Florence

General Visiting

Florence Sunset ItalyI took my first trip to Florence right after college. I remember walking near the train station when two fellow American students stopped me and asked if they could “do the highlights” of Florence in three days.

I knew even then that the two-week period I had allotted for my first stay in Florence was not going to be nearly enough. Since then I have been lucky enough to return again and again.

Florence is best appreciated by wandering the historic ancient streets, stopping in churches that abound with masterpieces, poking your head into trendy boutiques, sitting and enjoying a cappuccino or gelato in one of the sidewalk cafes, strolling through the piazzas, and ending the day in a perfect small restaurant for delicious pasta, or for the famously huge, delicious, juicy steak known as Bistek Fiorentina. But for the sake of answering the question those students asked me so many years ago, here is a plan of “doing the highlights” in about three days.

The Duomo

When you approach Florence’s main cathedral, Santa Maria del Fiore, the first thing that will catch your eye is the crowd pressing to get a better look at the east doors of the Baptistery, right across from the Cathedral’s main entrance. It is here that the Renaissance began in 1401 when the wool merchant’s guild declared a competition for new bronze doors for the Romanesque Baptistery of San Giovanni, one of the oldest and most revered buildings in the city. Celebrated artists were given a year to prepare a sample bronze panel on the Biblical subject of the Sacrifice of Isaac. The winner, Lorenzo Ghiberti, was young, unknown and illegitimate to boot. It took him most of his life to produce the bronze panels, first for the north doors, and then the famous east doors. When Michelangelo stood before them some 40 years after their completion, he declared them to be the very doors to paradise. (You can see the two original competition panels in the Bargello museum, a short walk away.)

At the time when Ghiberti began his work, the cathedral, one of the largest in the world, did not have a dome. A huge gaping hole—43 meters in diameter—was open to the elements. In designing one of the largest churches in existence, the architects had left a seemingly insoluble problem for future generations to solve.

Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore Florence ItalyOne of the disgruntled losers from the Baptistery doors competition was a young goldsmith by the name of Filippo Brunelleschi who was so fed up with losing to an unknown that he decided to take a road trip to Rome with his good friend, a sculpture by the name of Donatello. There he studied the old Roman buildings, especially the Pantheon, and when he returned to Florence he was ready to take on the dome project, an unparalleled feat of engineering.

A Climb with a View

Today it is possible to climb the 464 steps to the top of the dome for a superb view of Florence. In the Cathedral’s museum, you can see the original pulleys Brunelleschi designed to get the job done. In addition, you can see the original baptistery door panels. (The one’s outside are replicas.) In this gem of a museum, which is oddly empty most of the time, you can also see the Pieta that Michelangelo carved just before his death. Like so many of his works, he never finished this one and the woman on the left was completed, badly, by another artist. The Museo dell’Opera del Duomo also houses Donatello’s masterpiece Mary Magdalene, which is not to be missed.

Florence is about Art

As in Pericles’s Athens, or late 19^th century Paris, the sheer density of contact between men of genius combined with unstinting financial support from the Medici family and the various merchants’ guilds, gave rise to a ferment of artistic activity that changed European art forever. You can see it everywhere in Florence. However, there are certain things that cannot be missed for a first time visitor. Make sure to pay a visit to Michelangelo’s David in the Galleria dell’Accademia located just off the Piazza San Marco. It is one of those treasures of art that although you have seen many photos of it, the encounter with the sculpture is jaw dropping. I took my son (also named David) to see it a few years ago. I watched his face as he entered the room and his eyes took in the sculpture. His eyes widened, his jaw dropped and he mumbled something like “wow” in sotto voce.

Something else to pay attention to are the unfinished “slaves” Michelangelo sculpted for the tomb of Pope Julius II. You can see the chisel marks of Michelangelo’s technique. The figures struggling to escape the marble leave a powerful impression and show in concrete form Michelangelo’s theory that the sculpture is already embedded inside the marble block and it is the sculptor’s job to chisel away the scrap and release the form.

Piazza San Marco and the sublime Fra’Angelico

After you finish seeing the Academia, continue half a block to the Piazza San Marco to visit the Dominican convent famed for its paintings and frescoes by Fra’Angelico, who was a friar here. His deeply religious works depict serenity and joy with carefully worked out perspective and numerous complicated compositions. Peaceful and beautifully maintained, this is one of the most delightful museums in Florence. You can see how the monks lived in the 44 small monastic cells beneath a huge wooden roof. Each tiny cell has a window and a fresco by Fra’Angelico for each monk’s private devotion. At the head of the staircase, in the place where the monks would see it every time they come and go, is the Annunciation, one of Fra’Angelico’s most famous works.

