London Armor Collection Moves To New Museum

Q. I recently heard that the Tower of London’s collection of armor will be housed in a new museum. Can you provide details? Is the tower itself launching any new exhibitions that focus on weaponry?

A. For more than 450 years, the collection of arms and armor belonging to the Royal Armories has been displayed in the White Tower at the Tower of London. Limited space at the tower meant that only 10 percent of the 43,000-piece collection, which dates back to 320 B.C., could be viewed.

On Wednesday, a $66 million, 25,000-square-foot Royal Armories Museum in Leeds will open. The museum will display approximately 7,000 pieces in five galleries and will feature interactive computer displays. Exhibits in four of the galleries will illustrate the use of arms and armor in war, hunting, tournaments and self-defense.

The fifth gallery will be devoted to Asian armor and weapons. Exhibits here include a Chinese helmet from 350 B.C. and a display on modern sword-making in Japan.

Leeds, 185 miles north of London, can be reached by train from London’s Kings Cross station.

The journey takes about 2 hours and 15 minutes. The Royal Armories Museum is a 10-minute walk from the station.

At the Tower of London, a new permanent display, which will trace the history of the 900-year-old White Tower from a Norman castle to royal arsenal and public showplace, is being developed.

A highlight of the exhibition will be the Tudor and Stuart royal armors. The first stage of the permanent exhibition is scheduled to open in the spring of 1997. Currently on view on the ground floor is an exhibition of instruments of torture and armor for kings.

Q. My wife and I will be in Florence in September and would like to take day trips to nearby towns. Are there any regional festivals in the surrounding area?

A. Many of the small towns around Florence are hosts to festivities in September.

For example, the town of Bagno a Ripoli, about six miles east of Florence, holds the Palio dei Rioni e Giostra della Stella (the Palio of the Districts and the Joust of the Star) on the second Sunday of the month (Sept. 8 this year). The palio is similar to the better-known version held in Siena each year. The four rioni, or neighborhoods, of Bagno a Ripoli compete in various activities, including the “joust of the star,” in which four riders, one from each district, try to put a lance through the center of a large, handmade star.

The town of Figline Valdarno, 21 miles south of Florence, holds the Festa del Perdono (the Feast of Forgiveness) from Aug. 31 to Sept. 3. Here again, the neighborhoods hold various competitions, the most important being the Palio di San Rocco, in which “knights” on horses try to lance a life-size puppet called the Buratto (a slang term for “shape” or “figure”). There is also a parade with floats depicting the town’s history.

Another popular festival, the Festa dell’Uva (Grape Festival), is held on the last Sunday of September in Impruneta, just before the grape harvest. The four rioni of the town, which is about eight miles south of Florence, compete by building elaborate floats related to the growing of grapes, the making of wine and other agricultural themes.

The parade winds through the town and ends up at the central square.