Uffizi ticket prices in high season will rise to €25 from 1 March.

The Uffizi in Florence will raise the price of individual tickets in the high season to cope with rising costs in the energy and construction sectors, the gallery said on Tuesday.

The new cost of tickets in the high season - from 1 March to 30 November - will be €25 instead of the current €20.

However for early morning visitors during the high season there will be a discounted ticket price of €19 between 08.15 and 08.55.

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The cost of tickets for Palazzo Pitti and the Boboli Gardens, which are part of the Uffizi Galleries complex, remain unchanged.

Seasonal and family passes also remain unchanged as does the €12 ticket price to visit the Uffizi during the low season (1 December to 28 February).

The increase in high-season ticket prices was decided by the Uffizi board of directors, and approved by the regional directorate of museums of Tuscany and Italy's culture ministry.

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"I think it's right, we have to adapt to European standards", culture minister Gennaro Sangiuliano told reporters at Pompeii on Tuesday in response to a question on the increase of the Uffizi ticket prices and the possibility that other Italian cultural sites will follow suit.

"On average, the large European sites cost more" - Sangiuliano said - "I think that the increase also responds to a so-called "moral" question: for an average American family that spends €10-20 thousand to come to Italy, paying €20 for a ticket is something that can be done".