YOUR FLORENCE EXPERIENCE

FINE ARTS AND
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Hidden places: Chiesa dei Santi Apostoli

One of the most ancient buildings in Florence is certainly the Church of Santi Apostoli. It faces Piazza del Limbo, so called because here once stood a cemetery for all those children that had died before they were baptized, who - as Dante described in the Divine Comedy - remained...

Bygone Florence: Church of San Pier Maggiore

Florence has changed its appearance many times over the centuries, and a great number of buildings was lost due to demolitions and renovations. This is the case of the Church of San Pier Maggiore, of which only traces of the arches of the external portico of the church remain in...

The secrets of Piazza Duomo

Many are the anecdotes and legends regarding the city of Florence, Piazza Duomo alone is the protagonist of several of these interesting stories. Today we'll tell about you some of them. The fall of the Duomo’s golden sphere was indeed a shocking event. We must start by saying that designing...

The new Giunti Odeon

Ph: Giunti Odeon The historic Cinema Odeon in Florence is transformed and becomes Giunti Odeon, a multi-function space that will act as both a cinema and a bookshop.After several controversies and doubts that arose among the Florentine population during the renovation works, the 1,500 square meter space was inaugurated on...

Curious Florence: Palazzo dei Cartelloni

In via Sant'Antonino 11 in Florence, there is a building that immediately catches the eye of passers-by as it features decidedly unusual decorative elements. It is Palazzo Viviani, otherwise known as the "Palazzo dei cartelloni” (Billboards Palace), due to the enormous epigraphs with which the facade is decorated. Among these...

The Gardens of Florence - Stibbert Park

At the moment of his death, English entrepreneur and collector, Frederick Stibbert (1838-1906) left to the municipality of Florence his villa containg a spectacular collection of more than 50,000 objects: armors, weapons, porcelains, furniture, jewelry, paintings, sculptures and much more. This property included also a beautiful park with sculptures, little...

The pyramid of the Cascine Park

While taking a stroll at the Cascine Park, a very peculiar structure might have caught your eye. We are talking about the pyramid that can be found along the tree-lined avenu, looking rather out of place in the Tuscan capital.What on earth is a pyramid doing in Florence? Well, it...

The Iris Garden

Florence is beautiful even in the rain, but when it shines under the spring sun it becomes something spectacular. It is then that you have to go out absolutely for a walk in the center, or along the bank of the river Arno or better still go to visit one...

The Gardens of Florence - Gli Orti del Parnaso

Many know the Orticoltura gardens because of the flower fair held here every year and the majestic Rooster’s Tepidarium, the large white iron greenhouse that dominates the surrounding landscape.However, not everyone knows of the existence of a second garden overlooking the Orticoltura gardens, often frequented only by residents, couples and...

The column of san Zanobi

On January 26th, in Florence we celebrate San Zanobi (Saint Zenobius) so you might see a garland of flowers at the base of the column in Piazza Duomo - if you ever even noticed the column in the first place. Many people, including Florentines, pass by it every day not...

The spectacular Michelozzo Courtyard in Palazzo Vecchio

Entering Palazzo Vecchio from the door that overlooks Piazza della Signoria on the side of the Loggia dei Lanzi, you will find yourself directly in Michelozzo's Courtyard, designed by him in 1453. Stuccos, paintings, grotesques, coats of arms and statues contribute to making the space spectacular, leaving all visitors in...

The Chimera of Arezzo, an Etruscan masterpiece

The Chimera of Arezzo, was found on November 15, 1553 during the excavation works for the construction of the Medici fortification walls, near the Porta San Lorentino. Cosimo I de' Medici, great collector and art estimator, fell in love with this work so deeply that he decided to personally take...

A secret garden in Florence: Giardino Torrigiani

In the Florentine Oltrarno there is one of the largest private gardens in Europe located within the walls of a city, the Torrigiani Garden, which with its surface of almost ten hectares extends into the area between the ancient walls that go from Porta Romana to Piazza Tasso, Via dei...