Piazza della Signoria

Palazzo Vecchio Florence ItalyDuring your exploration of Florence, you will cross many times through the Piazza della Signoria, located in the heart of the old city and once the political center of the city. Facing this medieval square is the 13^th century Palazzo Vecchio, a stone structure topped by a crenellated gallery and dominated by a tall bell tower. In moments of crises, the bell would ring calling the citizens to assemble.

In front of the Palazzo Vecchio stands a replica of Michelangelo’s David. The original, set up in 1504 as a political symbol representing the republic’s victory over tyranny, was removed to the Academia in 1873.

In this square, you will also find the Loggia della Signoria, with its three lofty arches. Under its elegant roof are some sculptures not to be missed, especially Cellini’s magnificent bronze, Perseus. You might notice a round bronze marker in the Piazza that marks the spot where a Dominican friar by the name of Girolamo Savonarola was burned to death together with his two companions. He preached fiery sermons urging the Florentines to give up their worldly goods. In huge “Bonfires of the Vanities” he burned “profane” books and art. (If you visit the San Marco Monastery, recommended above, you will see his cell and some of the artifacts he used in his life.)

Ponte Vecchio

Ponte Vecchio Florence ItalyOf course, you cannot miss one of Florence’s landmarks, the Ponte Vecchio, spanning the Arno River in the heart of Florence. This colorful bridge is lined with quaint jewelry shops just as it has been since the 14^th century. It was Florence’s only bridge until 1218. Its fame saved it from being blown up by the Germans in World War II. The Arno River, by the way, has brought devastation to the city many times, the last time in 1966 when buildings and many works of art were damaged. The bridge is a nice place to hang out and watch the view from both sides. There are gelato shops on both sides.

Museums: The Uffizi

There are two museums on both sides of the Arno River, which cannot be missed in Florence. The Uffizi Museum and the Palazzo Pitti.

The former is housed in the 16^th century palace near the Piazza della Signoria and is undoubtedly one of the finest museums in the world. You can pre-book tickets (telephone number 055 238 8651) and avoid waiting in the infamous line. Truthfully, there is too much to see here in one day. Here you will see the Primavera and the Birth of Venus, perhaps the most famous of Botticelli’s works. The museum has in its collection important works by Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Titian and many, many more.

Museums: The Pitti

Palazzo Pitti Florence ItalyThe Palazzo Pitti, on the other side of the Arno River, has an art collection to rival any important museum in the world. It is worthwhile to buy a combined ticket to all the various museums in the Pitti, plus admission to the beautiful Boboli Gardens, valid for three consecutive days. The gardens are among the most beautiful and best preserved gardens in Italy, always cool, even on the hottest day. The Palazzo Pitti was built by the merchant Luca Pitti as a demonstration of his wealth and power to rival the Medici. The Medici’s got their hands on it when it was purchased by Eleonora di Toledo, wife of the Medici Cosimo I in 1549. The various ruling families of Florence continued to occupy the palace until 1919.

The Galleria Palatin here has a splendid collection of paintings acquired by the Medici and others, including numerous famous works by Raphael, Titian and Rubens. The gallery maintains the feel of a private, princely collection.

What to do at Sunset

View from Piazzale Michelangelo Florence ItalyJust before sunset, make your way up, up, up to Piazzale Michelangelo, for the best view of Florence from anywhere. The entire city, with Brunelleschi’s red dome, spreads before you. During the day, the place swarms with tourists. However, in the evening, the cafes fill up with local residents who come to take in the air and to watch the sun dip over their city. While you're there, visit the San Miniato al Monte, an 11^th century church famed for its Romanesque architecture somewhat similar to the Baptistery.

One last Piazza

The Piazzza della Santissima Annunziata is considered to be Florence’s prettiest square. On one side is the Spedale deglie Innocenti, a foundling hospital designed in 1419 by our good friend Filippo Brunelleschi. It combines huge archways, Corinthian columns and geometric grace. A bronze statue of Ferdinand I on horseback by Giambologna is in the square's center. It depicts Ferdinand forever staring at the second floor of Palazzo Budini Gattai, into the bedroom of the woman who was rumored to be his true love.