The charm of Florence
Visite turistiche
The Gallery occupies the entire first and second floor of the large building built between 1560 and 1580 to a design by Giorgio Vasari: it is one of the most famous museums in the world for its extraordinary collections of ancient sculptures and paintings (from the Middle Ages to the modern). The collections of paintings of the fourteenth century and of the Renaissance contain some absolute masterpieces of art of all times: just remember the names of Giotto, Simone Martini, Piero della Francesca, Beato Angelico, Filippo Lippi, Botticelli, Mantegna, Correggio, Leonardo, Raffaello , Michelangelo, Caravaggio, as well as masterpieces of European painting, especially German, Dutch and Flemish. No less important in the panorama of Italian art is the collection of statuary and busts from the antiquity of the Medici family. The collection graces the corridors of the Gallery and includes ancient Roman sculptures, copies of lost Greek originals.
Opening time
from Tuesday to Sunday, from 8.15 to 18.50
Closure
Every Monday; January 1st; 25th December
https://www.uffizi.it/gli-uffizi
1671 recommandé par les habitants
Uffizi Gallery
6 Piazzale degli UffiziThe Gallery occupies the entire first and second floor of the large building built between 1560 and 1580 to a design by Giorgio Vasari: it is one of the most famous museums in the world for its extraordinary collections of ancient sculptures and paintings (from the Middle Ages to the modern). The collections of paintings of the fourteenth century and of the Renaissance contain some absolute masterpieces of art of all times: just remember the names of Giotto, Simone Martini, Piero della Francesca, Beato Angelico, Filippo Lippi, Botticelli, Mantegna, Correggio, Leonardo, Raffaello , Michelangelo, Caravaggio, as well as masterpieces of European painting, especially German, Dutch and Flemish. No less important in the panorama of Italian art is the collection of statuary and busts from the antiquity of the Medici family. The collection graces the corridors of the Gallery and includes ancient Roman sculptures, copies of lost Greek originals.
Opening time
from Tuesday to Sunday, from 8.15 to 18.50
Closure
Every Monday; January 1st; 25th December
https://www.uffizi.it/gli-uffizi
Opening time
From Tuesday to Sunday from 9.00 am to 6.45 pm (last admission 6.15 pm). Reservations are required on Saturdays and Sundays (ex D.L. 52/2021)
Closed: 1st January, 25th December, every Monday
Reservations are required on Saturdays and Sundays (ex D.L. 52/2021)
closures: 1st January, 25th December, every Monday
https://www.galleriaaccademiafirenze.it/visita/#
1077 recommandé par les habitants
Galleria dell'Accademia
58 Via RicasoliOpening time
From Tuesday to Sunday from 9.00 am to 6.45 pm (last admission 6.15 pm). Reservations are required on Saturdays and Sundays (ex D.L. 52/2021)
Closed: 1st January, 25th December, every Monday
Reservations are required on Saturdays and Sundays (ex D.L. 52/2021)
closures: 1st January, 25th December, every Monday
https://www.galleriaaccademiafirenze.it/visita/#
Santa Maria del Fiore, whose construction was designed by Arnolfo di Cambio, is the third church in the world (after San Pietro in Rome, San Paolo in London) and the largest in Europe at the time of its completion in the 15th century: it is long 153 meters, 90 meters wide at the cross and 90 meters high from the floor at the opening of the lantern. It, the third and last Florentine cathedral, was entitled in 1412 to Santa Maria del Fiore with a clear allusion to the lily, the symbol of the city.
It rose above the second cathedral, which early Christian Florence had dedicated to Santa Reparata.
The remarkable differences of style revealed in its parts are the testimony of the variation of taste in the long period elapsed between its foundation and completion.
The first stone of the facade was placed on 8 September 1296, based on a project by Arnolfo di Cambio. He worked for the Cathedral from 1296 to 1302. He devised a basilica with classical spaces, with three large naves that flowed into the vast choir where the high altar is placed, in turn surrounded by the stands on which the Dome will then be grafted.
opening hours from Monday to Saturday 10.45-16.30
closed on Sunday.
check timetable on https://duomo.firenze.it/it/home#times
Arnolfo's project was noticeably different from the current structure of the church, as can be seen from the outside. On the sides of the building, in fact, to the north and south, we note that the first four windows are lower, narrower and closer together than those towards the east, which correspond, instead, to the enlargement made by Francesco Talenti, master builder starting from from the mid-1300s.
Arnolfo finishes two spans and half of the new facade.
The facade was dismantled in 1587 when the Grand Duke Francesco I de 'Medici decided to build a new one in Modena and the surviving statues that decorated it are now on display in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo.
On Arnolfo's death, which occurred around 1310, the works slowed down, to certainly resume in 1331 when the magistrates of the Wool Guild took care of the construction. In 1334 he was appointed master builder of the Opera Giotto who mainly dealt with the construction of the bell tower and died three years later. Giotto was taken over by Andrea Pisano until 1348, the year of the terrible plague that decimated the city population from 90,000 to 45,000 inhabitants.
