Overview
Most visitors are overwhelmed by the artistic minefield of Florence
and spend their holiday dashing from one masterpiece to the next,
with their nose stuck in a guidebook and their eyes glued the video
camera, dazzled by an excess of genius. The cultural heritage of
Florence is not to be ignored. Cradle of the Renaissance and home
of the Medici family, Italy’s most progressive
art patrons, it houses some of the world’s greatest treasures.
The River Arno meanders through Florence, with
the Duomo situated on the on the north bank. The
Piazza della Signoria, once the hub of Florence’s
political machinations, remains a central reference point for tourists
and citizens alike.
Visitors can linger over a coffee in one of the square’s gilded
cafés and admire the powerful hulk of Michelangelo’s
David (a copy) guarding the city’s Palazzo
Vecchio, Florence’s town hall since 1322. An array
of sculptures, including Cellini’s Perseus brandishing the
head of Medusa and Giambologna’s Rape of the Sabine Women,
stand under the square’s loggia, an impressive overspill from
the nearby Uffizi Gallery. Passing tourists admire
the rusticated palazzi that line the square, their solid style underscored
by a light Renaissance touch, whose origins can be found in the
family palaces in Strozzi and Rucellai and is repeated all over
Florence.
The square’s landmark crenellated tower, the Torre
d’Arnolfo, can be seen best from the Piazzale
Michelangelo, a balcony over Florence with spectacular
views of terracotta roofs, the River Arno and Brunelleschi’s
portly dome, all backed by the rolling hills of Chianti.
It is the sight of a thousand picture postcards and Merchant Ivory
film shots but it never fails to impress.
Tourist
Information
Azienda di Promozione Turistica (APT)
Via Cavour 1r
Telephone number: (055) 290 832. Fax number: (055) 276 0383.
E-mail: infoturismo@provincia.fi.it
Website: www.firenze.turismo.toscana.it
Opening hours: Monday-Saturday 0830 hrs-1830 hrs and Sunday 0830
hrs-1330 hrs.
Other branches are situated outside the central station, the airport,
at Via Manzoni 16 and in the Borgo Santa Croce, near the church.
Passes
There are special tickets available at some of the museums, which
allow the holder a discount on the entrance price of another participating
attractions. Special passes for the Palazzo Pitti
which includes the Galleria Palatina, Galleria
d’Arte Moderna, Galleria del Costume,
Museo degli Argenti, Museo delle Porcellane
and Giardino di Boboli the cost is €10.50
and is valid for three days.
The Argenti-Boboli pass covers the Giardino
di Boboli, Museo delle Porcellane and Museo degli
Argenti, costs €3 and is valid for 3 days. Visitors
can also purchase an Accademia-Opificio ticket,
which gives entry to the Galleria dell’Accademia
and the Opificio delle Pietre Dure and costs €7.
It is also valid for 3 days.
The passes are available at participating venues for purchase. Given
the queues, visitors to Florence should perhaps consider booking
tickets in advance (telephone number: (055) 294 883). There is a
€1.55 surcharge for reserved tickets for the state museums.
Key Attractions
Galleria degli Uffizi (Uffizi
Gallery)
One of the most important art collections in Italy and one of the
richest in the world is usually heralded by the burr of foreign
tongues from the queues of tourists who snake across the courtyard.
Situated in Vasari’s majestic Uffizi Palace, the Uffizi Gallery
houses the Medici art collection bequeathed to
Florence in 1737, on the condition that it never leaves the city.
The résumé of Italian and in particular Florentine
art is arranged to illustrate how evolving techniques and ideas
influenced the artists. The huge collection is really too big for
one to tackle at a single visit, however, visitors with limited
time should ensure they take a peek at rooms 7 to 18. These include
some of the city’s biggest draws and include Botticelli’s
mythological masterpieces, The Birth of Venus
and Primavera (Spring) and Leonardo Da
Vinci’s Annunciation. Early rooms concentrate on
medieval art with a particular bent towards the Sienese school,
exemplified by Duccio, Martini and Giotto. The
latter end of the gallery features work from the Umbrian and Venetian
schools, including Titian, Tintoretto and Raphael.
Piazzale degli Uffizi 6
Telephone number: (055) 238 8651. Fax number: (055) 238 8699.
E-mail: uffizi@mac.uffizi.firenze.it
Website: www.uffizi.firenze.it
Transport: Bus 23.
Opening hours: Tuesday-Friday and Sunday 0815 hrs -1850 hrs, Saturday
0815 hrs -2200 hrs.
