Best Things to do in Florence

Our Local Expert Says:

Don't miss Giotto's chapels: Peruzzi and Bardi!

Description:

The center of the Florentine Franciscan universe was begun in 1294 by Gothic master Arnolfo di Cambio in order to rival the huge church of Santa Maria Novella being raised by the Dominicans across the city. The church wasn't completed and consecrated until 1442, and even then it remained faceless until the neo-Gothic facade was added in 1857 (and cleaned in 1998-99). The cloisters are home to Brunelleschi's Cappella de' Pazzi, the convent partially given over to a famous leather school, and the church itself a shrine of 14th-century frescoes and a monument to notable Florentines, whose tombs and memorials litter the place like an Italian Westminster. The best artworks, such as the Giotto frescoes, are guarded by euro-gobbling lightboxes; bring plenty of change.

The Gothic interior -- for which they now charge a premium admission (it was free until recently) -- is wide and gaping, with huge pointed stone arches creating the aisles and an echoing nave trussed with wood beams, in all feeling vaguely barnlike (an analogy the occasional fluttering pigeon only reinforces). The floor is paved with worn tombstones -- because being buried in this hallowed sanctuary got you one step closer to Heaven, the richest families of the day paid big bucks to stake out small rectangles of the floor. On the right aisle is the first tomb of note, a mad Vasari contraption containing the bones of the most venerated of Renaissance masters, Michelangelo Buonarroti, who died of a fever in Rome in 1564 at the ripe age of 89. The pope wanted him buried in the Eternal City, but Florentines managed to sneak his body back to Florence. Past Michelangelo is a pompous 19th-century cenotaph to Florentine Dante Alighieri, one of history's greatest poets, whose Divine Comedy codified the Italian language. He died in 1321 in Ravenna after a long and bitter life in exile from his hometown (on trumped-up embezzlement charges), and that Adriatic city has never seen fit to return the bones to Florence, the city that would never readmit the poet when he was alive.

Against a nave pillar farther up is an elaborate pulpit (1472-76) carved by Benedetto di Maiano with scenes from the life of St. Francis. Next comes a wall monument to Niccolò Machiavelli, the 16th-century Florentine statesman and author whose famous book The Prince was the perfect practical manual for a powerful Renaissance ruler.

Past the next altar is an Annunciation (1433) carved in low relief of pietra serena and gilded by Donatello. Nearby is Antonio Rossellino's 1446 tomb of the great humanist scholar and city chancellor Leonardo Bruni (d. 1444). Beyond this architectural masterpiece of a tomb is a 19th-century knockoff honoring the remains of Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868), composer of the Barber of Seville and the William Tell Overture.

Around in the right transept is the Cappella Castellani frescoed by Agnolo Gaddi and assistants, with a tabernacle by Mino da Fiesole and a Crucifix by Niccolò Gerini. Agnolo's father, Taddeo Gaddi, was one of Giotto's closest followers, and the senior Gaddi is the one who undertook painting the Cappella Baroncelli (1332-38) at the transept's end. The frescoes depict scenes from the Life of the Virgin, and to the left of the window is an Angel Appearing to the Shepherds that constitutes the first night scene in Italian fresco. The altarpiece Coronation of the Virgin is by Giotto. To the left of this chapel is a doorway, designed by Michelozzo, leading to the sagrestia (sacristy) past a huge Deposition (1560) by Alessandro Allori that had to be restored after it incurred massive water damage when the church was inundated during the 1966 flood. Past the gift shop is a leather school and store.

In the right transept, Giotto frescoed the two chapels to the right of the high altar. The frescoes were whitewashed over during the 17th century but uncovered from 1841 to 1852 and inexpertly restored. The Cappella Peruzzi, on the right, is a late work and not in the best shape. The many references to antiquity in the styling and architecture of the frescoes reflect Giotto's trip to Rome and its ruins. His assistant Taddeo Gaddi did the altarpiece. Even more famous, if only as the setting for a scene in the film A Room with a View, is the Cappella Bardi immediately to the right of the high altar. The key panels here include the Trial by Fire Before the Sultan of Egypt on the right wall, full of telling subtlety in the expressions and poses of the figures. One of Giotto's most well-known works is the lower panel on the left wall, the Death of St. Francis, where the monks weep and wail with convincing pathos. Alas, big chunks of the scene are missing from when a tomb was stuck on top of it in the 18th century. Most people miss seeing Francis Receiving the Stigmata, which Giotto frescoed above the outside of the entrance arch to the chapel.

