Italian partner introduction
Our town:
Florence
Our town:
FIRENZE
Florence is called the capital of arts;
according to statistics produced by
UNESCO, 60% of the world's most
important works of art are located in
Italy and approximately half of these
are in Florence. Florence attracts a high
proportion of international travelers to
Italy.
Florence's historical center has been a
UNESCO World Heritage Site since
1982. Visiting the center of Florence
you truly can have the sensation on
being in an open-air museum!
Florence and its history
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Florence was founded around 59 B.C. by Romans with the name of
Florentia.
During 12th century: formation of the first Comune (the city-state) in which
Florence is run by a 100-strong assembly.
Between the 12th and 14th centuries Florence is caught in the struggles
between the Guelphs (supporters of the Pope) and the Ghibellines
(supporters of the Emperor).
In 1424, Florence is ruled by Cosimo "the Elder" de' Medici at the head of
the Signoria.
Between the 15th and middle of 16th centuries Florence is the "cradle of
the Renaissance", a period of great artistic and cultural splendor.
In 1569, Tuscany becomes a Grand Duchy. Cosimo I de' Medici is named
the Grand Duke of Tuscany by Pope Pius V and the members of the Medici
family passed down the title for the next two centuries.
Once the Medici family died out, the Lorraine family ruled over the Grand
Duchy of Tuscany.
In 1861, Tuscany was annexed to the Kingdom of Italy.
From 1865 to 1871 Florence was the capital of Italy.
Let’s go
and have a look
of Florence!
Piazzale Michelangelo
Piazzale Michelangelo stands as a huge panoramic terrace perched over the
south bank of the Arno River, from where visitors will marvel at the
incredible views of Florence, such as the Duomo as well as the Arno Valley,
surrounded by enchanting green hills.
In 1864 the talented Florentine architect and engineer Giuseppe Poggi was
commissioned from the Florentine municipal authorities to design the new
town-planning of Florence, as the city had been nominated capital city of the
Kingdom of Italy (1865-1870).
That ambitious project also included the amazing Piazzale Michelangelo and
the prolongation of the most important circular boulevards coming from up
to the hills to the south of Florence.
Il duomo - Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore
Among Florence's churches, the most important is the beautiful
Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, also commonly referred to as
the Duomo of Florence. Construction of the cathedral began at
the end of the 13th century by Arnolfo di Cambio. Giotto
designed the bell tower and Brunelleschi designed and
supervised the construction of the famous dome that can be
seen from anywhere in Florence. The exterior is covered in a
decorative mix of pink, white and green marble. The interior, by
contrast, is pretty stark and plain. The best way to see the dome
is to climb its 463 steps: the route takes you by the interior of the
dome where you can admire close-up Giorgio Vasari's muchreviled frescoes of the Last Judgment.
Piazza della Signoria – Signoria square
It’s one of the main squares of the city, where you
can admire a copy of Michelangelo's David (the
original is in the Accademia Gallery museum) and
Neptune's Fountain, by Ammanati, which
symbolizes the Medici's maritime ambitions.
Palazzo Vecchio – The Old palace
Palazzo Vecchio stands tall overlooking
Piazza della Signoria, and is still today the
home of Florence's city government. The
Palazzo houses the majestic Salone dei
Cinquecento, the assembly hall for the city's
five hundred members general council. The
hall is adorned with frescoes by Vasari and
by Michelangelo's Genius of Victory
marble statue.
Loggia dei Lanzi
Flanking the piazza is the 14th-century
Loggia dei Lanzi, in which there are such
world-renowned statues, as Benvenuto
Cellini’s Perseus.
The Uffizi gallery
The Uffizi is the most important and visited museum in Florence. The Uffizi palace
was designed and begun in 1560 by the architect Giorgio Vasari in the period
when Cosimo de' Medici, first Grand Duke of Tuscany, was bureaucratically
consolidating his recent takeover of power. Built in the shape of a horseshoe
extending from Piazza della Signoria to the Arno River and linked by a bridge over
the street with Palazzo Vecchio, the Uffizi were intended to house the
administrative offices (uffizi) of the Grand Duchy. From the beginning, however,
the Medici set aside a few rooms on the third floor to house the finest works of
their collections. The Gallery was subsequently enriched by various members of
the Medici family. Two centuries later, in 1737, the palace and their collection were
left to the city by Anna Maria Luisa, the last Medici heir, and today houses one of
the world's great art galleries.
The Uffizi Gallery is one of the world's top art museums - it houses some of the
most important works of the Renaissance, including works by Leonardo da Vinci,
Giotto, Botticelli and Michelangelo. Lots of sculptures too.