The works continued between interruptions and resumptions until, following the competition announced in 1367, the definitive model of the church proposed by four architects and four painters was accepted, including Andrea di Bonaiuto, Benci and Andrea di Cione, Taddeo Gaddi and Neri by Fioravante.
From 1349 to 1959, the direction is up to Francesco Talenti, who completes the bell tower and prepares a new project assisted (from 1360 to '69) by Giovanni di Lapo Ghini. In 1378 the vault of the central nave was completed, and in 1380 the minor aisles were completed. Between 1380 and 1421 the tribunes and perhaps also the drum of the Dome were built.
Outside the marble cladding works and the decoration of the side entrances continued, including the Porta dei Canonici (to the south) and the Porta della Mandorla (to the north), crowned by the relief with the Assumption (1414-1421), refined work by Nanni di Banco.
The other two doors are also elegant: that of the Campanile (to the south), in the second bay, with reliefs from the school of Andrea Pisano and the Porta della Balla (to the north), whose name derives from the ancient opening on the Florentine walls in Via dei Servi (Borgo di Balla), where the wool art drawing machines were located.
The apse part closes the Cathedral with dignity with three large stands with Gothic mullioned windows. Four exedras, or dead tribunes, decorate the base of the drum.
In the nineteenth century, a series of interventions - among the most important we remember the new choir stalls of Santa Maria del Fiore and the simplification of the Bandinellian choir, which was deprived of the entire column superstructure and statues on the altar - completed the Cathedral. However, the most demanding work of all was the façade of the Duomo, carried out by Emilio De Fabris and collaborators between 1871 and 1884 who aspired to reproduce the Florentine decorativism of the '300, found in the bell tower and on the side doors of the Cathedral.
1085 recommandé par les habitants
Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore
Piazza del DuomoSanta Maria del Fiore, whose construction was designed by Arnolfo di Cambio, is the third church in the world (after San Pietro in Rome, San Paolo in London) and the largest in Europe at the time of its completion in the 15th century: it is long 153 meters, 90 meters wide at the cross and 90 meters high from the floor at the opening of the lantern. It, the third and last Florentine cathedral, was entitled in 1412 to Santa Maria del Fiore with a clear allusion to the lily, the symbol of the city.
It rose above the second cathedral, which early Christian Florence had dedicated to Santa Reparata.
The remarkable differences of style revealed in its parts are the testimony of the variation of taste in the long period elapsed between its foundation and completion.
The first stone of the facade was placed on 8 September 1296, based on a project by Arnolfo di Cambio. He worked for the Cathedral from 1296 to 1302. He devised a basilica with classical spaces, with three large naves that flowed into the vast choir where the high altar is placed, in turn surrounded by the stands on which the Dome will then be grafted.
opening hours from Monday to Saturday 10.45-16.30
closed on Sunday.
check timetable on https://duomo.firenze.it/it/home#times
Arnolfo's project was noticeably different from the current structure of the church, as can be seen from the outside. On the sides of the building, in fact, to the north and south, we note that the first four windows are lower, narrower and closer together than those towards the east, which correspond, instead, to the enlargement made by Francesco Talenti, master builder starting from from the mid-1300s.
Arnolfo finishes two spans and half of the new facade.
The facade was dismantled in 1587 when the Grand Duke Francesco I de 'Medici decided to build a new one in Modena and the surviving statues that decorated it are now on display in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo.
On Arnolfo's death, which occurred around 1310, the works slowed down, to certainly resume in 1331 when the magistrates of the Wool Guild took care of the construction. In 1334 he was appointed master builder of the Opera Giotto who mainly dealt with the construction of the bell tower and died three years later. Giotto was taken over by Andrea Pisano until 1348, the year of the terrible plague that decimated the city population from 90,000 to 45,000 inhabitants.
The works continued between interruptions and resumptions until, following the competition announced in 1367, the definitive model of the church proposed by four architects and four painters was accepted, including Andrea di Bonaiuto, Benci and Andrea di Cione, Taddeo Gaddi and Neri by Fioravante.
From 1349 to 1959, the direction is up to Francesco Talenti, who completes the bell tower and prepares a new project assisted (from 1360 to '69) by Giovanni di Lapo Ghini. In 1378 the vault of the central nave was completed, and in 1380 the minor aisles were completed. Between 1380 and 1421 the tribunes and perhaps also the drum of the Dome were built.
Outside the marble cladding works and the decoration of the side entrances continued, including the Porta dei Canonici (to the south) and the Porta della Mandorla (to the north), crowned by the relief with the Assumption (1414-1421), refined work by Nanni di Banco.
The other two doors are also elegant: that of the Campanile (to the south), in the second bay, with reliefs from the school of Andrea Pisano and the Porta della Balla (to the north), whose name derives from the ancient opening on the Florentine walls in Via dei Servi (Borgo di Balla), where the wool art drawing machines were located.