A guide to the swimming pools in Florence

Summer can be cruel in Florence for those who don't have the chance to get out of town for a few days, away from the torrid streets of the historical center. Temperature rise higher with each passing year, leaving the Florentines to melt away even in the shade. If you...

The charming Casa Martelli

Casa Martelli is one of those places that you'll visit and then ask yourself: "Why have I not been here sooner"? This unique museum was created by one of the most influential families of Florence - the Martelli, bankers that rapidly rose to power, also thanks to their connection with...

Girolamo Savonarola: a herethic in Florence

Florence is a place full of history and stories, and sometimes, without even realizing it, we find ourselves walking right upon them. This might have happened in Piazza della Signoria, where a large marble plaque set in the paving of the square, right in front of the fountain of Neptune,...

Florence and the instruments that mark the time

A good observer will discover that in Florence there are several astronomical instruments scattered around the city, not only great breeding ground for artists but also for scientists and scholars. In ancient times, to know the time people used the sundial, a measurement tool based on the detection of the...

Ancient Florence: Badia Fiorentina

With Brunelleschi’s Dome, Giotto's bell tower and the tower of Palazzo Vecchio to reign supreme in the Florentine skyline, the beautiful bell tower of the Badia Fiorentina often goes unnoticed, although clearly visible next to the tower of the Bargello museum. It indicates the position of one of the oldest...

The troubled past of Ponte Vecchio

Not much is known about the origins of Ponte Vecchio, one of the most famous bridges in Italy, as well as the oldest bridge in Florence. We only know that at some point, the Romans decided to build a bridge over the narrowest point of the Arno River within the...

The Chapel of The Magi in Palazzo Medici Riccardi

Benozzo Gozzoli (c. 1421 - 1497) was a Florentine painter, a pupil of Lorenzo Ghiberti and Beato Angelico, known mostly for the frescoes in the Magi Chapel in Palazzo Medici Riccardi. It was to him that Cosimo and Piero de 'Medici commissioned the frescoes for the chapel, a work that...

The Terrace of Geographic Maps of the Uffizi: a testament to the power of the Medici family in Tuscany

After two years of restorations carried out by the Opificio delle Pietre Dure in Florence, we can return to admire the Terrace of Geographic Maps of the Uffizi, a place rich in history from which visitors can enjoy a beautiful view of the city. Giorgio Vasari had designed this space...

Medici Chapels: The New Sacristy

The Medici Chapels of Florence are one of the most famous and fascinating complexes in the city. Built by Michelangelo and Buontalenti between the 16th and 17th centuries, the chapels are the mausoleum of the Medici family and include the Chapel of the Princes and the New Sacristy (so called...

Medici Chapels: the Chapel of the Princes

The Medici Chapels complex is part of the Basilica of San Lorenzo and includes the New Sacristy designed by Michelangelo in 1519, and the grandiose Chapel of the Princes built in the seventeenth century. Hard to decide which space is the most beautiful, the first emblem of formal purity, the...

The gardens of Florence - Villa Favard in Rovezzano

Eastern suburbs of Florence, in Rovezzano, a public park with a large villa in the center, Villa Favard (not to be confused with the homonymous villa in via Curtatone, home of the Polimoda Fashion School).   The history of this place begins at the end of 1200, in a Florence...

The Laurentian Library

Built in a cloister of the Basilica of San Lorenzo there is one of Florence’s invaluable treasures: The Medicean-Laurentian Library. The complex was designed by Michelangelo Buonarroti in 1519 for the cardinal Giulio de Medici, who later became Pope Clement VII. Michelangelo supervised the works in person until 1534, when...

Departures: the fresco inside Santa Maria Novella station in Florence

About 60,000 people transit through the Santa Maria Novella station in Florence every year, and yet, not everyone notices the huge 25-meter fresco placed on the south wall of the large arrivals and departures hall. A work created with an ancient technique, for which Italian and in particular Florentine art...

The Odeon Cinema and its history

The Renaissance palace where the Odeon is located, now called Palazzo dello Strozzino, was a property of the wealthy Strozzi family, this was true for the majority of the buildings that surrounded Piazza Strozzi and for those in the street that is now via Monalda. It does not come as...

