Florence is the capital of Tuscany, as well as one of the most famous and visited historic cities throughout Italy. It was also the capital of Italy between 1865 and 1871, during the period of Italian unification, but since the Middle Age it has been an important cultural, economic and administrative centre, and just in the fifteenth century it lived its period of maximum glory as the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, under the dynasty Medici.

Florence was the city where it had been originated, in the second half of the fourteenth century, the artistic movement called the Renaissance, and this is also the considered the cradle of art and architecture.
The old town, now almost entirely reserved for pedestrian was declared a World Heritage Site in 1982 and many of its monuments and works deserve a visit.

Florence Cathedral

Photo flickr.com - Michel27

ART IN FLORENCE
Florence is a city known worldwide for its artistic and architectural heritage; the mainly present artistic style is certainly the Renaissancist, but tha city has also important works of other styles.
The heart of the city is Piazza della Signoria, a fantastic compuond of several civil buildings; a few minutes from there, we can find Piazza Duomo, religious heart of the capital of Tuscany.

Many are the great artists who lived or were born in Florence; among the painters there are Michelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, Giotto, Botticelli, Masaccio and Piero della Francesca, while among the architects we have Vasari, Bramante, Brunnelleschi and Alberti; among the sculptors Donatello and finally the brightest writers are certainly Dante, Poliziano, Boccaccio and Machiavelli.


RELIGIOUS MONUMENTS IN FLORENCE
Florence is full of churches, each with a distinctive characteristic and a valid reason that makes worth visiting it. Here we see some of these interesting works.

First of all there is the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, dated XIV century, is famous for its dome, 45 meters in diameter and 100 meters high, projected by Brunelleschi and inside which there is a fresco of the Vasari representing the Universal Judgement. Shaped as a Latin cross is completely covered with tuscan marbles, white, green and pink that, except the one used on the facade, dated nineteenth century, is all original from the Renaissance.
The bell tower of the cathedral, detached from the church was designed by Giotto and is also completely covered in marble of Tuscany.

In front of the cathedral in the center of the square there is the magnificent Baptistery with the famous wooden doorway covered in gold, designed by Ghiberti.
Another important church is dedicated to San Lorenzo, the Medici family private chapel with a dome designed by Buonantoni and several altars sculpted by Michelangelo, in addition to the library and a ladder of the same famous artist. The interior was constructed largely by Brunelleschi in 1427.

Even the Church of the Holy Spirit was designed by Brunelleschi in 1434, during its last stylistic evolution. However the basilica was built ten years later and you may consider to be a revisitation, but more critical and rational of San Lorenzo, with a more consistent and orderly style and without decorations on the facade, as Brunelleschi wanted.

Among the religious buildings is to be mentioned in the convent of San Marco, founded in the thirteenth century and expanded in 1437, which has the largest collection of frescoes by Fra Angelico. Inside the convent we find the National Museum of San Marco.
Other places of artistic interest are Santa Maria Novella and Santa Croce.


MONUMENTS LAY IN FLORENCE
As mentioned above Piazza della Signoria is the square where we can find many interesting civil buildings, first of all the Palazzo Vecchio (or Palazzo della Signoria).
Town hall, was completed in 1322 and is famous for its tall bell calling the people at meetings. Interesting are the interiors, as well as a small collection of works, including La Vittoria of Michelangelo and  The angel with the dolphin of Verrocchio.
In the middle of the square we find the Fountain of Neptune, a masterpiece of Ammannati, in addition to the statues of “Cosimo il vecchio a cavallo”, Hercules and Caco and a copy of Michelangelo's David.
To be visited is also the Loggia dei Lanzi, located between two of the buildings overlooking the Piazza della Signoria.

Nearby, in the former administrations office building at the time of Cosimo I, is what is considered the most important museums of Italy and the world for the Renaissance painting: the Uffizi Gallery. Here are all the paintings belonging to the Medici family until the eighteenth century, with works such as “The Spring” or “The Venus” of Botticelli and artists like Michelangelo, Piero della Francesca and Raphael.

Finally, you can not miss a walk on the Ponte Vecchio, the most famous and oldest bridge in Florence that crosses the Arno River. Originally built in the Middle Ages, during the Renaissance it was remodeled to host jeweleries instead of leather artesans.
It was the only bridge that survived to the German bombings of World War II and is now the symbol of the city and one of the most frequented by tourists.

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