The apse part closes the Cathedral with dignity with three large stands with Gothic mullioned windows. Four exedras, or dead tribunes, decorate the base of the drum.
In the nineteenth century, a series of interventions - among the most important we remember the new choir stalls of Santa Maria del Fiore and the simplification of the Bandinellian choir, which was deprived of the entire column superstructure and statues on the altar - completed the Cathedral. However, the most demanding work of all was the façade of the Duomo, carried out by Emilio De Fabris and collaborators between 1871 and 1884 who aspired to reproduce the Florentine decorativism of the '300, found in the bell tower and on the side doors of the Cathedral.
The Baptistery of San Giovanni is one of the oldest churches in Florence, located in front of the city's Cathedral, the church of Santa Maria del Fiore.
With an octagonal plan, entirely covered with slabs of white and green Prato marble, the Baptistery is covered by a dome with eight segments resting on the perimeter walls, masked on the outside by the elevation of the walls above the arch of the second level and by a flattened pyramid roof.
This fascinating structure, where faith, history and art come together, has created many problems for its dating.
The Florentines of the Middle Ages believed that the Baptistery was an ancient building, dating back to the Roman period of the city; a pagan temple transformed into a church. In fact, much of the marble facing of the Baptistery, as well as the numerous fragments and ancient inscriptions and the large columns that support the entablature above the doors inside, come from the ruins of the Roman 'Florentia', perhaps from some pagan building.
The monument we see today is the result of the extension of a primitive Baptistery, dating back to the IV-V century.
In the thirteenth century the interior mosaic decoration was also started, covering the scarsella and the entire dome, carried out by Tuscan mosaicists including, it is thought, by the artists of the new Florentine pictorial school: Cimabue and Coppo di Marcovaldo.
Upon entering the building, the first thing that catches the eye is the precious mosaic of the dome, one of the largest in the world for the time to be decorated with this technique. The mosaics are dominated by the enormous figure of Christ the judge with scenes of the last judgment that occupy three of the eight segments of the dome. In the superimposed horizontal registers of the other five segments, the stories of St. John the Baptist, patron saint of Florence, of Christ, of Joseph and of Genesis are depicted. In the center, in the highest register, there are the angelic hierarchies.
Under the patronage of the rich Art of Calimala, the Baptistery was also embellished with three beautiful bronze doors.
The oldest is the South Gate built between 1330 and 1336 by the sculptor Andrea Pisano. It shows the episodes from the life of the Baptist in the twenty upper sections and the Christian Virtues in the remaining eight.
The North Gate was the second to be built. Basically set up as the first, it represents scenes from the New Testament in the twenty upper panels and the Evangelists and the four Fathers of the Church in the eight lower panels.
Finally, the east gate, known by Michelangelo as the Gate of Paradise, the now fully Renaissance masterpiece by Ghiberti and his aides, including Luca della Robbia. Ghiberti and his workshop obtained without competition the commission for the door which was made in a different format from the other two, in ten large panels.
It should be remembered that other grandiose works of art were originally housed inside the Baptistery, such as Donatello's Magdalene or the Silver Altar, now visible in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo for conservation reasons.
opening hours: open every day from 10.15 to 18.00
check timetable on https://duomo.firenze.it/it/home#times
106 recommandé par les habitants
The Baptistery of St. John
Piazza San GiovanniThe Baptistery of San Giovanni is one of the oldest churches in Florence, located in front of the city's Cathedral, the church of Santa Maria del Fiore.
With an octagonal plan, entirely covered with slabs of white and green Prato marble, the Baptistery is covered by a dome with eight segments resting on the perimeter walls, masked on the outside by the elevation of the walls above the arch of the second level and by a flattened pyramid roof.
This fascinating structure, where faith, history and art come together, has created many problems for its dating.
The Florentines of the Middle Ages believed that the Baptistery was an ancient building, dating back to the Roman period of the city; a pagan temple transformed into a church. In fact, much of the marble facing of the Baptistery, as well as the numerous fragments and ancient inscriptions and the large columns that support the entablature above the doors inside, come from the ruins of the Roman 'Florentia', perhaps from some pagan building.
The monument we see today is the result of the extension of a primitive Baptistery, dating back to the IV-V century.
In the thirteenth century the interior mosaic decoration was also started, covering the scarsella and the entire dome, carried out by Tuscan mosaicists including, it is thought, by the artists of the new Florentine pictorial school: Cimabue and Coppo di Marcovaldo.
Upon entering the building, the first thing that catches the eye is the precious mosaic of the dome, one of the largest in the world for the time to be decorated with this technique. The mosaics are dominated by the enormous figure of Christ the judge with scenes of the last judgment that occupy three of the eight segments of the dome. In the superimposed horizontal registers of the other five segments, the stories of St. John the Baptist, patron saint of Florence, of Christ, of Joseph and of Genesis are depicted. In the center, in the highest register, there are the angelic hierarchies.