Beyond the Renaissance in Florence - The district of Sorgane

For those interested in architecture, Sorgane is a district of Florence definitely worth visiting. In 1957 it was decided to build here a satellite city of public housing, a very ambitious project. Initially designed for 12,000 inhabitants, the project is entrusted to a group of young architects coordinated by Giovanni...

Le Cure District from Michelangelo to the Street Art

The history of this district north of the center has always been linked in some way to art. Legend has it that in 1520, when here there was only countryside crossed by the Mugnone stream, the Madonna appeared to two seriously ill patients who were praying in front of one...

Vasari's Loggia del Pesce: a troubled history

The fish market was once located in today's Lungarno degli Archibugieri, then Piazza del Pesce, right next to Ponte Vecchio. In 1565, on the occasion of the marriage between the son of Grand Duke Cosimo I, Francesco, and the Archduchess of Austria Giovanna of Austria, the famous Vasari Corridor was...

Santo Stefano al Ponte: a hidden church in Florence

One of the most well-hidden churches in all of Florence is probably Santo Stefano al Ponte. However, the name suggests where we can find it: in the small Piazza Santo Stefano, near Ponte Vecchio. Founded before 1116, the year in which the first documentations mention it, the church of Santo...

Beyond the Renaissance in Florence - The Opera di Firenze and the Maggio Musicale

The New Opera Theater has replaced the old Municipal Theater, the work of the engineer Telemaco Bonaiuti, which dated back to 1862. The old building was no longer considered to be up with the times, especially from a technical and safety point of view and was no longer able to...

Piazza Indipendenza and its stories

A large square near the Santa Maria Novella station and the boulevards. The rich vegetation, composed of linden and holm oaks, has recently been enriched by cherry trees and 500 white iceberg roses in the flower beds.It was part of a huge area of ​​vegetable gardens and meadows that until...

The Baptistry of San Giovanni in Florence

On June 24, Florence celebrates its patron saint, San Giovanni, but this has not always been the case. Back in the day, when the religion was still pagan, the city was devoted to the god Mars. Many believe that the current Baptistery of San Giovanni was built from the ruins...

Beyond the Renaissance in Florence - The Golden Ratio in art and at Palazzo Rucellai

This time the title "Beyond the Renaissance" should be interpreted as "Renaissance beyond itself", that is, at the top of its idea of ​​the world and of the rediscovery of classical culture. The facade of Palazzo Rucellai, designed by Leon Battista Alberti and completed in 1465, is celebrated as one...

The Rose Garden: a little piece of heaven in Florence

There is no better place to find inspiration for your art projects than in the Rose Garden, just under Piazzale Michelangelo. This garden was created in 1865 by Giuseppe Poggi, who also designed the piazzale, and it houses a collection of about 400 varieties of roses, lemons, and other plants...

Beyond Renaissance in Florence - The Manifattura Tabacchi of Florence and Women's emancipation

The Manifattura Tabacchi: a district of 16 buildings on an area of ​​100,000 square meters, next to the Cascine Park. Pure modernist rationalist architecture, designed by architects Giovanni Bartoli and Pier Luigi Nervi in ​​1933, completed in 1940. According to modernist architectural canons, the structure had to be functional to...

Beyond the Renaissance in Florence - The new Palace of Justice, the construction

Leonardo Ricci died in 1994, construction began in 2000 and the work was inaugurated in 2012.It is the second largest Palace of Justice in Italy, after the one in Turin, covers 3 hectares of land and has a useful area of ​​126,000 square meters. The measurements are: 230 m by...

Beyond the Renaissance in Florence - The new Palace of Justice, the project

In 1988 Leonardo Ricci presented the preliminary project alone, but many ideas, elaborated with Michelucci and contained in the beautiful sketches preserved in the Michelucci Foundation in Fiesole, are maintained:- The circular square in front of the entrance, also equipped with a "reflecting pool", a large body of water to...

Beyond the Renaissance in Florence - The New Palace of Justice, when the story began

The New Palace of Justice is the most demanding, spectacular and interesting work of recent decades. And of course it was a source of endless controversy, like everything in Florence.The need to bring together the judicial functions dates back to 1867, at the time of Florence Capital (1865 - 1870)....

