<P> However , gelato was invented by Buontalenti , in Florence ( Tuscany ) , during the Renaissance period . The eccentric Buontalenti created the dessert for the Grand Duke Cosimo I de ' Medici , who wanted him to organize an opulent banquet to celebrate the Spanish deputation . It was October 5 , 1600 , and Buontalenti had worked for four months to prepare such a banquet . In Florence , most shops selling hand - made ice - cream also usually offer a `` Buontalenti '' flavour . In 1686 , the Sicilian fisherman Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli perfected the first ice cream machine . However , the popularity of gelato among larger shares of the population only increased in the 1920s -- 1930s in the northern Italian city of Varese , where the first gelato cart was developed . Italy is the only country where the market share of artisanal gelato versus mass - produced gelato is over 55 % . Today , more than 5,000 modern Italian ice cream parlors employ over 15,000 people . </P>
<P> However , gelato was invented by Buontalenti , in Florence ( Tuscany ) , during the Renaissance period . The eccentric Buontalenti created the dessert for the Grand Duke Cosimo I de ' Medici , who wanted him to organize an opulent banquet to celebrate the Spanish deputation . It was October 5 , 1600 , and Buontalenti had worked for four months to prepare such a banquet . In Florence , most shops selling hand - made ice - cream also usually offer a `` Buontalenti '' flavour . In 1686 , the Sicilian fisherman Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli perfected the first ice cream machine . However , the popularity of gelato among larger shares of the population only increased in the 1920s -- 1930s in the northern Italian city of Varese , where the first gelato cart was developed . Italy is the only country where the market share of artisanal gelato versus mass - produced gelato is over 55 % . Today , more than 5,000 modern Italian ice cream parlors employ over 15,000 people . </P>
1 in what part of italy was gelato first made
1 in what part of italy was gelato first made
in Florence ( Tuscany )
in Florence ( Tuscany )