Paintings, statues, bronzes, churches, ancient marbles, museums, galleries. Florence is elegance, taste, harmony and beauty.
A plunge in art
Florence: the Renaissance
Florence:
the Renaissance
TRADITIONAL FOOD SPECIALTIES: pappa al pomodoro (bread soup with fresh tomatoes, ribollita (soup made with white beans, vegetables and thickened with day-old bread), panzanella (salad of soaked stale bread, onions and tomatoes), castagnaccio (chestnut flour cake), panigacci (a kind of bread), Florentine steak, lampredotto (street food made with beef tripe), fagioli all’uccelletto (beans cooked in tomato sauce), Florentine flatbread, Florentine tripe.
WINES: Abrusco, Aleatico, Alicante, Barsaglina, Canaiolo, Canina Nera, Ciliegiolo, Colorino, Foglia Tonda, Lanaiolo, Mammolo, Malvasia Nera, Pollera Nera, Prugnolo Gentile, Pugnitello, Sangiovese, Vermentino Nero. Albarola, Ansonica, Biancone, Canaiolo Bianco, Durello Gentile, Grechetto, Greco, Malvasia Bianca, Moscato Bianco, Trebbiano Toscano, Vernaccia di San Gimignano
MUST DO’S: The Uffizi Galleries, a walk in the historic center (Unesco World Heritage), Boboli Gardens, a tour of the San Lorenzo market, a visit to the artisan’s shops, climb the dome of the Cathedral.
RECOMMENDED READS:
- A Room with a View, by E.M. Forster
- Inferno, by Dan Brown
Why Florence?
Universally considered to be the cradle of the Renaissance, the world capital of fifteenth-century’s art, Florence hosts some of the most famous museums in the world and a legendary historic center.
The core of the city is Piazza della Signoria, with its grandiose Palazzo Vecchio, the sculpture masterpieces in Loggia dei Lanzi and nearby Uffizi Gallery, among the most celebrated art museums in the world.
Just a short walk to Santa Maria del Fiore’s cathedral with Brunelleschi’s grandiose dome, the biggest one ever built.
Florence’s Duomo is magnificently enriched by Giotto’s Campanile, one of Italy’s most beautiful bell towers, and by San Giovanni’s Baptistery, with the famous bronze doors decorated by Lorenzo Ghiberti.
Ponte Vecchio, the “old bridge” that crosses Arno river is definitely one of the top things to see in Florence. It is believed to have been built by the Romans and permantly rebuilt in 1345, outlasting powerful floods and German bombs during II World War. The buildings clinging onto the bridge are shops that have been on Ponte Vecchio since the 13th century. Initially, there were all types of shops, including butchers and fishmongers. Here, they would let the waste from cleaning and preparing their meats fall directly into the river.
When Cosimo I de’ Medici, the Grand Duke of Tuscany, moved into the Pitti Palace along the Arno river’s south bank, he constructed the Vasari Corridor, which runs above the whole length of the bridge. In order to mitigate the risk of assassination, the corridor would connect his home with his office in the Piazza della Signoria. The corridor spans almost one kilometer and boasts panoramic views of the Arno river.
While butchers originally monopolized the Ponte Vecchio beginning, a 1595 decree designed to elevate the prestige of the Vasari Corridor was enforced. It prohibited butchers from selling meat on the bridge and replaced them with gold and silversmiths. To this day, jewelers are the sole merchants on Ponte Vecchio.
Florence is an open-air art gallery, surrounded by some of the most iconic and distinctive landscapes of the earth, the ultimate destination for any culture, superb food and wine lover.
BEST TIME TO GO: The best time to visit Florence is from April to June and between September and October, when the climate is mild, prices are lower and there are fewer tourists. In July and August the city is overcrowded, heat and mugginess can be annoying. Another pleasant period is the beginning of winter, in December, when the weather is clear and sunny.
HOW TO GET THERE: Florence is well connected with the rest of Italy and other European main cities. The nearest airport, Amerigo Vespucci is just 4 km away from the city centre. Trains connect the Tuscan town with other italian regions and by high-speed trains Naples, Rome, Florence, Bologna, Milan can be reached in a very short time. Florence is also a key intersection in the national motorway network.
HOW TO GET AROUND: Florence is a small city. The best way to get around is walking. Its tiny core is a true an open-air museum, with all the main attractions within short distance. Farther sites can be reached by city bus. Driving is definitely not recommended due to scarce parking availability and to the restricted traffic zone in the city centre.
WHERE TO STAY: Those who wish to stay in the heart of Florence can pick an accommodation between Piazza San Marco, Piazza Santa Croce, Ponte Vecchio and Piazza Santa Maria Novella, some of the most popular touristy areas during the day and til late night in the summer. A good alternative is to stay in Oltrarno, close to the most typical artisan shops, antique shops, Palazzo Pitti and the Boboli Gardens, still the centre of Florence, a short walk away from monuments, squares, churches, restaurants, shops and main museums.
HOW LONG SHOULD YOU STAY: At least a weekend, although Florence is a small city it has lots of things to do and see.
Would you like to go on this trip? Let's design it!
Dai diari di viaggio...