Admission: €8.50.
Piazza
del Duomo (Cathedral Square)
Brunelleschi’s gravity-defying dome dominates the Florence
skyline. The double-skinned dome that sits atop the city’s
candy-coloured Duomo (cathedral) was an architectural
breakthrough, since Brunelleschi invented an entirely new way of
counteracting the weight of the dome, thus building the largest
self-supporting dome since classical times. The cathedral, built
under the proviso that it be the largest house of worship in Christendom,
a feat eventually claimed by St Peter’s Cathedral in Rome
and took 150 years to complete. Its original façade was pulled
down on the orders of Ferdinand I, in 1587. The Duomo remained faceless
for nearly 300 years, until 1887. Described by Ruskin as a ‘Chinese
puzzle’, the lavish pink, white and green marble frontage
belies a cavernous interior that is surprisingly free from decoration.
Once inside, most people look upward, pausing to admire Giorgio
Vasari’s recently restored frescoes in the cupola, before
climbing the 463 steps for a spectacular view over Florence.
Tall, slender and straight-backed, the Campanile (bell
tower) is a graceful sidekick to Brunelleschi’s stout Duomo.
Built according to Giotto’s designs, during 1334, the Campanile
was completed after its creator’s death, by Andrea Pisano
and Francesco Talenti. The tower is decorated with two garlands
of bas-reliefs, strung around the rose-tinted façade. Higher
up, sculptures of the Prophets and Sybils, carved by Donatello,
look down upon the city below. The original pieces are now in the
Cathedral Museum (Grande Museo dell’Opera del Duomo). Visitors
can climb the Campanile, for the rewarding views over the piazza,
which afford a closer inspection of the Duomo and Brunelleschi’s
rusty crown, once described by the architect Alberti as ‘large
enough to shelter all the people of Tuscany in its shadow.’
The adjacent Baptistery completes the trio and provided the inspiration
for both the Campanile and Duomo façades. Originally believed
to be a pagan temple, the octagonal building is the oldest in the
city. It is famous for its gilded bronze doors, particularly those
on the east side, dubbed the Gates of Paradise.
Executed by Lorenzo Ghiberti, with the greatest diligence and the
greatest love, over a period of 27 years, each of the 10 bronze
bas-reliefs tells a story from the Old Testament, with astonishing
realism and compassion. Nowadays, most are copies, the originals
having been moved to the Cathedral Museum for restoration and safekeeping.
Ghiberti, the most self-satisfied of artists, preserved
his own balding image in the frame of the door, fourth in from the
left-hand side.
Piazza del Duomo
Telephone number. (055) 230 2885.
Transport: Bus 14 or 23.
Duomo (Cathedral)
Opening hours: Monday-Wednesday and Friday 1000 hrs-1700 hrs, Thursday
1000 hrs-1530 hrs, Saturday 1000 hrs-1645 hrs, Sunday 1330 hrs-1645
hrs.
Admission: Free.
Cupola (Dome)
Opening hours: Monday-Friday 0830 hrs-1900 hrs, Saturday 0830 hrs-1740
hrs (first Saturday of each month 0830 hrs-1600 hrs).
Admission: €6.
Grande Museo dell’Opera
del Duomo (Cathedral Museum)
Piazza del Duomo 9
Website: www.operaduomo.firenze.it
Opening hours: Monday-Friday 0900 hrs-1930 hrs, Sunday 0900 hrs-1340
hrs.
Admission: €6.
Campanile (Bell Tower)
Opening hours: Daily 0830 hrs-1900 hrs(April-October; daily 0900
hrs-1630 hrs (November-March).
Admission: €6.
Baptistery
Piazza di San Giovanni
Opening hours: Monday-Saturday 1200 hrs hrs-1900 and Sunday 0830
hrs-1400 hrs.
Admission: €3.
Galleria
dell’Accademia (Accademia Gallery)
While Florence offers a panoply of artworks, most people associate
the city with just one masterpiece called Michelangelo’s
David. The huge statue occupies pride of place in the city’s
Accademia Gallery, dwarfing the multitude of chattering
tourists who stand in awe before him. The statue was carved from
a single block of marble during 1502, when the artist was just 29
years old. Its exaggerated size and musculature is a symbol of the
new-born Republic that briefly cast out the Medici, the city’s
‘Goliath’. Also in the gallery are Michelangelo’s
unfinished Slaves, which stand captive in blocks
of marble, from which their forms seem to struggle to escape.
