permits to enjoy its many beauties at night.

In the last few years the work of Silfispa has produced very significant results in the lighting system of the city of Florence. It is an endeavour carried out with all earnestness in the effort to face effectively the various problems which from day to day are to be coped with.