The gardens of Florence - The Remembrance Park of San Miniato a Monte

The cypress (Cupressus Sempervirens) has been part of the Tuscan landscape for millennia, particularly in the provinces of Florence and Siena, together with the olive tree and the vine. Originary of Iran, it thrived in the Mediterranean because it loves a hot and dry climate. Very hardy, it can live...

An island in the city: the English Cemetery of Florence

Is it possible to find an oasis of peace and quiet right in the middle of the city traffic? In Florence, you can. If you venture outside the historical center, in Piazza Donatello, you will find the English Cemetery. Originally called Protestant Cemetery of Porta a Pinti, it was renamed...

Beyond Renaissance in Florence - La Fontana delle Boccacce

Le Cascine Park, the largest in Florence, was built in 1563 as a hunting reserve and agricultural farm of the Grand Duke Cosimo I de 'Medici. The name Le Cascine derives from the ancient Tuscan word "cascio", from cacio, meaning cheese. The cascio was the place where cows were milked and cheeses were processed. “Cascino” was...

Beyond Renaissance in Florence - The Nuovo Archivio di Stato, an endless controversy

The Florentines are famous for being polemical and disagree on everything, since the time of Guelphs and Ghibellines. This side of the citizen character has historically been very negative because many initiatives end up in nothing due to discussions and disputes and, if they are successful, they still leave a...

The Gardens of Florence - Piazza dei Ciompi and its stories

A small square in the heart of the Santa Croce district. It may appear ancient, but it was actually created in the 1930s, when it was decided to demolish the area, crammed with old buildings considered unhealthy and degraded, in order to build a modern neighborhood. For these urban interventions,...

Fountains of Florence

Whether installed to celebrate an event, a personality of relevance for the city or just to decorate a piazza, Italian cities have always loved their fountains. Florence is no exception. There are many beautiful fountains scattered around the city,  so let's see some of the most famous and unique fountains...

The Gardens of Florence - Il Parco di San Donato a Novoli

San Donato a Novoli, the dream of every urban planner: an area of ​​32 hectares to be structured for public use, in the middle of one of the most densely populated town districts. Each place has its own history, sometimes very long and interesting. In 1935 - 1939, the largest...

The belly button of Florence - The Column of Abundance and its long history

Not all cities have a "belly button", an exact center marked by a column, but Florence does. It is the Column of Abundance in Piazza della Repubblica. Florence was founded by the Romans in 59 BC and all the surrounding land assigned to the veterans of Julius Caesar as a...

The Gardens of Florence - Villa Fabbricotti

Far from the madding crowd! If you are attending one of our courses, take a break and stroll at - VILLA FABBRICOTTI  A short walk from Piazza della Libertà, in via Vittorio Emanuele II, there's a beautiful green space, a luxurious villa on top of a terraced hill, a rich vegetation...

Beyond Renaissance in Florence - The Art Nouveau Greenhouse by Giacomo Roster

The Orticoltura Garden was established for botanical scientific experiments in 1859 by the Georgofili Academy, an association founded in 1753, in the Enlightenment climate, for the study of agricultural techniques. Vineyards, fruit trees, vegetables and eccentric and rare ornamental plants were planted in the area. In 1876 the whole park...

Beyond Renaissance in Florence - Il Villino Uzielli, Art Nouveau and Neoclassic

Not only Renaissance, other times, other architectures --- The VILLINO UZIELLI.  The original construction was built in 1870 on commission of Guido Uzielli, a wealthy banker. The building was part of the urban structure of the area according to Giuseppe Poggi's plan of 1865 Firenze Capitale, when the residences of...

Beyond Renaissance in Florence - The Pagliazza Tower, the oldest building in the city

This tower has the honor of being the oldest building in Florence, miraculously remaining in its original appearance. Built in the 6th century AD, almost surely by the Byzantines during the war with the Goths (535 - 553), it was part of the second smaller city walls, after the Roman...

