Florence
is one of the most beautiful cities in the world; for many
people, it is the most splendid. Its palaces, churches and
museums overflow with masterful paintings and sculpture.
As the birthplace of the Renaissance, the city combines
unequaled beauty with centuries of history in a heady mix.
Your first glimpse of the Duomo, set incongruously in the
midst of streaming traffic, is likely to take your breath
away. The spirits of Da Vinci, Dante, Boccaccio, Michelangelo
and the Medicis are palpable on virtually any street, and
the days of the Renaissance seem close at hand.
Yet Florence is essentially a proud, provincial town, with
a conservative mentality. You can sense that its citizens
pay a price for living in what has become, essentially,
an open-air museum.
Florentines -- especially those who deal with masses of
tourists on a day-to-day basis -- can be haughty and standoffish
toward visitors. But there are many who will offer the visitor
a warm smile and a helpful gesture. And the vitality of
this small city, the robustness of its cuisine, the enduring
beauty of its architecture and the richness of its treasures
cannot fail to educate, exhilarate and dazzle those who
visit.
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Santa Maria del Fiore ("Duomo")
As the city's skyline symbol, the legendary duomo is famous
above all for its dome: Brunelleschi's Renaissance masterpiece,
completed in 1436, created a double dome shell so that the
dome is entirely self-supporting. Building started in 1296
on the site of the Roman basilica of Santa Reparata of which
there are still visible remains. The existing neo-Gothic
façade was added in the 19th century. Covering a
massive 3600 square meters, the frescoes inside the dome
depict the Last Judgement.
Galleria degli Uffizi
The Medici family reserved rooms for their prestigious collection
during use of the gallery as magistrate's court in the 1700s.
Made up of 40 rooms, the gallery contains works by Leonardo,
Michelangelo, Raphael, Caravaggio and Botticelli's Birth
of Venus. Note the collection of Flemish, French, Dutch
and German masters. The corridors, ceilings with splendid
frescoes, are lined with Roman and sixteenth-century sculptures.
Piazzale Michelangelo
Renowned for its panoramic views of Florence and the Arno
valley, this terrace is a popular spot with locals and tourists.
Created as part of major restructuring of the city walls,
Poggi's sumptuous terrace is typically 19th century. In
1871, Poggi designed a monument base dedicated to Michelangelo.
The monument itself was to be composed of copies of Michelangelo's
works, including David and the Medici chapel sculptures
from San Lorenzo. When the terrace was finished, Poggi designed
the hillside building, now a restaurant, as a museum for
Michelangelo's works.
San Miniato al Monte
San Miniato is one of the city's most striking examples
of Florentine Romanesque architecture, characterized by
its bicoloured (white and green) marble façade. The
altar, pulpit and transept recess feature fine marble decor,
while the floor, in keeping with the Romanesque style, is
decorated with symbolic ornamental motifs. Halfway along
the nave on the left is another chapel, the 'Cappella del
cardinale Portogallo', which was designed by one of Brunelleschi's
pupils; its architectural and decorative style resembles
one of Brunelleschi's first creations, the 'Sagrestia Vecchia'
(Old Sacristy), which can be seen in San Lorenzo church.
Ponte Vecchio
Best known of all Florence's treasures, this glorious bridge
was the only one spared by the retreating Germans in the
summer of 1944. Over the centuries flooding unfortunately,
took its toll—few traces of the 10th-century bridge
remain. Today's bridge, built in the middle of the 14th
century, was originally filled with a wide variety of shops
that included wool merchants and greengrocers. Grand Duke
Fernandino I had these replaced with goldsmiths to gentrify
royalty's route to Pitti Palace, reached via the Vasari
Corridor that passes over the bridge.
Santa Croce
The building of Santa Croce basilica began in 1294. Giotto's
frescoes in the chapels at the head of the transept are
considered to be some of the finest examples of fourteenth-century
painting, while the architect Matas is responsible for the
church's distinctive green and white marble façade.
The church contains funeral monuments to intellectual, moral
and religious figures from Italy's past, including Michelangelo,
Machiavelli, Gioacchino Rossini, Galileo and Ugo Foscolo.
Although exiled from Florence and buried in Ravenna, Dante,
father of the Italian language, is honoured with a cenotaph.
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