Agnolo Gaddi designed the stained-glass windows, painted the saints between them, and frescoed a Legend of the True Cross cycle on the walls of the rounded sanctuary behind the high altar. At the end of the left transept is another Cappella Bardi, this one housing a legendary Crucifix by Donatello. According to Vasari, Donatello excitedly called his friend Filippo Brunelleschi up to his studio to see this Crucifix when he had finished carving it. The famed architect, whose tastes were aligned with the prevailing view of the time that refinement and grace were much more important than realism, criticized the work with the words, "Why Donatello, you've put a peasant on the cross!" Donatello sniffed, "If it was as easy to make something as it is to criticize, my Christ would really look to you like Christ. So you get some wood and try to make one yourself." Secretly, Brunelleschi did just that, and one day he invited Donatello to come over to his studio for lunch. Donatello arrived bearing the food gathered up in his apron. Shocked when he beheld Brunelleschi's elegant Crucifix, he let the lunch drop to the floor, smashing the eggs, and after a few moments turned to Brunelleschi and humbly offered, "Your job is making Christs and mine is making peasants." Tastes change, and to modern eyes this "peasant" stands as the stronger work. If you want to see how Brunelleschi fared with his Christ, visit it at Santa Maria Novella.

Past a door as you head back down the left aisle is a 16th-century Deposition by Bronzino. A bit farther along, against a pier, is the roped-off floor tomb of Lorenzo Ghiberti, sculptor of the baptistery doors. Against the wall is an altarpiece of the Incredulity of St. Thomas by Giorgio Vasari. The last tomb on the right is that of Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), the preeminent Pisan scientist who figured out everything from the action of pendulums and the famous law of bodies falling at the same rate (regardless of weight) to discovering the moons of Jupiter and asserting that the earth revolved around the sun. This last one got him in trouble with the church, which tried him in the Inquisition and -- when he wouldn't recant -- excommunicated him. At the urging of friends frightened his obstinacy would get him executed as a heretic, Galileo eventually kneeled in front of an altar and "admitted" he'd been wrong. He lived out the rest of his days under house arrest near Florence and wasn't allowed a Christian burial until 1737. Giulio Foggini designed this tomb for him, complete with a relief of the solar system -- the sun, you'll notice, is at the center. The pope finally got around to lifting the excommunication in 1992. Italians still bring him fresh flowers.

Our Local Expert Says:

"You can see the hill town Fiesole and end of the Appennine Mountains from the Piazzale."

Description:

The vista which one can see the whole valley of Florence and of the surrounding hills is a must see.  The climb up is rewarding, the view is breathtaking. There are buses available to take you to Piazzale Michelangelo. Tourists, tourist groups and tour buses all congregate at this panoramic view.  Vendors set up early in the morning with cool beverages for the parched tourists and souvenirs for the eager shoppers. A sunset visit is for the romantics, bringing a wine bottle and gazing at the Florentine sky as it ends another day. There is never a bad time to visit Piazzale Michelangelo, there is always something to see from this height

Description:

Just off the busiest tourist thoroughfare lies one of the last of a dying breed: a fiaschitteria (derived from the word for a flask of wine). It's the proverbial hole in the wall, a doorway about 1.5m (5 ft.) deep with rows of wine bottles against the back wall and Armando and Michele Perrino busy behind the counter, fixing sandwiches and pouring glasses of vino. You stand, munching and sipping, on the cobblestones of the narrow street surrounded by Florentines on their lunch break and a few bemused tourists. The cinghiale piccante con caprino (spicy raw wild boar sausage with creamy goat cheese) is excellent. Otherwise, choose your poison from among 30 stuffing combinations -- the menu posted on the doorjamb has English translations -- and accompany it with either a basic rosso (red) wine or point to any bottle to try un bicchiere (a glass).

Our Local Expert Says:

Stop by around 5pm and hear the monks chant in the crypt.

Description:

High atop a hill, its gleaming white-and-green facade visible from the valley below, San Miniato is one of the few ancient churches of Florence to survive the centuries virtually intact. San Miniato was an eastern Christian who settled in Florence and was martyred during Emperor Decius's persecutions in A.D. 250. The legend goes that the decapitated saint picked up his head, walked across the river, climbed up the hillside, and didn't lie down to die until he reached this spot. He and other Christians were buried here, and a shrine was raised on the site as early as the 4th century.