Under the patronage of the rich Art of Calimala, the Baptistery was also embellished with three beautiful bronze doors.
The oldest is the South Gate built between 1330 and 1336 by the sculptor Andrea Pisano. It shows the episodes from the life of the Baptist in the twenty upper sections and the Christian Virtues in the remaining eight.
The North Gate was the second to be built. Basically set up as the first, it represents scenes from the New Testament in the twenty upper panels and the Evangelists and the four Fathers of the Church in the eight lower panels.
Finally, the east gate, known by Michelangelo as the Gate of Paradise, the now fully Renaissance masterpiece by Ghiberti and his aides, including Luca della Robbia. Ghiberti and his workshop obtained without competition the commission for the door which was made in a different format from the other two, in ten large panels.
It should be remembered that other grandiose works of art were originally housed inside the Baptistery, such as Donatello's Magdalene or the Silver Altar, now visible in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo for conservation reasons.
opening hours: open every day from 10.15 to 18.00
check timetable on https://duomo.firenze.it/it/home#times
Thanks to the archaeological findings made starting from 1974, it has been possible to establish that the first activities in the area of the square date back to the Neolithic period and that the current square was an important area of the Roman city, with a thermal plant from the Hadrianic period and a fullonica of industrial dimensions near the theater, the remains of which were found under Palazzo Vecchio (excavations of Palazzo Vecchio). Subsequently (IV-V century) the baths and the fullonica were abandoned and reused by poor buildings and crafts, while a large early Christian basilica was built (about 27x50 meters).
View from above
Piazza della Signoria
The basilica seems to have remained in use until the seventh century and was then replaced by a small church (about 9x16 meters) dedicated to the church of Santa Cecilia (dated to the eighth century and documented in the ninth century). Starting from the 10th century, the urban reconstruction process began which led to the definition of the medieval quarter which was then demolished for the construction of the square. Archaeological excavations have brought to light several towers, houses and the remains of two churches (Santa Cecilia and San Romolo) with their respective cemetery areas. A plaque almost at the corner with via de 'Calzaiuoli remembers San Romolo bishop and martyr, more or less where the church was located and where today the Bombicci palace stands. [1]
In the northern area of the square there was the district of the Ghibellines Uberti with the turris maior (the excavations, carried out several times from 1974 to 1989, have not yet received a complete edition).
View from Palazzo Vecchio
The square began to take on its present shape around 1268, when the houses of the Ghibellines that stood in the area were demolished by the victorious Guelphs in Benevento, but without giving the area a coherent and unitary layout, so much so that it was paved only in 1385. . At the same time the Palazzo della Signoria was built, so the square became the center of the political life of the city, in contrast to the religious center of Piazza del Duomo and the square for commerce that was the Old Market, where today Piazza della Repubblica stands. . In the 14th century, the Loggia della Signoria was added, for public ceremonies, and the Court of Merchandise, an institution designed to settle civil and commercial disputes.
Seat of civil power, the square was also the site of public executions, of which the most famous is that of 23 May 1498, when Girolamo Savonarola was hanged and burned for heresy (a plaque on the square, in front of the Fountain of Neptune, remembers this event) in the same place where, with his disciples, he had operated the so-called Bonfire of the Vanities, setting fire to many books, poems, game tables, clothes, etc. [2]
The interventions in the following centuries mainly concern the sculptural furnishings and culminate in the Grand Ducal era with the transformation of the Loggia della Signoria into a sort of open-air museum. The construction of the Uffizi in the mid-sixteenth century also creates a new perspective towards the river. The square is no stranger to the nineteenth-century "rehabilitation" of the historic center, in which neo-Renaissance-style interventions are carried out, such as the Palazzo delle Assicurazioni in front of Palazzo Vecchio.
Palazzo Vecchio
The central element of the square is the fourteenth-century Palazzo Vecchio, built between 1299 and 1314 to give a worthy seat to the Priors of the Arts, the representatives of the professional guilds that since 1282 held the government of the city and who used to reside in the Bargello.
The architectural project refers to Arnolfo di Cambio who in the last years of the thirteenth century was involved in the most important Florentine construction sites: the Duomo, Santa Croce and the new circle of walls. The conformation of the building reinterprets with originality the characters of medieval fortified structures and constitutes a model for the Tuscan public buildings built later.
In particular, the Tower of Arnolfo, 95 meters high, presents a daring architectural solution being aligned with the protruding gallery, rather than placed in a more central position. Originally the Palazzo was to be presented as a volume in itself, while the subsequent extensions leaned against the rear facade, filling the entire block up to via dei Leoni. At the time of the Savonarolian Republic, in fact, the enlargement of the Council of the People to five hundred members led to the construction of the Salone dei Cinquecento above the Cortile della Dogana (1495). The welding between the different buildings is legible on the side of via de 'Gondi, where the Hall is recognized by the unfinished external face and the large windows of the Cronaca.