The Gardens of Florence - The Mansola Park, a park for the future

Ten minutes walk from the  bus no. 20 terminus, at the eastern  border of the city you will find the Mensola Park, named after the stream that crosses it, coming down from Fiesole. It is a large open area of ​​20 hectares with pedestrian and bicycle paths, partly being redeveloped with...

The Gardens of Florence - Piazza Massimo D'Azeglio

Far from the madding crowd! If you are attending one of our courses, take a break and stroll at --- PIAZZA MASSIMO D’AZEGLIO. It is a large green space practically in the historic center, its history is interesting from an urban planning point of view. Before 1865 it was an...

The Gardens of Florence - The Oblate Garden

This garden is 100 meters far from the Duomo Square, just in the center. It is part of the large Oblate complex, owned by the Municipality of Florence since 1936, which houses the Municipal Library and various cultural and academic institutions. The building was the first Florentine public hospital, founded...

Beyond Renaissance in Florence - The Lorena triumphal Arch, a monument to the losers

Florence too has a triumphal arch like Paris, even if few people notice it, as it is isolated in a sea of traffic, in Piazza della Libertà. Any time of the day, gas and noise prevent passers-by from stopping for more than a few seconds, just long enough to wait...

The Gardens of Florence - Villa Strozzi

The villa and the large park were one of the private residences of the Strozzi family, built in the mid-16th century by Giovan Battista di Lorenzo Strozzi. The Strozzi were a family of bankers, perhaps the richest of the time, long enemies of the Medici. Their palace in the center...

The Gardens of Florence - The Anconella Park

Mainly formed by a wood of beautiful white poplars, it extends for several kilometers on the left bank of the Arno, on the eastern city outskirts. Very popular, it offers beautiful views of the river, at that point continuously crossed by the rowing boats of the Municipal Rowing Club, based...

Florentine Gothic masterpieces: Giotto's Bell tower

We very often talk about Brunelleschi's spectacular Dome - an unrivaled architectural enterprise- the largest masonry dome ever built to date. Sometimes, however, we forget the other architectural masterpiece that sits right next to it: Giotto's Bell Tower!   It was July 18, 1334 when Giotto began to lay the...

Beyond Renaissance in Florence - Il Villino Broggi - Caraceni, an Art Nouveau masterpiece

Built in 1911 by the architect Giovanni Michelazzi (1879 - 1920), it is considered one of the most significant Italian Art Nouveau buildings, certainly the most interesting in Florence. Michelazzi was a very refined architect, even if unfortunately he designed very few works, committing suicide in 1920 at the age...

The Gardens of Florence - L'Indiano at the park Le Cascine

In the largest public park in Florence, Le Cascine, unexpectedly you meet a monument dedicated to an Indian prince! The young Indian prince Rajaram Chuttraputti of Kolhapur, returning from England where he had visited the queen, suddenly died in Florence on the 30th November 1870, at the age of 21....

The Gardens of Florence - Il Giardino dell'Orticoltura

Another green oasis a few steps from the historic center, easy to reach on foot. Built for scientific botanical experiments in 1859 by the Georgofili Academy, an institution founded in the 1700s for the study of agricultural techniques and gardening, it was and still is the site of floriculture and...

Wolves Coming in Florence

These are certainly difficult times to travel and fully enjoy the beauty of a city like Florence. Especially because much of what it has to offer is enclosed within those very precious jewelry boxes that are its museums and churches. If you prefer to avoid as much as possible to...

A vandal called Michelangelo Buonarroti

On the wall of Palazzo Vecchio, behind the statue of Hercules and Cacus by Baccio Bandinelli, you will notice, if you look closely, the face of a man engraved in stone. According to the legend, Michelangelo Buonarroti himself is the author of this artwork. Michelangelo was an excellent artist, but...

Florentine curiosities: traces of ancient units of measurement

The meter is an object that we all have at home, to which we do not give much importance; often forgotten at the bottom of a drawer under the batteries and the rolls of adhesive tape. We certainly cannot consider it a luxury item. But what if we told you...

Florence Fortezza da Basso

The Fortezza da Basso, or fortress of San Giovanni Battista, today the main Florentine exhibition venue, has a long history, which began after the experience of the siege of 1529. At the time, Duke Alessandro de’ Medici commissioned to the artists and architects Pier Francesco da Viterbo and Antonio da...

