Search Holidays
Florence
Holidays in Florence offer the beauty of Tuscany, with the principal city of Firenze (Florence) nestled under the lush foothills of the Apennines, on the banks of the Arno River. The works of Botticelli, Michelangelo, Bruneschelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Boccaccio, Alberti, Masaccio, Donatello, Vasari and Fra Angelico imbue the city with the magnificence of their contribution to art and life. The city itself is muse to some and home to many stylish citizens who titivate the cobbled streets and fashionable piazzas with their inimitable Italian flair.
The Piazza della Signoria and the Piazza de Duomo are situated at the busy heart of the city of Florence. The statues dominating the Piazza della Signoria commemorate major historical events of the city's life and the magnificent Palazzo Vecchio still performs its original role as Florence's town hall. The adjacent Uffizi is the oldest gallery in the world with a collection of the greatest works of the Renaissance commissioned largely by the Medici family. The man who founded the great long-ruling Medici dynasty was Cosimo il Vecchio. His legacy is imprinted in the city's northern area marked by the churches of San Lorenzo, San Marco and the Palazzo Medici Riccardi.
Florence's railway station is situated at the western end of the city with the quaint Ponte Vecchio bridge at the other end, which was built in 1345 and was one of the few areas to emerge unscathed from the wartime bombs. Little workshops that used to belong to butchers, tanners and blacksmiths, peer onto the river from their timber supports. Santa Maria Novella also rises from the city's western boundaries in true gothic splendour preserving some of the most important works of art in Florence.
The Medici ruled from the Palazzo Pitti in the area known as Oltrarno, which means 'over the Arno'. The magnificent Boboli Gardens were designed and laid out around it. The area surrounding Via Maggio and Piazza di Santo Spirito boasts a collection of other palazzi built during the late 16th and 17th centuries.
The Uffizi (Gallerie degli Uffizi)
Art lovers will find the Gallerie degli Uffizi a cultural treasure in Florence, the gallery is home to one of the world's greatest art collections including the works of Caravaggio, Giotto, Paolo Ucello, Masaccio Leonoardo da Vinci, Titan, Michealangelo and Sandro Botticelli. The collection is housed on the top floor of a building designed as the offices (uffizi) of the Medici, commissioned by Duke Cosimo I. From 1581, Cosimo's heirs used the upper storey to display the Medici art treasures. Ancient Greek and Roman sculptures line the inner corridors of the gallery and a series of rooms jut off from here, showcasing the chronological development of Florentine art from Gothic to High Renaissance and beyond. The scale and magnitude of the collection may need to be enjoyed over two visits. Rooms 1-15 (Florentine Renaissance) could be explored more thoroughly on the first trip and on the next visit one could concentrate on rooms16 to 45 (from High Renaissance to later Italian and European painting).
Piazza del Duomo (Cathedral Square)
The centre of Florence is home to the Piazza del Duomo, which offers the Santa Maria del Fiore, Duomo or Cathedral of Florence. Its most distinctive feature is the enormous dome designed by Filippo Brunelleschi and built between 1420 and 1436. Visitors can climb between the two shells of the cupola for an unrivalled panorama of the city. The original Gothic exterior was destroyed in 1587 so that it could be replaced by the styling of the High Renaissance. This vision however died prematurely with its patron, the Grand Duke Francesco de Medici and the funding to build the neo-Gothic façade that we see today was not found until the 19th century. The Campanile (bell tower) was built according to Giotto's designs in 1334 and is an elegant prop to Brunelleschi's stout Cathedral. The tower is decorated with two garlands of bas-reliefs, strung around its pink, white and green marble façade. Above, sculptures of the Prophets and Sybils, carved by Donatello, look down upon the city below. The Campanile can also be climbed for the magnificent views over the square and the adjacent cathedral. The neighbouring Baptistry, with its famous doors designed by Lorenzo Ghiberti, is one of Florence's oldest buildings, and was originally a pagan temple. The gilded brass doors, dubbed the 'Gates of Paradise' were commissioned in 1401 to mark Florence's deliverance from the plague. The original panels are in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo (the Duomo Works Museum) that exists largely to safeguard the sculptures removed from the doors and niches around the Piazza del Duomo. The museum also contains the machines used in the construction of the cathedral's dome and has displays devoted to the problematic construction of the cathedral's façade. A room containing Ghiberti's baptistry doors provides an opportunity to closely examine the stiacciato relief technique used. Other noteworthy artefacts found in the museum include Michelangelo's Pieta, the carved figures of Donatello's Prophets as well as his Magdalene sculpture. In the anteroom are Andrea Pisano's panels from the first few levels of the bell tower.