The current building began to take shape in 1013, under the auspices of the powerful Arte di Calimala guild, whose symbol, a bronze eagle clutching a bale of wool, perches atop the facade. The Romanesque facade is a particularly gorgeous bit of white Carrara and green Prato marble inlay. Above the central window is a 13th-century mosaic of Christ Between the Madonna and St. Miniato (a theme repeated in a slightly later mosaic filling the apse inside).

The interior has a few Renaissance additions, but they blend in well with the overall medieval aspect -- an airy, stony space with a raised choir at one end, painted wooden trusses on the ceiling, and tombs interspersed with inlaid marble symbols of the zodiac paving the floor.

Below the choir is an 11th-century crypt with small frescoes by Taddeo Gaddi. Off to the right of the raised choir is the sacristy, which Spinello Aretino covered in 1387 with cartoonish yet elegant frescoes depicting the Life of St. Benedict. Off the left aisle of the nave is 15th-century Cappella del Cardinale del Portogallo, a brilliant collaborative effort by Renaissance artists built to honor young Portuguese humanist Cardinal Jacopo di Lusitania, who was sent to study in Perugia but died an untimely death at 25 in Florence. Brunelleschi's student Antonio Manetti started the chapel in 1460 but soon died, and Antonio Rossellino finished the architecture and carving by 1466. Luca della Robbia provided the glazed terra-cotta dome, a cubic landscape set with tondi of the four Virtues surrounding the Holy Spirit to symbolize the young scholar's devotion to the church and to humanist philosophy. It stands as one of della Robbia's masterpieces of color and classical ideals. The unfinished bell tower seen from the outside was designed by Baccio d'Agnolo. In 1530 the combined troops of Charles V and Medici Pope Clement VII, who had recently reconciled with each other, lay siege to the newly declared Republic of Florence in an attempt to reinstate the Medici dukes. San Miniato al Monte was one of the prime fortifications, and an artilleryman named Lapo was stationed up in the tower with two small cannons -- he was basically bait, stuck there to draw the fire of the enemy where it would do little harm. The man in charge of the defenses was Michelangelo, who, the authorities figured, was so good at everything else, why not military fortifications? After throwing up dirt ramparts and cobbling together defensible walls out of oak timbers, Michelangelo helped poor Lapo out by devising an ingenious way to protect the tower: He hung mattresses down the sides to absorb the shock of the cannonballs fired at it and left the tower (and, more important, Lapo) still standing.

The siege was eventually successful, however, and the Florentine Republic fell, but while it lasted, Michelangelo spent his day up here and referred to the church of San Salvatore al Monte just below as "my pretty country maid." It's a simple 1400 church built by Cronaca, with a Giovanni della Robbia Deposition and a Neri di Bicci Pietà inside.

Description:

This is a wonderful way of discovering the traditional district of San Niccolo. The restaurant serves classic local dishes and flavours. You should try unusual dishes such as budelline in umido intestines), tongue, cimalino in salsa verde or cavolo verzo rifatto (savoy cabbage). Dishes such as pappa al pomodoro (bread soup with tomato) or spezzatino ai porcini (mushroom stew) are also excellent. Good Tuscan wine is available. This fascinating ancient osteria is located in a crypt which dates back to the 11th century, and is at the back of the Chiesa di San Niccolo. You only have to go up the stairs on the inside of the establishment to visit the church.

Our Local Expert Says:

David is the biggest and the most famous spectacle to see in the Accademia.

Description:

The Accademia is most famous for the David by Michelangelo but did you know there are many paintings in the museum to see as well? As you enter, the first long hall is devoted to Michelangelo and, though you pass his Slaves and the entrance to the painting gallery, most people are drawn down to the far end, a room dominated by the most famous sculpture in the world: Michelangelo's David. Michelangelo, only 29 years old, finished in 1504 a Goliath-size David for the city of Florence. Michelangelo's most fascinating works, the four famous nonfiniti ("unfinished") Slaves. These statues symbolize Michelangelo's theory that sculpture is an "art that takes away superfluous material." The wait to see the David can be up to an hour if you don't reserve ahead. I suggest getting there before the museum opens in the morning or an hour or two before closing time.

Our Local Expert Says:

Respect the rules of not taking flash photography inside.