Via Ricasoli 60
Telephone number: (055) 238 8609. Fax number(050) 238 8609.
E-mail: galleriaaccademia@sbas.firenze.it
Transport: Bus 1 or 17.
Opening hours: Tuesday-Sunday 0815 hrs-1850 hrs.
Admission: €8.50.
Ponte
Vecchio (Vecchio Bridge)
Even the dogs of war could not bring themselves to destroy the Ponte
Vecchio and the only bridge to survive the Nazi bombing of Florence
during World War II. Currently, the famous 14th-century bridge is
literally paved with gold, home to Florence’s gold and silversmiths,
and is a prime shopping trap for the city’s affluent tourists.
It was Cosimo de Medici who first created the mood
for change, when he ordered the previous occupants, a motley crew
of butchers, accustomed to throwing their bloody leftovers into
the River Arno, to make room for a more genteel trade.
High above the shops, a secret passageway known as the Corrodoio
Vasariano links the Uffizi Gallery to the Pitti
Palace. Built by Vasari, it was intended
to shield the powerful Medici family from the Florentine riffraff,
as they journeyed from one palace to the other. Lined with portraits
of the city’s greatest artists, the passage reopened to the
public in 1997, although opening times can be erratic due to staffing
problems. Visits can be booked on special request, at the tourist
office.
Between Via de ‘Guicciardini and Via Por Santa Maria
Transport: Bus D.
Opening hours: Daily 24 hours; on special request (Corrodoio Vasariano).
Admission: Free (bridge and Corrodoio Vasariano).
Museo
Nazionale del Bargello (Bargello National Museum)
The grim façade of the Palazzo del Bargello,
which was formerly the city’s jail and torture chamber, is
a daunting introduction to Tuscany’s most impressive collection
of Renaissance sculpture. Masterpieces by Cellini,
Donatello and Michelangelo are
arranged over three floors and overflow into the Palace’s
handsome courtyard, where many a Florentine lost his head. Donatello
captures the spirit of the early Renaissance best, with his sensual
David and his watchful St George,
who once graced the façade of Orsanmichele. Cellini’s
exquisite bronze statuary outshines the somewhat staid Michelangelo
on display, while Giambologna’s Mercury should
not be missed. Two bronze panels by Ghiberti and
Brunelleschi, depicting the Sacrifice of
Isaac, provide a compelling comparison. Both artists entered
the panels in a competition to win the commission to cast the north
doors of the Baptistery. Both won, although Brunelleschi refused
to work in partnership with Ghiberti and instead went on to construct
the cathedral dome considered a veritable artistic snub.
Via del Proconsolo 4
Telephone number: (055) 238 8606. Fax number: (051) 238 8699.
E-mail: museobargello@libero.it
Website: www.sbas.firenze.it/bargello
Transport: Bus 14.
Opening hours: Tuesday-Friday 0815 hrs -1350 hrs; open on the second
and fourth Sunday of each month and on the first, third and fifth
Monday of each month.
Admission: €4.
Santa Croce
This elegant Franciscan church of Santa Croce has tended to overwhelm
the visitor and is held responsible for a little known disease,
Stendhal’s Condition. When the French writer,
Stendhal, visited the church, he suffered a fainting fit brought
on by its beauty and apparently this continues to afflict up to
twelve visitors a year. Lord Byron reported himself
‘drunk with Beauty’ at the sight of the church, which
is attributed to Arnolfo di Cambio, the architect
responsible for the Duomo. The broad piazza, once the site of jousts,
wild animal fights and the burning of heretics, is today home to
miniature Davids and plaster cast Virgins, as souvenir stalls ply
their trade to tourists weakened by stendhalismo.
Some of Italy’s most gifted men are buried here, including
Michelangelo (whose body was smuggled out of Rome
in a packing case), Machiavelli, Galileo, Rossini
and Ghiberti. Dante’s tomb lies empty, the
forefather of Italian literature died in Ravenna and the city refused
to return his corpse, in spite of the Florentine pleas. A series
of colourful chapels, their frescoes commissioned by wealthy bankers,
lift the gloom. Those in the Bardi Chapel are considered some of
Giotto’s best. Outside, in the tranquil cloisters, stands
a Renaissance gem, the Pazzi Chapel, and was designed by Brunelleschi
in 1430. The pure geometric design is an indication of the renewed
influence of classicism over the Gothic forms.
Piazza Santa Croce
Telephone number: (055) 244 619.