Palazzo Pitti – Pitti palace
This enormous palace is one of Florence's largest architectural
monuments. The original palazzo was built for the Pitti family
in 1457, designed by Filippo Brunelleschi. The original
construction consisted of only the middle cube of the present
building. In 1549, the property was sold to the Medicis and
became the primary residence of the grand ducal family. The
palace was then enlarged and altered; from 1560, Bartolomeo
Ammannati designed and added the grandiose courtyard and
two lateral wings.
Palazzo Pitti – Pitti palace
Today, the Pitti Palace houses some of the most important
museums in Florence: the Palatine Gallery, containing a
broad collection 16th and 17th century paintings, the Royal
Apartments, containing furnishings from a remodeling done in
the 19th century; the Silver Museum (Museo degli Argenti)
displaying a vast collection of Medici household treasures; the
Gallery of Modern Art is, holding a collection of mostly
Tuscan 19th and 20th century paintings; the Porcelain
Museum and the Costume Gallery, a showcase of the
fashions of the past 300 years.
Behind the palace lies the famous Boboli Garden
Ponte Vecchio – The Old bridge
Another of the main symbols of the city of Florence is the famous Ponte Vecchio, or Old
Bridge, that crosses over the Arno, the main river in Tuscany.
Built very close to the Roman crossing, the Old Bridge was until 1218 the only bridge across
the Arno in Florence. The current bridge was rebuilt after a flood in 1345.
There have been stores on the Ponte Vecchio since the 13th century. Initially, there were all
types of shops, including butchers and fishmongers and later tanners, whose industrial
waste caused a pretty rank stench. In 1593, Ferdinand I decreed that only goldsmiths
and jewellers be allowed to have their stores on the bridge. Cellini, a 16th century
goldsmith, is honoured with a bust on the bridge.
When the Medici moved from Palazzo Vecchio to Palazzo Pitti, they decided they needed a
connecting route from the Uffizi to the Palazzo Pitti on the other side of the Arno that
would enable them to keep out of contact with the people they ruled. The result was the
Corridoio Vasariano, built in 1565 by Vasari and which runs above the little goldsmiths'
shops on the Ponte Vecchio.
During World War II it was the only bridge across the Arno that the fleeing Germans did not
destroy.
On November 4, 1966, the bridge miraculously withstood the tremendous weight of water and
silt when the Arno once again burst its banks.
Santa Croce – Saint Cross church
Santa Croce, rebuilt for the Franciscan order in 1294 by Arnolfo di
Cambio, is the burial place for the great and good in Florence.
Michelangelo is buried in Santa Croce, as are Rossini, Machiavelli,
and the Pisan-born Galileo Galilei, who was tried by the Inquisition
and was not allowed a Christian burial until 1737, 95 years after his
death. There is also a memorial to Dante, but his sarcophagus is
empty.
The church exterior is covered with a polychrome marble facade added
in 1863. It looks onto the Piazza Santa Croce, which is the site of the
annual soccer game in medieval costume, the Calcio Storico.
Close to the church you can find the Museo dell’Opera, with
Brunelleschi’s lovely Pazzi Chapel.
Santa Maria Novella church
The Church of Santa Maria Novella is one of the most important Gothic
churches in Tuscany. The exterior is the work of Fra Jacopo Talenti
and Leon Battista Alberti. The interior holds extraordinary works of
art including Masaccio's Trinità, Ghirlandaio's fresco cycle in the
Tornabuoni Chapel and Giotto's Crucifix, among others.
The convent was built between 1279 and 1357 by Dominican friars near
a 7th century church located in the fields just outside Florence's
medieval walls.
It is also the only church with its original planned facade in place. The
church of San Lorenzo never even received its planned marble
facade while others were completed centuries later with new designs.
Porcellino fountain
Il Porcellino (Italian "piglet") is the local Florentine nickname for the bronze
fountain of a boar.
Originally intended for the Boboli Garden, then moved in the Mercato Nuovo
in Florence, where it still stands as one of the most popular spots for
tourists. The present statue is only a copy, while the original is sheltered
in the new Museo Bardini.
The fountain figure was sculpted and cast by Baroque master Pietro Tacca
in 1612, following a marble Italian copy of a Hellenistic marble original.
Visitors to Il Porcellino put a coin into the gaping boar's jaws with the intent
to let it fall through the underlying grating for good luck and rub the boar's
snout to ensure a return to Firenze, a tradition that has kept the snout in a
state of polished sheen while the rest of the boar's body has patinated to
a dull brownish-green.
Copies of the sculpture can be found around the world.
We are waiting for you
in Florence!