Description:

This tall structure halfway down Via dei Calzaiuoli looks more like a Gothic warehouse than a church -- which is exactly what it was, built as a granary/grain market in 1337. After a miraculous image of the Madonna appeared on a column inside, however, the lower level was turned into a chapel. The city's merchant guilds each undertook the task of decorating one of the outside nichelike Gothic tabernacles around the lower level with a statue of their guild's patron saint. Masters such as Ghiberti, Donatello, Verrocchio, and Giambologna all cast or carved masterpieces to set here. Since 1984, these have been removed and are being replaced by casts as the originals are slowly cleaned and exhibited up on the second story.

Unfortunately, the church now keeps erratic hours due to a lack of personnel, so there are no set opening hours; however, you may get lucky and find the doors thrown open when you pass by (or, though this may take even more luck, someone might actually answer the phone number below and give you details on when it will next open). Since it's pretty nifty, and there's a chance you'll be able to pop in, I'll go ahead and describe it all.

In the chapel's dark interior (emerged in 1999 from a long restoration and entered around the "back" side on Via dell Arte della Lana) are recently restored 14th- to 16th-century paintings by the likes of Lorenzo di Credi and Il Poppi. The elaborate Gothic Tabernacle (1349-59) by Andrea Orcagna looks something like a miniature church, covered with statuettes, enamels, inset colored marbles and glass, and reliefs. It protects a luminous 1348 Madonna and Child painted by Giotto's student Bernardo Daddi. The prominent statue of the Madonna, Child, and St. Anne to its left is by Francesco da Sangallo (1522).

Across Via dell'Arte della Lana from the Orsanmichele's main entrance is the 1308 Palazzo dell'Arte della Lana. This Gothic palace was home to medieval Florence's most powerful body, the guild of wool merchants, which employed about one-third of Florence in the 13th and 14th centuries. Up the stairs inside you can cross over the hanging walkway to the first floor (American second floor) of Orsanmichele. These are the old granary rooms, now housing a museum of the statues that once surrounded the exterior. A few are still undergoing restoration, but eight of the original sculptures are here, well labeled, including Donatello's marble St. Mark (1411-13); Ghiberti's bronze St. John the Baptist (1413-16), the first life-size bronze of the Renaissance; and Verrocchio's Incredulity of St. Thomas (1473-83). This museum, too, does not always adhere to its posted hours, as those are dependent on someone being around to honor them. Still, it's at least worth a try.

Our Local Expert Says:

Try the famously made calzone, it will be difficult to finish.

Description:

The specialties consist of the wood-burning oven pizza presented to you hot right out of the brick oven.   Another favorite is the Calzone which is as large as your head, literally.  It is an enticing adventure in your mouth with so much mozzarella and ricotta.  The Pizza Lorenzaccio created by my friend, Michelangelo, topped with the famous prosciutto crudo, sun-dried tomatoes, arugala, black olives, mozzarella.  By the same name but an insalata(salad), Insalata Lorenzaccio is another favorite, consisting of prosciutto of parma, fresh tomatoes, mouth-watering mozzarella, black olives and lettuce of course.  It really is refreshing and full of flavor.  Perfect for a hot summer day.  Topping it with fresh olive oil and red wine vinegar,  I wouldn't have it any other way. 

Our Local Expert Says:

A whole day could be spent in here if you are an art fan, each room is filled with something to see.

Description:

The Uffizi is one of the world's great museums, and the single best introduction to Renaissance painting, with works by Giotto, Masaccio, Paolo Uccello, Sandro Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Perugino, Michelangelo, Raphael Sanzio, Titian, Caravaggio, and the list goes on. The museum is deceptively small. What looks like a small stretch of gallery space can easily gobble up half a day -- many rooms suffer the fate of containing nothing but masterpieces.

Know before you go that the Uffizi regularly shuts down rooms for crowd-control reasons -- especially in summer, when the bulk of the annual 1.5 million visitors stampedes the place. Of the more than 3,100 artworks in the museum's archives, only about 1,700 are on exhibit.

The painting gallery is housed in the structure built to serve as the offices (uffizi is Florentine dialect for uffici, or "offices") of the Medici, commissioned by Cosimo I from Giorgio Vasari in 1560 -- perhaps his greatest architectural work. The painting gallery was started by Cosimo I as well and is now housed in the second-floor rooms that open off a long hall lined with ancient statues and frescoed with grotesques.