Transport: Bus 14 or 23.
Opening hours: Monday-Saturday 0930 hrs-1730 hrs, Sunday 1300 hrs-1730hrs.
Admission: €3 (combined ticket with Museum Santa Croce).
Santa Maria Novella
The zebra-striped façade of the Santa Maria Novella, completed
by Leon Battista Alberti in 1470, is the starting
point of many tours of Florence. Located near the city’s train
station, to which it lends its name, the graceful scrolls, Gothic
arches and classical pediments combine to form one of the city's
most dramatic façades.
Alongside Santa Croce, Santa Maria Novella and
home to the Dominican order, was the most important church in the
city. A fresco cycle by the city’s top social painter, Ghirlandaio,
depicting the lives of the Virgin Mary and St John the Baptist,
is peopled with Florentine society. But the highlight of the lofty
interior is Masaccio’s Trinity (1427), a
fresco displaying outstanding use of perspective, which marked a
breakthrough in Renaissance painting. Miraculously, the flat wall
becomes a recessed vault bearing the crucified figure of Christ.
Behind him, deep within Masaccio’s coffered chapel, God demands
the viewer to acknowledge his sacrifice.
Piazza Santa Maria Novella
Telephone number: (055) 215 918.
Transport: Bus A, 36 or 37.
Opening hours: Monday-Thursday and Saturday 0930 hrs-1700 hrs, Friday
and Sunday 1300 hrs-1700 hrs.
Admission: €2.50.
Museo
di San Marco (San Marco Museum)
Rebuilt at the behest of Cosimo de Medici, this
Dominican convent was home to Fra Angelico, and
also the fanatical Girolamo Savonarola. The ‘mad monk’
famously preached damnation upon the Florentines and exhorted them
to burn their paintings and books on the Bonfire of the Vanities.
Savonarola is depicted in a haunting portrait in the Corsini Gallery,
himself being burned at the stake in the Piazza della Signoria.
More important are the works of Fra Angelico, a gentle and devout
monk whose luminous frescoes, painted as a focal point for the monks’
meditations, adorn each of the preserved monk’s cells. The
deep religious conviction inherent within each fresco is emphasised
by the simplicity of their setting. At the head of the stairs lies
the most powerful of them all, The Annunciation,
a striking representation of the young Mary’s fear and astonishment
as she learns she is to be the Mother of Christ.
Piazza San Marco 3
Telephone number: (055) 238 8608. Fax number: (055) 238 8704.
Transport: Bus C, 1, 6 or 10.
Opening hours: Tuesday-Friday 0815 hrs -1350 hrs, Saturday 0815
hrs-1850 hrs; second and fourth Sunday of each month 0815hrs-1900
hrs; first, third and fifth Monday of each month 0815 hrs-1350 hrs.
Admission: €4.
Capella Brancacci
(Brancacci Chapel)
The area located on the other side of the river, known as Oltrarno,
was not even a part of Florence until the city walls expanded in
the 12th century, to encompass it. Today, Oltrarno has a character
of its own. The slower pace of life is accompanied by less showy
buildings and fewer visitors, rewarding the adventurous with a taste
of everyday life in Florence. The reason most visitors make the
trek across the river, however, is to see the famous Brancacci
Chapel, which is situated inside the church of Santa Maria
del Carmine.
Miraculously salvaged from a fire during the 18th century, the chapel
is home to frescoes by Masaccio, his pupil Masolino
and Filippino Lippi. Masaccio’s crisp retelling
of The Tribute Money, set against the background
of Renaissance Florence, is snappily executed with bright colours
and comic asides, in contrast to his mournful Expulsion
from Paradise. Both the Paradise fresco
and Masolino’s Temptation of Adam and Eve
were propelled into the public eye in the late 1980s, when they
underwent restoration to remove the bogus foliage, added on by prudish
Victorians, to cover up the genitalia. Visits to the chapel are
restricted to 15 minutes.
Piazza del Carmine
Telephone number: (055) 238 2195.
Transport: Bus D.
Opening hours: Monday and Wednesday-Saturday 1000 hrs-1700 hrs,
Sunday 1300 hrs-1700 hrs.
Admission: €3.10.
Cappelle
Medicee (Medici Chapels)
These stunning Medici Chapels were built by the
powerful Medici family, to serve as their mausoleums and were intended
to reflect the immense wealth and influence of this mighty family.