Address: Piazza Duomo; Telephone: (055) 230 2885; Opening time: Cathedral: Daily 10am to 5pm (Thursdays until 4.30pm, Saturdays until 4.45pm); Sunday 1.30pm to 4.45pm. Museum: 9am to 7.30pm, Sunday 9am to 1.40pm; Admission: Cathedral entry is free, but there is a fee to the baptistry (€3), the cupola (€6) and museum (€6)
The Bargello (Museo Nazionale del Bargello)
Encased in the Gothic Palazzo is the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, which is home to a national collection of Renaissance sculptures. Before its renovation to become Italy's first national museum, the building, constructed in 1255, functioned as a town hall, private residence and prison. An extensive collection of decorative arts is on display in addition to the magnificent sculptures of Michelangelo, Donatello, Giambologna and Cellini. The Palazzo's inner courtyard is ornamented with numerous coats of arms and the grand stairwell leading to the second-story loggia overflows with bronze birds created for the Medici's gardens. Other notable displays include an Islamic collection, an assortment of ivories (the largest collection in the world) and 16th-century majolica porcelain from Urbino, Faenza and Florence.
Address: Via del Proconsolo 4; Telephone: (055) 238 8606. Reserve tickets on (055) 294 883; Opening time: Tuesday to Friday 8.15am to 1.50pm. Closed 2nd and 4th Monday, and 1st, 3rd and 5th Sunday of each month; Admission: €6.50
Sante Croce
Sante Croce is a majestic Gothic church that was built in 1294 and is the final resting place of many famous Florentines, including Machiavelli, Galileo, Michaelangelo and Ghiberti. The Gothic interior is graced by the radiant frescoes of Giotto and his pupil Taddeo Gaddi and integrated into the cloister next to the church is Brunelleschi's Pazzi Chapel (Cappella de' Pazzi). When Lord Byron first laid eyes on the church he declared himself 'drunk with beauty'.
Telephone: (055) 244 619; Opening time: Monday to Saturday 9.30am to 5.30pm, Sunday 1pm to 5.30pm; Admission: €4
Ponte Vecchio
The oldest bridge in Florence is the Ponte Vecchio, which was saved from destruction by the retreat of the Nazi's from Italy in 1944. They defied orders to blow up the stately bridge straddling the Arno River and bombed the ancient buildings on either side of it instead. The Arno flood of 1966 also tested the bridge's resilience and swept parts of it away in its powerful current. The most affected sections were the overhanging shops belonging to the gold and silversmiths. In 1593 the original tenants - butchers, tanners and blacksmiths - were evicted from the workshops because of the noise and stench they created. To one side of the bridge is the majestic bust of the most famous Florentine goldsmith, Benvenuto Cellini. Perched above the shops is a secret passageway, the Vasari Corridor, providing an elevated link to the Palazzo Pitti via the Uffizi. It was the private walkway of the Medici's who could move between the various residences without having to rub shoulders with the riff raff.
Address: Via Por Santa Maria/Via Guicciardini
Palazzo Pitti and Giardino Boboli
Luca Pitti, a wealthy banker in Florence at the time, first owned the Palazzo Pitti and then later it became property of the Medici family. It is a grand structure that now boasts no less than seven museums. Amongst these are the Medici treasures that are showcased in the Museo degli Argenti, the Museum of Costumes and the Porcelain Museum. The Galleria d'Arte Moderna provides a fascinating display of works from the Macchiaioli School; early 19th century proto-impressionist paintings - as well as a collection of Neoclassical and Romantic art. Extending behind the palace are the elaborately landscaped and beautifully maintained Giardino Boboli (Boboli Gardens). The most celebrated aspects of the gardens include the Grotta del Buontalenti located close the entrance. In the deepest recess of the cave is Venus Emerging from her Bath attended by curious imps. Another notable structure is the enormous amphitheatre designed on a scale to serve the Medici's tastes.
