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| Things to do in Florence, Italy |
Today we will talk about one of the most beautiful cities in the world, the capital of Tuscany, Italy called Florence by the English speakers (or Firenze by the Italian speakers). Founded by Julius Cesar as a village for the Roman army veterans on the site of an Etruscan settlement next to the Arno River. The village was known as "Fiorenza" which means "blooming". The city rose to economic and cultural preeminence under the Medici during the 15th and 16th centuries. Florence is known as the "Cradle of the Renaissance". Its 600 years of extraordinary artistic legacy can be seen above all in the works of great minds, such as Giotto, Filippo Brunelleschi, Sandro Botticelli, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Donatello, Niccolo Machiavelli, Dante and Galileo Galilei. In this video we’ll go over the most famous Florentine sights, such as the Cathedral (Santa Maria del Fiore), the Church of Santa Croce, the Uffizi Gallery, the Palazzo Pitti and more
Check out my YouTube video about Florence:The revival of Florence began with the foundation of the Basilica of San Miniato al Monte in 1013, in the presence of Bishop Alibrand and with the consent of Emperor Henry II. The church represents the culmination of Romanesque architecture in Tuscany. Until the 19th century, all the Florentines were baptized here. The city walls were built in 1078 and in 1116 Florence became an independent commune.
The oldest and the most iconic bridge in Florence is Ponte Vecchio. It is located at the narrowest point of the Arno River. The bridge was first mentioned in documents of 996. Since then, it had to be reconstructed several times due to the damage caused by the flood. In 1345, it was restored for the last time and it has preserved its appearance to this day. Initially, the bridge was full of butchers' shops; but today you can buy jewelry and souvenirs there.
🐗 Near the Ponte Vecchio there is another popular tourist site called Fontana del Porcellino or "piglet’s fountain" Its name is ironic since it is an adult wild boar, the statue is made of bronze by the Baroque master Pietro Tacca around 1633. This is a copy of the original Roman statue made of marble which is currently on display in the classical section of the Uffizi Gallery. The boar is associated with the Calydonian boar from Greek mythology. Il Porcellino is also known for the visitor's tradition to put a coin in the boar's mouth to bring them luck and to ensure their return to Florence. The money collected is destined to the Opera della Divina Provvidenza Madonnina del Grappa, a charitable Catholic institution.
A transition period in art and culture started in the XIII century and was called pre-Renaissance, strongly influenced by Byzantine and Gothic traditions. There was no similar period in any of the European countries. In Italy itself, pre-Renaissance art existed only in Tuscany and Rome. In Italian culture, the features of the old and the new were intertwined. The biggest artists of this era were the architects and sculptors Niccolo and Giovanni Pisano, Arnolfo di Cambio and the painter Giotto di Bondone.
The construction of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore (also known as Florentine Duomo), and the Palazzo Vecchio. Began Under the leadership of Arnolfo di Cambio,
Palazzo Vecchio is one of the most famous buildings in the city and it currently serves as a town hall. It is also possible that di Cambio designed the Church of Santa Croce, the largest Franciscan church in the world, famous for the frescoes by Giotto and as the resting place of the great Italian men such as Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli, the poet Foscolo, the philosopher Gentile and the composer Rossini.
On the same square Piazza della Signoria you can see La Loggia dei Lanzi, an open-air sculpture gallery of antique and Renaissance art. Built between 1376—1382 , by Benci di Cione and Simone di Francesco Talenti to house the assemblies of the people and hold public ceremonies.
One of the oldest buildings in Florence is the Baptistery of San Giovanni constructed between 1059 and 1128. It is located next to the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore and Giotto's bell tower. It was once believed that the Baptistery was originally a Roman temple dedicated to Mars, the tutelary god of the old Florence.
The vault of the dome is decorated with Byzantine mosaics of the XIII-XIV centuries.
The most ancient and precious masterpieces of this building are the southern gates created by Andrea Pisano. The gate contains 28 panels with bas-reliefs depicting the life of John the Baptist. Lorenzo Ghiberti designed the other two gates. Michelangelo highly praised his work (50 years after its creation) and called them "The Gates of Paradise". Currently, the panels have been replaced with copies, and the original panels are in the Duomo Museum. At the beginning of the 19th century, a copy of this gate was installed at the northern entrance to the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg, Russia. One of the few copies made in the 1940s is installed in Grace Cathedral, in San Francisco;in 2017 for the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri.
In 1560, the first Grand Duke of Tuscany, Cosimo I de Medici, decided to build a palace to house the administrative (uffici) and judicial (Uffizi) institutions of the Duchy of Tuscany. The building was to become a new and modern center, symbolizing the ducal power, planned to be placed next to the Palazzo Vecchio. Today, the Uffizi Gallery is one of the most visited museums in the world that contains one of the oldest and most well-known art collections. Including its most famous works such as Botticelli's Birth of Venus. Da Vinci’s The Annunciation, Michelangelo's Holy Family, and Raphael’s Madonna Del Cardellino.
The largest of the palaces in Florence is Palazzo Pitti; it was the main residence of the Medici Grand Dukes of Tuscany. Now It is one of the largest museum complexes in Florence and houses the Palatine Gallery, Gallery of Modern Art, Silver Museum, Porcelain Museum, Carriage Museum and the Gallery of Costume (Italy's largest collection of fashion history).
On the southeast side of Palazzo Pitti, there are Boboli Gardens, laid out for Eleonora di Toledo, the wife of Cosimo I de' Medici. The park represents one of the first and most important examples of the Italian garden, which later served as inspiration for many European courts. It has a regular symmetrical layout, divided by long axial paths, and decorated with fancy stone elements, colonnades, statues and fountains.
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| Tower of Pisa |
If you want to see Florence from a great view point, there is one called Piazzale Michelangelo. It is the most famous observation point on the city's panorama, replicated on countless postcards. In the center of the square there is a copy of Michelangelo's statue of David,
While in Tuscany you can see other World Heritage Sites like the Cathedral square of Pisa; the historical center of San Gimignano; the historical center of Siena ; the historical center of Pienza; the Val d'Orcia, and the Medici Villas and Gardens. You can also visit other cool places like MARBLE QUARRY in the Apuan Alps or you can go and enjoy the thermal waters at Saturnia.
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