The Chapel of the Princes is decorated with semi-precious stones
and dotted with works of art, while the New Sacresty was designed
by Michelangelo. Entering the chapels is rather
like stepping into a large box of beautiful jewellery.
Piazza Madonna degli Aldobrandini 6
Telephone number: (055) 238 8602.
Transport: Bus A.
Opening hours: Tuesday-Saturday 0815 hrs-1700 hrs; second and fourth
Monday of each month 0815 hrs-1700 hrs, first, third and fifth Sunday
of each month 0815 hrs -1700 hrs.
Admission: €6.
Further
Distractions
Pitti Palace
and Boboli Gardens
Located across the river, in Oltrarno, lies the Pitti Palace
and Boboli Gardens. Built in 1440, for the very
wealthy Pitti family, this monstrous palace was
intended as a challenge to the omnipotent Medici.
The architectural snub was short-lived, however, when the family
fortunes dwindled and the palace was acquired by their rivals.
An early start is best for visitors, as the palace now houses a
number of museums and galleries, including the lavishly decorated
State Apartments. Most visitors only make it around
the Galleria Palatina, which houses yet more paintings
from the Medici collection. Rubens, Titian and
Raphael, wrapped in heavy gilt frames, vie for
attention amid frescoed ceilings and opulent furnishings.
Museum on site are the Galleria d’Arte Moderna
(Gallery of Modern Art), Galleria del Costume (Costume
Gallery), Museo degli Argenti (Silver Museum) and
Museo delle Porcellane (Porcelain Museum).
Visitors at saturation point might choose to skip all the galleries
and go straight to the Boboli Gardens, a haven of fountains, grottoes
and shady walks, populated by local cats and perfect for sun-drenched
picnics. The carpet of medieval Florence rolls away beyond the palace,
visitors are advised to crack open the Chianti, unwrap the salami
and slip back into the Middle Ages.
Piazza Pitti
Telephone number: (055) 238 8615.
Transport: Bus D.
Opening hours: As for separate museum opening hours (see below).
Admission: Free; €10.50 (combined pass for all museums)
Galleria Palatina
Telephone numbre: (055) 238 8614. Fax number: (055) 238 8613.
Website: www.sbas.firenze.it/palatina
Opening hours: Tuesday-Sunday 0815 hrs-1850 hrs
Admission: €8.50.
Galleria d’Arte Moderna
Telephone number: (055) 238 8601 or 8616. Fax number: (055) 265
4520.
E-mail: gam@sbas.firenze.it
Website: www.sbas.firenze.it/gam
Opening hours: Daily 0815 hrs-1350 hrs.
Admission: €5 (combined with Galleria del Costume).
Galleria del Costume
Telephone number: (055) 238 8713. Fax number: (055) 2388713.
E-mail: costume.pitti@virgilio.it
Website: www.sbas.firenze.it/gam
Opening hours: Tuesday-Saturday 0815 hrs-1350 hrs; second and fourth
Monday 0815 hrs -1350 hrs of each month; first, third and fifth
Sunday of each month 0815 hrs-1350 hrs.
Admission: €5 (combined with Galleria d’Arte Moderna).
Museo degli Argenti
Telephone number: (055) 238 8709 or 8761. Fax number: (055) 238
8699.
Website: www.sbas.firenze.it/argenti
Opening hours: Tuesday-Sunday 0815 hrs-1400 hrs; first and last
Monday of each month 0815 hrs-1400 hrs.
Admission: €4 (combined with Museo delle Procellane).
Museo delle Porcellane
Telephone number: (055) 238 8605. Fax number: (055) 238 8699.
Opening hours: Tuesday-Sunday 0815 hrs-1630 hrs(January-February
and November-December), first and last Monday of each month 0815
hrs-1630 hrs, Tuesday-Sunday 0815 hrs-1730 hrs (March), Tuesday-Sunday
0815 hrs-1830 hrs (April-May and September-October), Tuesday-Sunday
0815 hrs-1930 hrs(June-August).
Admission: €4 (combined with Museo degli Argenti).
Boboli Gardens
Opening hours: Tuesday-Sunday 0815 hrs-1630 hrs (January-February
and November-December), first Monday of each month 0815 hrs-1630
hrs, Tuesday-Sunday 0815 hrs-1700 hrs (March), Tuesday-Sunday 0815
hrs-1815 hrs (April-May and September-October), Tuesday-Sunday 0815
hrs-1930 hrs (June-August).
Admission: €4 (combined ticket with Museo degli Argenti and
Museo delle Porcellane) |
