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see + do
Florence see + do
As the cradle of the Italian Renaissance, Florence is a never-ending cultural feast. One of the fascinating things about the city of Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Brunelleschi is the way the sacred and the secular coexist: For every art-packed church like Santa Croce or Santa Maria Novella, there's a proud monument to the city's ruling Medici dynasty (Palazzo Vecchio, the Uffizi Gallery) and its wealthy merchant and banking class (Orsanmichele, Palazzo Pitti). Obviously, you'll want to check out the iconic masterpieces like Michelangelo's David (at the Accademia) and Botticelli's Birth of Venus (at the Uffizi), but try to make time for less visited but equally worthwhile Florence museums like the Bargello or the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, as well as excursions to outlying sights like Fiesole or San Miniato al Monte. And although the art of the past is the main draw, don't forget that Florence hosts one of Italy's best classical music and opera festivals—the spring Maggio Musicale—and is ideally situated for touring the Chianti wine region. Note that museum tickets can be booked in advance for major Florence museums at the Firenze Musei Web site, www.firenzemusei.it. However, only the Galleria degli Uffizi and the Galleria dell'Accademia generally have the kind of lines that make advance booking advisable.
The Brancacci Chapel, inside the Oltrarno Church of Santa Maria del Carmine, is where the Renaissance started. Commissioned by a local silk merchant, the fresco...more
Attached to the church of San Lorenzo, this complex of three rooms is the final resting place of Medicis great and small. Minor family members were relegated to...more
Florence's massive green and white cathedral and its wedding cake facade dominates the center of the city. Building began in the 1290s under the direction of...more
The greatest collection of Renaissance painting in the world is housed in the former administrative offices of Cosimo de' Medici's court, a 16th-century...more
The vast majority of the people in the mile-long line outside this former art school are here for one reason only: to ogle what is probably the most famous nude...more
The only park in the center of Florence, the Boboli Gardens (behind Palazzo Pitti) provides a green oasis in the midst of the city's dense Renaissance...more
Guccio Gucci opened his first leather goods and luggage shop in Florence in 1921, targeting the kind of luxury clientele he had seen while working as a bellboy...more
A testament to the work of painter–monk Fra Angelico, this museum is housed in the Dominican convent of San Marco. Fra Angelico was arguably the most...more
The Bargello occupies a rather forbidding building that was once the city jail; the romantic Gothic courtyard was the site of the gallows and chopping block....more
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