The most substantial works began in 1540, when the Grand Duke Cosimo I de 'Medici decided to transfer the residence of the ducal family from the Palazzo Medici in via Larga to what had been the Palazzo Pubblico. However, these interventions concerned above all the interiors and the new part overlooking via della Ninna and via dei Leoni, while in Piazza della Signoria the new and precious rooms remain hidden in the severe Arnolfian bulk. The only significant modification on the facade occurs in the nineteenth century with the demolition of the herringbone, a high marble parapet with seats, built in 1323 for the official ceremonies of the Municipality.
Loggia della Signoria o dei Lanzi
The Loggia della Signoria, also called Loggia dei Lanzi (because the Lanzichenecchi camped there in 1527) or Loggia dell'Orcagna (due to an erroneous attribution to the brother of the designer architect), was built between 1376 and 1381 by Benci di Cione Dami (brother of Orcagna) and Simone di Francesco Talenti with the function of covered "arengario", ie a balcony to address the crowd during official ceremonies. From the architectural point of view, the building combines Gothic elements, such as the beam pillars and the openwork crowning, with elements of a classical matrix such as the large round arches, according to the particular Florentine interpretation of the Gothic language.
During the sixteenth century the loggia lost its original function, once the democratic structure failed, to become a sort of open-air museum of the sculptures of the Medici collection. In 1555 Cosimo I placed Cellini's Perseus there and in 1585 Francesco I placed Giambologna's Rape of the Sabines. At the end of the eighteenth century, at the time of Pietro Leopoldo di Lorena, a new layout was created with the placement in the Loggia of numerous ancient sculptures transferred to Florence from Villa Medici in Rome. Finally, the subsequent nineteenth-century modifications consolidate the appearance of the Gallery of Statues which it still retains today.
557 recommandé par les habitants
Piazza della Signoria
Piazza della SignoriaThanks to the archaeological findings made starting from 1974, it has been possible to establish that the first activities in the area of the square date back to the Neolithic period and that the current square was an important area of the Roman city, with a thermal plant from the Hadrianic period and a fullonica of industrial dimensions near the theater, the remains of which were found under Palazzo Vecchio (excavations of Palazzo Vecchio). Subsequently (IV-V century) the baths and the fullonica were abandoned and reused by poor buildings and crafts, while a large early Christian basilica was built (about 27x50 meters).
View from above
Piazza della Signoria
The basilica seems to have remained in use until the seventh century and was then replaced by a small church (about 9x16 meters) dedicated to the church of Santa Cecilia (dated to the eighth century and documented in the ninth century). Starting from the 10th century, the urban reconstruction process began which led to the definition of the medieval quarter which was then demolished for the construction of the square. Archaeological excavations have brought to light several towers, houses and the remains of two churches (Santa Cecilia and San Romolo) with their respective cemetery areas. A plaque almost at the corner with via de 'Calzaiuoli remembers San Romolo bishop and martyr, more or less where the church was located and where today the Bombicci palace stands. [1]
In the northern area of the square there was the district of the Ghibellines Uberti with the turris maior (the excavations, carried out several times from 1974 to 1989, have not yet received a complete edition).
View from Palazzo Vecchio
The square began to take on its present shape around 1268, when the houses of the Ghibellines that stood in the area were demolished by the victorious Guelphs in Benevento, but without giving the area a coherent and unitary layout, so much so that it was paved only in 1385. . At the same time the Palazzo della Signoria was built, so the square became the center of the political life of the city, in contrast to the religious center of Piazza del Duomo and the square for commerce that was the Old Market, where today Piazza della Repubblica stands. . In the 14th century, the Loggia della Signoria was added, for public ceremonies, and the Court of Merchandise, an institution designed to settle civil and commercial disputes.
Seat of civil power, the square was also the site of public executions, of which the most famous is that of 23 May 1498, when Girolamo Savonarola was hanged and burned for heresy (a plaque on the square, in front of the Fountain of Neptune, remembers this event) in the same place where, with his disciples, he had operated the so-called Bonfire of the Vanities, setting fire to many books, poems, game tables, clothes, etc. [2]
The interventions in the following centuries mainly concern the sculptural furnishings and culminate in the Grand Ducal era with the transformation of the Loggia della Signoria into a sort of open-air museum. The construction of the Uffizi in the mid-sixteenth century also creates a new perspective towards the river. The square is no stranger to the nineteenth-century "rehabilitation" of the historic center, in which neo-Renaissance-style interventions are carried out, such as the Palazzo delle Assicurazioni in front of Palazzo Vecchio.
Palazzo Vecchio
The central element of the square is the fourteenth-century Palazzo Vecchio, built between 1299 and 1314 to give a worthy seat to the Priors of the Arts, the representatives of the professional guilds that since 1282 held the government of the city and who used to reside in the Bargello.
