Main Monuments in Florence
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Palazzo della Signoria, or Palazzo Vecchio, as it appears today, is the result of at least three successive building stages between the 13th-16th centuries: the actual construction of Arnolfo's palace, overlooking the square and placed next to the Loggia dei Lanzi; the first alterations in Republican times, and the later restructuration carried out by Vasari, after the coming to power of Cosimo I de' Medici, who moved into the palace with all his family.
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The Ponte Vecchio is most famous bridge in Florence and also the oldest, this structure with three stone arches replaced a wooden bridge which had crossed the Arno River at this spot since Roman times. The upper side of the bridge, known as the Vasariano corridor, was designed by Vasari to link the Palazzo Vecchio and the Uffizi Gallery to the Pitti Palace; today it is an art gallery.
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Loggia Dei Lanzi also called the Loggia della Signoria, the Loggia was named the Loggia dei Lanzi when the Duke Alessandro de'Medici made it the camp of the Lanzichenecchi after the fall of the Florentine Republic.
It was the Signoria which commissioned a great Loggia for public use in 1350. The job was started by Orcagna, but continued and finished by Benci di Cione and Francesco Talenti only in 1382.
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Fortezza Da Basso was built on the outskirts of a mediaeval city from a design by the great architect Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, with the help of Pierfranceco da Viterbo, is now the main exhibition centre in Florence, where all the most important trade fairs and shows are held. The facade of the outer walls is carried out in round diamond-pointed projecting stone ashlars, perhaps inspired by the coat of arms of the Medici family, who ordered its construction.
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The Uffizi Gallery covers an area of about 8.000 sq.m.. and contains one of the most important collections of art of all times, including classical sculpture and paintings on canvas and wood by 13th to 18th century Italian and foreign schools. The Gallery of the Uffizi was also the first museum ever to be opened to the public: in fact the Grand Duke granted permission to visit it on request from the year 1591.
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The group of museums contained in the Pitti Palace were formed during five centuries of history. It is certainly the largest museum complex in the city (the building alone is 32.000 square metres in size) and perhaps can also be considered the most fascinating and complete of them all, partly for its size and partly for the wide variety of historical, artistic and naturalistic subjects that the curious visitor can find exhibited there.
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Main Churches in Florence
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The Cathedral or Duomo of Florence as we see it today is the end result of years of work that covered over six centuries of history. Its basic architectural project was designed by Arnolfo di Cambio at the end of the 13th century; the cupola that has made it a symbol for the whole of Tuscany was created by that genius of the Renaissance, Filippo Brunelleschi, while the facade that completed it was carried out as late as the late 19th century. |
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Santa Maria Novella is chronologically the first of the great Florentine basilicas. Its name, "Novella", comes from the fact that it was built on the site of a 9th century oratory, called Santa Maria delle Vigne, which had already been enlarged in 1094. In 1221 this church and the surrounding area was assigned to the Dominican monks, who immediately began to transform it.
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Santa Croce Church design was based on spatial grandiosity, with the structural elements carried out with rational clarity and sobriety. It is built on the plan of an Egyptian cross (in the shape of a T), with the interior divided into three naves (114,45 metres), a chancel and a transept full of chapels whose patronage was reserved for the most illustrious families in this quarter of the city: the Bardi and Peruzzi families were the foremost, but there were also the Tosinghi, Pulci, Rinuccini and Alberti families. |
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St. Minias was by tradition the first evangeliser and Christian martyr in Florence. Minias is thought to have been a Greek merchant or possibly an Armenian prince who left his home to make a pilgrimage to Rome. In about 250, he arrived in Florence and took up life as a hermit. He became a victim of the persecutions of the Emperor Decius (249-251 A.D.) and was beheaded. |
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San Lorenzo is an early Renaissance-style church designed by Brunelleschi and constructed in Florence from 1421 to the 1460s, except for the facade, which was left uncompleted. Also by Brunelleschi is the Old Sacristy (finished in 1428).
The New Sacristy, more commonly called the Medici Chapel, is largely the work of Michelangelo, as are the celebrated Medici Tombs it houses. Michelangelo also designed the Laurentian Library, which is located off the cloister.
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