Florence curiosities: the upside down balcony

Florence is well-stocked with oddities, just look around while walking down the street to catch some of them. One of these, which strikes the eye of the most attentive ones, is the balcony located in Borgo Ognissanti, at number 12. It certainly stands out: all the architectural elements that compose...

The doors of the Baptistery of Florence restored, brought together at last

Finally, after 30 years of restoration, the 3 monumental doors of the Baptistery of Saint John have been brought together on display at the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo. The first restoration work on the portals, carried out by the Opificio delle Pietre Dure, began in 1990 with the removal of...

Florentine tortures

The Bargello, today a museum that houses one of the most important Renaissance collections of sculptures in the world, as well as a vast collection dedicated to the applied arts, was originally built as a residence of the Potestà in the 13th century. Subsequently it housed the Otto di Guardia...

Contemporary art in Florence: Museo Novecento

It is wonderful to stroll down the streets of the historic center of Florence and enjoying the city from every point of view, but during the summer months, being able to bear the stifling heat that grips the Tuscan capital can be difficult. Fortunately, many are the museums where to...

Day Trip from Florence: Fiesole

Fiesole is the perfect destination for a day trip from Florence, easily reached from the city center by bus or car. The city was formed in the Hellenistic age (late 4th - early 3rd century BC), and became a typical Roman city towards the second half of the 1st century....

Sala degli Elementi reopens in Palazzo Vecchio

Coming out polished from a two-year restoration, Sala degli Elementi reopens in Palazzo Vecchio, part of the Quartiere degli Elementi where each room is dedicated to a mythological divinity to which corresponds a character of the Medici family. The hall, included in the private quarters of the Grand Duke Cosimo I, was...

The restoration of Giuseppe Poggi's Ramps

In the second half of the Nineteenth Century, after Florence had become the capital of Italy, the city changed its appearence due to the work of architect Giuseppe Poggi, in charge of the so-called urban Restoration. The city walls were demolished, the viali (avenues) were created inspired by Parisians boulevards,...

Florentine stories: Dante's rock

At the time of Dante, Piazza del Duomo was very different from how we know it today. There was the Baptistery but there was no Basilica of Santa Maria del Fiore, which was built starting in 1296 on the foundations of the ancient church of Santa Reparata. Furthermore, on the...

The Tower of Palazzo Vecchio

Palazzo Vecchio, with its high tower is one of the symbols of Florence, and the tower, which stands 95 meters high above the roofs of the city, is what marks the location of the ancient Palazzo della Signoria even from afar. The tower of Arnolfo was built at the beginning...

Ospedale degli Innocenti

In Piazza Santissima Annunziata, the atmosphere is almost always very quiet, tourists tend to stay away from this part of the historic center, preferring the area of the nearby Academy of Fine Arts or the Duomo. It is precisely the scarce presence of people that gives this wide Florentine square...

Looking for the unnoticed: Palazzo Pitti

Palazzo Pitti is certainly the largest palace in Florence, now home to priceless treasures, once home to the lords of the city, the Medici. We all know it as the residence of the Medici family, in fact, but its name reveals its true origins. Luca Pitti, the archenemy of Cosimo...

Feasts and Banquets at the Stibbert Museum

We have said it before; the Stibbert Museum is a very unique place to visit. It probably won’t make your top 5 list of places to see in Florence, but that’s just because you don’t know what you’re missing! Once the home of possibly the most eccentric man in town,...

Cinema under the stars in Florence

Summer nights in Florence can be very hot, too hot to stay home watching a movie. So why not take your movie night outside? Here is a list of outdoor cinemas in Florence that might intrest you. First one on our list is Apriti Cinema, the summer cinema arena in...

Santa Maria Novella unveiled

The Santa Maria Novella Church is one of the most beautiful churches in Florence as well as one of the most important examples of Gothic architecture in Tuscany, and yet, it is too often neglected by tourists, drawn to more famous places of interest. Do not make this mistake. You...