Tips for Seeing the Uffizi -- If you have the time, make two trips to the museum. On your first, concentrate on the first dozen or so rooms and pop by the Greatest Hits of the 16th Century, with works by Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Raphael, and Titian. Return later for a brief recap and continue with the rest of the gallery.

Be aware that the gift shop at the end of the galleries closes 20 minutes before the museum. You can visit it without reentering the museum at any time; if you plan to stay in the collections until closing, go down to the shop earlier during your visit and get the guards' attention before you pass through the exit turnstile, so they'll know you're just popping out to buy a few postcards and will recognize you when you ask to be let back in.

Description:

This little enoteca off the beaten path is just the place for people looking to get away from those crowded Piazze(squares).  It is located in a tiny piazza called Piazza dei Rossi.  It has a homey feeling and welcoming atmosphere. The staff is very helpful and kind. If you don't know what you type of wine to try, they will suggest something perfect for you. And to munch on from a long morning of walking, there is an array of cheese plates, salumi, and caprese. In addition, there are typical panini and schiachiatte made with fresh ingredients with superb flavor to add to the experience.  They provide a hearty list of wines from small producers throughout Italy. You will find wines in this shop that you won't find anywhere else in Florence.

Description:

For centuries, people have commented that Florence's cathedral is turned inside out, its exterior boasting Brunelleschi's famous dome, Giotto's bell tower, and a festive cladding of white, green, and pink marble, but its interior left spare, almost barren.

By the late 13th century, Florence was feeling peevish: Its archrivals Siena and Pisa sported huge new Duomos filled with art while it was saddled with the tiny 5th- or 6th-century Santa Reparata as a cathedral. So, in 1296, the city hired Arnolfo di Cambio to design a new Duomo, and he began raising the facade and the first few bays before his death in 1302. Work continued under the auspices of the Wool Guild and architects Giotto di Bondone (who concentrated on the bell tower) and Francesco Talenti (who finished up to the drum of the dome and in the process greatly enlarged Arnolfo's original plan). The facade we see today is a neo-Gothic composite designed by Emilio de Fabris and built from 1871 to 1887 (for its story, see the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo).

The Duomo's most distinctive feature is its enormous dome [STSTST], which dominates the skyline and is a symbol of Florence itself. The raising of this dome, the largest in the world in its time, was no mean architectural feat, tackled admirably by Filippo Brunelleschi between 1420 and 1436. You can climb up between the two shells of the cupola for one of the classic panoramas across the city. At the base of the dome, just above the drum, Baccio d'Agnolo began adding a balcony in 1507. One of the eight sides was finished by 1515, when someone asked Michelangelo -- whose artistic opinion was by this time taken as cardinal law -- what he thought of it. The master reportedly scoffed, "It looks like a cricket cage." Work was immediately halted, and to this day the other seven sides remain rough brick.

The Duomo was actually built around Santa Reparata so it could remain in business during construction. For more than 70 years, Florentines entered their old church through the free-standing facade of the new one, but in 1370 the original was torn down when the bulk of the Duomo -- except the dome -- was finished. Ever the fiscal conservatives, Florentines started clamoring to see some art as soon as the new facade's front door was completed in the early 1300s -- to be sure their investment would be more beautiful than rival cathedrals. Gaddo Gaddi was commissioned to mosaic an Enthronement of Mary in the lunette above the inside of the main door, and the people were satisfied. The stained-glass windows set in the facade were designed by Lorenzo Ghiberti, and Paolo Uccello, a painter obsessed by the newly developed perspective, frescoed the huge hora italica clock with its four heads of Prophets in 1443.

At a right-aisle pier are steps leading down to the excavations of the old Santa Reparata. In 1972, a tomb slab inscribed with the name Filippo Brunelleschi was discovered there (visible through a gate). Unless you're interested in the remains of some ancient Roman houses and parts of the paleo-Christian mosaics from Santa Reparata's floor, the 3€ ($3.90) admission isn't worth it.