The architectural project refers to Arnolfo di Cambio who in the last years of the thirteenth century was involved in the most important Florentine construction sites: the Duomo, Santa Croce and the new circle of walls. The conformation of the building reinterprets with originality the characters of medieval fortified structures and constitutes a model for the Tuscan public buildings built later.
In particular, the Tower of Arnolfo, 95 meters high, presents a daring architectural solution being aligned with the protruding gallery, rather than placed in a more central position. Originally the Palazzo was to be presented as a volume in itself, while the subsequent extensions leaned against the rear facade, filling the entire block up to via dei Leoni. At the time of the Savonarolian Republic, in fact, the enlargement of the Council of the People to five hundred members led to the construction of the Salone dei Cinquecento above the Cortile della Dogana (1495). The welding between the different buildings is legible on the side of via de 'Gondi, where the Hall is recognized by the unfinished external face and the large windows of the Cronaca.
The most substantial works began in 1540, when the Grand Duke Cosimo I de 'Medici decided to transfer the residence of the ducal family from the Palazzo Medici in via Larga to what had been the Palazzo Pubblico. However, these interventions concerned above all the interiors and the new part overlooking via della Ninna and via dei Leoni, while in Piazza della Signoria the new and precious rooms remain hidden in the severe Arnolfian bulk. The only significant modification on the facade occurs in the nineteenth century with the demolition of the herringbone, a high marble parapet with seats, built in 1323 for the official ceremonies of the Municipality.
Loggia della Signoria o dei Lanzi
The Loggia della Signoria, also called Loggia dei Lanzi (because the Lanzichenecchi camped there in 1527) or Loggia dell'Orcagna (due to an erroneous attribution to the brother of the designer architect), was built between 1376 and 1381 by Benci di Cione Dami (brother of Orcagna) and Simone di Francesco Talenti with the function of covered "arengario", ie a balcony to address the crowd during official ceremonies. From the architectural point of view, the building combines Gothic elements, such as the beam pillars and the openwork crowning, with elements of a classical matrix such as the large round arches, according to the particular Florentine interpretation of the Gothic language.
During the sixteenth century the loggia lost its original function, once the democratic structure failed, to become a sort of open-air museum of the sculptures of the Medici collection. In 1555 Cosimo I placed Cellini's Perseus there and in 1585 Francesco I placed Giambologna's Rape of the Sabines. At the end of the eighteenth century, at the time of Pietro Leopoldo di Lorena, a new layout was created with the placement in the Loggia of numerous ancient sculptures transferred to Florence from Villa Medici in Rome. Finally, the subsequent nineteenth-century modifications consolidate the appearance of the Gallery of Statues which it still retains today.
Il Ponte Vecchio è uno dei simboli di Firenze, a metà strada tra la Galleria degli Uffizi e Palazzo Vecchio (uniti dal stupendo Corridoio Vasariano che passa proprio sopra le teste dei turisti affacciati sul Ponte).
1339 recommandé par les habitants
Ponte Vecchio
Ponte VecchioIl Ponte Vecchio è uno dei simboli di Firenze, a metà strada tra la Galleria degli Uffizi e Palazzo Vecchio (uniti dal stupendo Corridoio Vasariano che passa proprio sopra le teste dei turisti affacciati sul Ponte).
Purchased in 1550 by Cosimo I de’Medici and his wife Eleonora di Toledo to transform it into the new grand-ducal residence, Palazzo Pitti soon became the symbol of the consolidated power of the Medici over Tuscany. Palace of two other dynasties, that of the Habsburg-Lorraine (successors of the Medici from 1737) and of the Savoy, who lived there as royals of Italy from 1865, Palazzo Pitti still bears the name of its first owner, the Florentine banker Luca Pitti, who in the mid-fifteenth century wanted to build it - perhaps to a design by Brunelleschi - beyond the Arno, at the foot of the Boboli hill.
It is currently home to four different museums: the Treasury of the Grand Dukes on the ground floor, the Palatine Gallery and the Imperial and Royal Apartments on the noble floor of the Palace, the Gallery of Modern Art and the Museum of Fashion and Costume on the second floor.
Opening hours
Reopening Tuesday 4 May 2021 with the following timetable:
Tuesday to Sunday from 1.30pm to 6.50pm.
Closure
Every Monday
January 1st, December 25th
879 recommandé par les habitants
Pitti Palace
1 Piazza de' PittiPurchased in 1550 by Cosimo I de’Medici and his wife Eleonora di Toledo to transform it into the new grand-ducal residence, Palazzo Pitti soon became the symbol of the consolidated power of the Medici over Tuscany. Palace of two other dynasties, that of the Habsburg-Lorraine (successors of the Medici from 1737) and of the Savoy, who lived there as royals of Italy from 1865, Palazzo Pitti still bears the name of its first owner, the Florentine banker Luca Pitti, who in the mid-fifteenth century wanted to build it - perhaps to a design by Brunelleschi - beyond the Arno, at the foot of the Boboli hill.
