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Florence (Firenze), with its 2000 years of history, is one of the most interesting cities in Italy. It is situated in the central part of the country, on the Arno River, at the foot of the Apennines. It has about 370 thousand inhabitants. The entire historic center has been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list. This is one of those cities with which you fall in love at first sight. It’s not only because of its rich history, magnificent architecture, charming streets, but most of all because of the atmosphere, difficult to define, making everyone who has visited the place yearning to return sometime.
Good to know
*Tourist Information: www.firenzeturismo.it (It.);
www.visitflorence.com (Eng.); main information point is located on Via Cavour
1R (Mon-Sat 830-18.30); other points, open on Sunday, are located at the Piazza Stazione 4 (Mon-Fri 9.00-19.00,
Sat 9.00-14.00) and Piazza San Giovanni 1 (Mon-Fri 9.00-19.00, Sat 9.00-14.00).
*Accommodation: as befits a tourist town, everyone will find
for themselves the appropriate option, be it a luxury hotel, guest house or
camping site.
*Food: dozens of restaurants, trattorias, pizzerias, etc.
operate here, offering traditional Tuscan and Italian cuisine, but also dozens
of places with dishes from all over the world.
Things to Do
*The Uffizi Gallery (Galleria degli Uffizi) – Piazza
della Signoria. The building, which was built in the sixteenth century,
originally housed administrative offices and courts, because that was its main
purpose. Even then an art gallery was placed at the top floor. Today it’s
one of the most important and greatest art collections in Europe or even the
world. Works of Italian and Flemish schools are predominant here,
including S. Boticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Caravaggio,
Titian, Rubens, Rembrandt and many others; website: www.uffizi.org
Aside from the Vatican Museums it’s the second in terms of
popularity among tourists museum in Italy and a must-see. In peak
season it’s better to think in advance about the tickets, you can order them
over the Internet.
After having passed several rooms you can get dizzy from the
works exhibited here. It would be good to be able to go outside to cool
off after having passed two-three rooms and come back, but this is
unfortunately not possible...In effect, after a short time spent here it all
seems like flashing lights before your eyes, and you think you’re no longer able
to “absorb” more.
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| Cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore |
*Giotto's Bell Tower (Campanile di Giotto) – stands
beside the cathedral, it’s almost 85 meters high; its facades are covered with
slabs of marble in the same colors as the facade of the cathedral (ie, white,
green and pink), arranged in a geometric pattern. There are 414 steps to
come up to the top; there are seven bells here.
*Goldsmiths’ Bridge (Old Bridge, Ponte Vecchio) – one
of the oldest bridges in the city, built in the fourteenth century in the place
of a wooden bridge from Roman times. From the thirteenth century there were
set up various shops here, primarily by fish and meat traders, later also tanners. In
the sixteenth century they were removed by the decision of Prince Ferdinand I,
and in their place goldsmiths and jewelers workshop were installed (hence the
name of the bridge).
*Signoria Square (Piazza della Signoria) – located in
the center of the city, built from the twelfth to the fourteenth century,
surrounded by a number of palaces, among which the most important is Palazzo di Vecchio, which is now the seat of the municipal
government. Other interesting sights here are: Neptune fountain (Fontanna di Piazza) with a statue of white marble, built between 1563-1575, and a
copy of Michelangelo's "David", carved in 1501; to the left of the
fountain of Neptune there is a statue of Cosimo I, Duke of Tuscany, founder
of the Medici family. Another interesting feature is the marble slab put
in the place of "bonfire of vanity" made by Savonarola and a pile on
which it was burned.
*Baptistery of St. John (Battisterio di San Giovanni
Battista) – Piazza San Giovanni, near the Cathedral of Santa Maria del
Fiore, one of the oldest buildings in the city, with 10 reliefs recognized as
masterpieces of the early Renaissance. Three bronze doors lead to its
interior, including the so-called Doors of Paradise, decorated with 10
scenes from the Old Testament and biblical figures.
*Basilica of St. Cross (Basilica di Santa Croce) –
Piazza Santa Croce, the largest Franciscan church in the world; the graves Michelangelo,
Machiavelli and Galileo (among others) can be found here; the walls are covered
with frescoes by Giotto.
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| View of the city with the famous dome of the cathedral |