Florence Resources
Useful Info for the Tourist in Florence
Florence Guides
About Florence - guide to the city of Florence
Florence Art Guide - guide to monuments and art in Florence
City of Florence - official site for the city of Florence
Florence Guide - Information on Florence
Museums
The Uffizi Gallery - the official site for the Galleria degli Uffizi. We also offer guided tours of the Uffizi.
The Accademia Gallery - information on the Galleria dell'Accademia, home to Michelangelo's David
Museums in Florence - guide to the state museums of Florence by the Polo Museale Fiorentino
Transportation
ATAF - Public transportation in Florence
LAZZI - bus service in Tuscany
Florence Airport - the Amerigo Vespucci airport in Florence
Santa Maria Novella - the main train station in Florence
Tuscan Cooking
Cooking classes in Tuscany - Hands-on cookery courses
CAR Parking
Garage Ariston
Via Buonvicini, 3/r
Tel: 055 587057
Garage Europa
Borgo Ognissanti, 96
Tel: 055 292222 / 216046
Garage La Stazione
Via Alamanni, 3/a
Tel: 055 284868
Garage Lisi
Via Vico, 10
Tel: 055 677801
Garage Ponte Vecchio
Via De' Bardi, 35/45/r
Tel: 055 2398600
International Garage
Via Palazzuolo, 29
Tel: 055 282386
Florence Main Attractions
According to UNESCO, some 60% of the world's most important works of art are located in Italy and about half of these are located in Florence.
Piazza del Duomo
The remarkable Duomo, with its pink, white and green marble façade and characteristic dome, dominates the city's skyline. The building took almost two centuries to build (and even then the façade wasn't completed until the 19th century), and is the fourth-largest cathedral in the world. The enormous dome was designed by Brunelleschi, and its interior features frescoes and stained-glass windows by some of the Renaissance-era's best: Vasari, Zuccari, Donatello, Uccello and Ghiberti. Take a deep breath and climb up to take a closer look, and you'll be rewarded by fantastic views of the city and an insight into how the dome was so cleverly constructed - without scaffolding (though there's plenty of that propping the dome up now!). The dome still defines the scale of the city, and no building in town is taller.
Piazza della Signoria
The piazza was at the hub of Florence's political life through the centuries, and is surrounded by some of the city's most celebrated buildings. With its famous group of sculptures, the loggia looks a lot like an outdoor sculpture gallery; Cellini's magnificent statue of Perseus and Giambologna's Rape of a Sabine are particularly striking.
Guarding the Palazzo Vecchio is a copy of Michelangelo's oh-so-strokeable David. The palazzo has been Florence's town hall since 1322. Its characterful tower is another of Florence's symbols, and the interior of the palazzo was lavishly redecorated by Vasari. An elevated corridor called Vasari's Corridor leads from the palazzo, through the Uffizi, across the Arno by way of the Ponte Vecchio, and all the way down to the Palazzo Pitti. The private walkway was used by the Medici family as a way of visiting their scattered palaces without having to mingle with the masses. The walkway is lined, as if merely as an afterthought, with works of art.
Backing onto the loggia, and leading all the way down to the banks of the River Arno, is the famed Uffizi Gallery. The gallery's wonderful collection is arranged to illustrate the evolving story of Florentine art. Some of the most famous pieces are in rooms 7-18; they include Botticelli's Birth of Venus, Titian's Venus of Urbino, Michelangelo's Holy Family and Piero della Francesca's Duke & Duchess of Urbino.
History of Florence
Florence was founded as a colony of the Etruscan city of Fiesole in about 200 BC, later becoming the Roman Florentia, a garrison town controlling the Via Flaminia. In the early 12th century the city became a free comune and by 1138 it was ruled by 12 consuls, assisted by the Council of One Hundred, a bunch of rich merchants. In 1207, due to intractable problems with faction fighting, the council was replaced by a foreign (and thus allegedly unbiased) governer, the podestà.
In the 13th century the pro-papal Guelphs and pro-imperial Ghibellines started a century-long bout of bickering, which wound up with the Guelphs forming their own government in the 1250s. By 1292 Florence had had it with the obstreperous nobles, excluding them from government. The city became increasingly democratised, eventually becoming a commercial republic controlled by the Guelph-heavy merchant class.
The great plague of 1348 cut the city's population by almost half and really messed with people's heads. In the latter part of the 14th century the Medicis began consolidating power, eventually becoming bankers to the papacy. Cosimo Medici - patron of artists such as Donatello, Brunelleschi, Fra Angelico and Filippo Lippi - became ruler of Florence. Perhaps the most famous Medici was Lorenzo, grandson of Cosimo, who took power in 1469. His court fostered a great flowering of art, music and poetry, and Lorenzo sponsored philosophers and artists such as Botticelli, da Vinci and Michelangelo.
In 1494 the Medicis went broke and lost their hold on power.
The city fell under the control of Girolamo Savonarola, a Dominican monk who led a puritanical republic until he fell from public favour and was burned as a heretic in 1498. The Medicis returned to Florence in the 16th century, having united themselves by marriage with Emperor Charles V, and ruled for the next 200 years. In 1737 the Grand Duchy of Tuscany passed to the House of Lorraine, which was incorporated into the Kingdom of Italy in 1860. Florence became capital of the Kingdom, and remained so until Rome took over in 1875.
Florence was badly damaged during WWII by the retreating Germans, who bombed all its bridges except the Ponte Vecchio. Devastating floods ravaged the city in 1966, causing inestimable damage to its building and artworks, some of which are still being restored. The salvage operation led to the widespread use of modern restoration techniques which have saved artworks throughout the country.
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