It is currently home to four different museums: the Treasury of the Grand Dukes on the ground floor, the Palatine Gallery and the Imperial and Royal Apartments on the noble floor of the Palace, the Gallery of Modern Art and the Museum of Fashion and Costume on the second floor.
Opening hours
Reopening Tuesday 4 May 2021 with the following timetable:
Tuesday to Sunday from 1.30pm to 6.50pm.
Closure
Every Monday
January 1st, December 25th
La Chiesa di Santa Maria Novella, una delle chiese più belle di Firenze. La facciata della chiesa è in marmo bianco e verde ed è stata disegnata da Leon Battista Alberti, mentre la splendida Cappella Tornabuoni (assolutamente da non perdere!) è stata affrescata dal Ghirlandaio
10 recommandé par les habitants
Piazza Santa Maria Novella
16 Piazza della Stazione La Chiesa di Santa Maria Novella, una delle chiese più belle di Firenze. La facciata della chiesa è in marmo bianco e verde ed è stata disegnata da Leon Battista Alberti, mentre la splendida Cappella Tornabuoni (assolutamente da non perdere!) è stata affrescata dal Ghirlandaio
n Piazza San Lorenzo, if you wish, you can make a short visit to the Church of San Lorenzo or to the majestic Medici Chapels, where members of the Medici family were buried and where you will find a beautiful marble statue by Michelangelo, located in the New Sacristy.
205 recommandé par les habitants
Basilica di San Lorenzo
9 Piazza di San Lorenzon Piazza San Lorenzo, if you wish, you can make a short visit to the Church of San Lorenzo or to the majestic Medici Chapels, where members of the Medici family were buried and where you will find a beautiful marble statue by Michelangelo, located in the New Sacristy.
Chiesa di Santa Croce, where some important Florentine and Tuscan personalities are buried, including Michelangelo and Galileo
453 recommandé par les habitants
Basilica of Santa Croce
16 Piazza di Santa CroceChiesa di Santa Croce, where some important Florentine and Tuscan personalities are buried, including Michelangelo and Galileo
If you want to enjoy an incredible panoramic view of the city at sunset, go to Piazzale Michelangelo, located on the first hill after the Oltrarno. From here you can see from afar the places you have visited in your two days spent in the historic center of Florence
1543 recommandé par les habitants
Piazzale Michelangelo
Piazzale MichelangeloIf you want to enjoy an incredible panoramic view of the city at sunset, go to Piazzale Michelangelo, located on the first hill after the Oltrarno. From here you can see from afar the places you have visited in your two days spent in the historic center of Florence
The dome is an absolute masterpiece of art that has enchanted the world for centuries since its creation: it is the symbol of Florence, the Renaissance and humanism in general.
With its diameter of 45.5 meters and a total height of more than 116 meters, the Dome is the largest masonry vault in the world and was built between 1420 and 1436 by Filippo Brunelleschi, following the project he presented. in the competition announced by the Opera in 1418. On 25 March 1436 the Florentine Cathedral was consecrated by Pope Eugene IV.
Brunelleschi's admirable innovation was that of turning the dome without the use of supporting armor. The dome in fact consists of two distinct domes: one internal, more than two meters thick, with an angle greater than the other and consisting of large arches held together by ribs and made of bricks arranged in a "herringbone" pattern; and an external covering, covered with terracotta tiles and marked by eight ribs of white marble.
The oculus of the dome is surmounted by the large lantern: a 21 meter high white marble tower, which was built after Brunelleschi's death (1446) but following his project. On the top is the golden copper ball with apical cross, the work of Andrea del Verrocchio, who put it in place in 1471.
One hundred years later - between 1572 and 1579 - the internal vault of the dome was painted by Giorgio Vasari and Federico Zuccari with a great Last Judgment, partly inspired by the mosaics of the Baptistery: the largest mural in the world.
Brunelleschi's admirable innovation was to turn the dome without armor, thanks to the use of a double vault with a cavity, of which the interior (over two meters thick) made with herringbone ashlars, had a structural function being self-supporting and the external one for covering only. The lantern with a cone-shaped cover, designed by Brunelleschi, which was made after the artist's death (1446) and the gilded copper ball with the cross, containing sacred relics, the work of Andrea del Verrocchio, stands out on the dome. it was placed in 1466.
The fresco decoration of Brunelleschi's Dome was made between 1572 and 1579 by Giorgio Vasari and Federico Zuccari, and has the same iconographic theme as the Baptistery: the Last Judgment. The frescoes in the dome underwent a comprehensive restoration between 1978 and 1994.
opening hours from Monday to Saturday from 8.15-19.45
Sunday 12.45-17.30
check https://duomo.firenze.it/it/home#times
67 recommandé par les habitants
Brunelleschi's Dome
Piazza del DuomoThe dome is an absolute masterpiece of art that has enchanted the world for centuries since its creation: it is the symbol of Florence, the Renaissance and humanism in general.