A thousand years of San Miniato al Monte

The Abbey of San Miniato al Monte has just celebrated a thousand years since its foundation! The church was built in honor of St. Miniato, the first martyr of Florence. He was allegedly an Armenian prince who was passing through Florence around the year 250. After refusing to venerate the...

The new Modern Art Museum in Florence

A new modern art museum has opened in town: the Roberto Casamonti Collection. Art dealer Roberto Casamonti, developed a passion for art as a child and in the course of his life acquired a vast number of art works of exceptional value that he never placed on the market. Part...

The restoration of the Capponi Chapel

The restoration of the Capponi Chapel in the Santa Felicita Church, founded by the Friends of Florence Foundation, recently came to a close. The works, which lasted about a year, involved the entire architectural complex and the extraordinary works of art contained in it. Visitors will now marvel at the...

Inside Brunelleschi's Dome

Brunelleschi's dome, with its red tiled roof and white contrasting marble ribs, is one of the most distinctive architectures of Florence. Admired and known for its exterior appearance, it is actually an architectural masterpiece that is equally astonishing when viewed from the inside. Brunelleschi had left the interior of the...

What is the so called Florence Syndrome?

Finding yourself in front of Florence’s breathtaking masterpieces such as the David of Michelangelo or Botticelli’s Primavera or even stepping inside the stunning Chapel of the Princes in San Lorenzo, can cause some serious dizziness. But what if what you felt was more than simple dizziness and excitement? What if...

MAF - Florence’s Museum of Archaeology

As of March 1, 2018, the Uffizi ticket allows free entry into Florence’s Museum of Archaeology (MAF), so now is your chance to go pay a visit to its wonderful collection of ancient manufacts. The museum, located in piazza Santissima Annunziata, inaugurated in 1870 in the buildings of the Cenacolo...

The church with its bum in the Arno

Little known in Florence is the Church of San Jacopo Sopr'Arno, a structure of ancient origin built in Romanesque style. Dating back to the X-XI century, it gave its name to the borough that was built around it, Borgo San Jacopo, in the Florentine Oltrarno. Giovanni Villani, Florentine historian and...

GUCCI GARDEN

Last week the Gucci Museum opened the doors of its freshly redesigned spaces; not merely a museum anymore, it is now called Gucci Garden, Alessandro Michele’s new eclectic creation. Situated in the 14th-century Palazzo della Mercanzia in Florence, Gucci Garden is a bazar-like museum where you can find a bit...

Jean de Boulogne: a Flemish in Florence

Trades between Florence and the Flanders began in the 15th century. Many Florentine families commissioned works to Flemish that once arrived here in Florence, greatly influenced local artists. In addition to the works, many artists from Flanders also arrved, many of whom were involved in the Medicean Tapestry Manufactory founded...

ORSANMICHELE: between history and legend

THE LEGENDOnce upon a time in Florence, lived a Young man called Michele who dedicated his life to his work and to charity works he did around the neighborhood, he had such a good heart that people had started to call him “San Michele”. He owned a stable and horses...

The Russian Orthodox Curch in Florence

A short walk from piazza della Libertà, on a street named after the first Medici Pope, Leone X (famous for having excommunicated Martin Luther in 1521), stands a beautiful and unexpected architectural gem. We're talking about the Russian Orthodox Church of the Nativity of Christ and Saint Nicholas, know to...

The towers of Florence

With the arrival of summer it will be possible to access the Torre di San Niccolò, Torre della Zecca and Porta Romana, usually closed to the public, and now opening their doors to visitors on selected days. The Torre di San Niccolò already reopened, as usual, on the occasion of...

The lost Market

Everyone knows the Mercato Nuovo (New Market) of Florence and the famous Loggia del Porcellino, built in 1547 by Giovanni Battista Tasso. Here, just a few steps from Ponte Vecchio, in origin was held the trade of silk and precious objects, but over the years this changed. Infact, from the...

A visit at the Stibbert Museum!

The Stibbert Museum is probably one of the most eccentric museums in Florence, this may have something to do with the fact that its founder was a rather excentric man himself. Frederick Stibbert was born in 1838 in Florence from an italian mother and english father, but he was sent...

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