With its diameter of 45.5 meters and a total height of more than 116 meters, the Dome is the largest masonry vault in the world and was built between 1420 and 1436 by Filippo Brunelleschi, following the project he presented. in the competition announced by the Opera in 1418. On 25 March 1436 the Florentine Cathedral was consecrated by Pope Eugene IV.
Brunelleschi's admirable innovation was that of turning the dome without the use of supporting armor. The dome in fact consists of two distinct domes: one internal, more than two meters thick, with an angle greater than the other and consisting of large arches held together by ribs and made of bricks arranged in a "herringbone" pattern; and an external covering, covered with terracotta tiles and marked by eight ribs of white marble.
The oculus of the dome is surmounted by the large lantern: a 21 meter high white marble tower, which was built after Brunelleschi's death (1446) but following his project. On the top is the golden copper ball with apical cross, the work of Andrea del Verrocchio, who put it in place in 1471.
One hundred years later - between 1572 and 1579 - the internal vault of the dome was painted by Giorgio Vasari and Federico Zuccari with a great Last Judgment, partly inspired by the mosaics of the Baptistery: the largest mural in the world.
Brunelleschi's admirable innovation was to turn the dome without armor, thanks to the use of a double vault with a cavity, of which the interior (over two meters thick) made with herringbone ashlars, had a structural function being self-supporting and the external one for covering only. The lantern with a cone-shaped cover, designed by Brunelleschi, which was made after the artist's death (1446) and the gilded copper ball with the cross, containing sacred relics, the work of Andrea del Verrocchio, stands out on the dome. it was placed in 1466.
The fresco decoration of Brunelleschi's Dome was made between 1572 and 1579 by Giorgio Vasari and Federico Zuccari, and has the same iconographic theme as the Baptistery: the Last Judgment. The frescoes in the dome underwent a comprehensive restoration between 1978 and 1994.
opening hours from Monday to Saturday from 8.15-19.45
Sunday 12.45-17.30
check https://duomo.firenze.it/it/home#times
Behind Palazzo Pitti extends the wonderful Boboli Gardens. The Medici were the first to take care of its arrangement, creating the model of an Italian garden that became an example for many European courts. The vast green area divided in a regular way, constitutes a real open-air museum, populated with ancient and Renaissance statues, adorned with caves, first of all the famous one created by Bernardo Buontalenti, and with large fountains, such as that of Neptune and of the Ocean. The subsequent Lorraine and Savoy dynasties further enriched the structure, expanding the borders that line the ancient city walls up to Porta Romana. The terraced area where the eighteenth-century pavilion of the Kaffeehaus is located, a rare example of Rococo architecture in Tuscany, or the Limonaia, built by Zanobi del Rosso between 1777 and 1778, is of considerable visual appeal. The visit to Boboli completes the visit to the Reggia di Pitti, of which it is an integral part, and allows you to fully grasp the spirit of court life and at the same time enjoy the experience of a garden that is always renewed while respecting its tradition.
https://www.uffizi.it/giardino-boboli
Hours: Days from Monday to Sunday
Opening time 8.15
Closing time
16.30 in the months of January, February, November, December.
17.30 in March and October (with solar time)
18.30 in the months of March (with summer time), April, May, September, October (with summer time).
7.00 pm in June, July and August.
Closing days
First and last Monday of the month, except between June and October (see the updated sheet).
January 1st, December 25th.
1539 recommandé par les habitants
The Boboli Gardens
1 Piazza de' PittiBehind Palazzo Pitti extends the wonderful Boboli Gardens. The Medici were the first to take care of its arrangement, creating the model of an Italian garden that became an example for many European courts. The vast green area divided in a regular way, constitutes a real open-air museum, populated with ancient and Renaissance statues, adorned with caves, first of all the famous one created by Bernardo Buontalenti, and with large fountains, such as that of Neptune and of the Ocean. The subsequent Lorraine and Savoy dynasties further enriched the structure, expanding the borders that line the ancient city walls up to Porta Romana. The terraced area where the eighteenth-century pavilion of the Kaffeehaus is located, a rare example of Rococo architecture in Tuscany, or the Limonaia, built by Zanobi del Rosso between 1777 and 1778, is of considerable visual appeal. The visit to Boboli completes the visit to the Reggia di Pitti, of which it is an integral part, and allows you to fully grasp the spirit of court life and at the same time enjoy the experience of a garden that is always renewed while respecting its tradition.
https://www.uffizi.it/giardino-boboli
Hours: Days from Monday to Sunday
Opening time 8.15
Closing time
16.30 in the months of January, February, November, December.
17.30 in March and October (with solar time)
18.30 in the months of March (with summer time), April, May, September, October (with summer time).
7.00 pm in June, July and August.
Closing days
First and last Monday of the month, except between June and October (see the updated sheet).
January 1st, December 25th.