Against the left-aisle wall are the only frescoes besides the dome in the Duomo. The earlier one to the right is the greenish Memorial to Sir John Hawkwood (1436), an English condottiere (mercenary commander) whose name the Florentines mangled to Giovanni Acuto when they hired him to rough up their enemies. Before he died, or so the story goes, the mercenary asked to have a bronze statue of himself riding his charger to be raised in his honor. Florence solemnly promised to do so, but, in typical tightwad style, after Hawkwood's death the city hired the master of perspective and illusion, Paolo Uccello, to paint an equestrian monument instead -- much cheaper than casting a statue in bronze. Andrea del Castagno copied this painting-as-equestrian-statue idea 20 years later when he frescoed a Memorial to Niccolò da Tolentino next to Uccello's work. Near the end of the left aisle is Domenico di Michelino's Dante Explaining the Divine Comedy (1465).

In the back left corner of the sanctuary is the New Sacristy. Lorenzo de' Medici was attending Mass in the Duomo one April day in 1478 with his brother Giuliano when they were attacked in the infamous Pazzi Conspiracy. The conspirators, egged on by the pope and led by a member of the Pazzi family, old rivals of the Medici, fell on the brothers at the ringing of the sanctuary bell. Giuliano was murdered on the spot -- his body rent with 19 wounds -- but Lorenzo vaulted over the altar rail and sprinted for safety into the New Sacristy, slamming the bronze doors behind him. Those doors were cast from 1446 to 1467 by Luca della Robbia, his only significant work in the medium. Earlier, Luca had provided a lunette of the Resurrection (1442) in glazed terra cotta over the door, as well as the lunette Ascension over the south sacristy door. The interior of the New Sacristy is filled with beautifully inlaid wood cabinet doors.

The frescoes on the interior of the dome were designed by Giorgio Vasari but painted mostly by his less-talented student Federico Zuccari by 1579. The frescoes were subjected to a thorough cleaning completed in 1996, which many people saw as a waste of restoration lire when so many more important works throughout the city were waiting to be salvaged. The scrubbing did, however, bring out Zuccari's only saving point -- his innovative color palette.

Our Local Expert Says:

Check out the Pieta` by Michelangelo and the original Gates of Paradise by Ghiberti!

Description:

Museo dell' Opera del Duomo was established in 1296 to supervise the construction of the Duomo and bell tower. In 1436, the Duomo was finished and the catedral was consecrated in which became a main task of the institution to preserve the monument. In 1891 the museum was renovated to hold all the works of art from over the centuries that were removed from the Duomo and the Baptistery of San Giovanni. What exists inside this museum are all the precious artwork that were taken in to be protected from the elements. The renovation of the museum took place from 1998 to 2000. Some of the most famous works that are currently being renovated and still live on inside these walls is Lorenzo Ghiberti's original bronze panels from the Baptistery's "Gates of Paradise". They are shown under the natural daylight enclosed in a courtyard. Ghiberti spent 27 years of his life in completely this masterpiece.

Description:

It is a room full of warmth and the scents of a seasonal menu.  Coquinarius has a small menu of different types of bruschette for antipasti, tasty meats and fish. Salads are a forte here; creative choices include toppings such as sun-dried tomatoes, eggplant, sunflower seeds, zucchini flowers or pear. This elegant and striking enoteca has a wide range of wines from Italy, California, Argentina, Austria and Chile. The camerieri(waitstaff) are very kind and full of life.  It is a great place to sit for the afternoon, bring a book, enjoy the chiacchiere(chatter) of the other patrons, or get lost in the glass of wine.  Wines are served by the glass or bottle in this relaxed, inexpensive experience of true Italian style.

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Mercato Centrale built in 1874 and is one of the largest indoor markets in Italy.  Located in the zone of San Lorenzo, tourist center of Florence, people seem to just pass through the San Lorenzo market instead of stepping inside the Mercato Centrale. With 2 floors of fresh meat, cheese and restaurants of the delicious kind, you must stop by and see what catches your eye. Mercato Centrale is open from 7am-2pm everyday except Sunday. A busy market inside in the morning after 2pm the San Lorenzo market outside takes over and is thriving with tourists and local vendors. 

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Trattoria Marione is an authentic old style trattoria in the heart of Florence, just off the elegant via Tornabuoni. It is always crowded and quite often there is a line out the door. Local home style cooking is the trademark of the place, with typical dishes such as Crostini Toscani. They specialize in traditional bread soups like Ribollita and Pappa al Pomodoro, but the Farro soup (an antique grain popular in the Tuscan countryside) and classic mixed boiled and roasted meats are also particularly tasty. Friendly service and great food at reasonable prices!

Description:

A rough brick anti-facade and the undistinguished stony bulk of a building surrounded by the stalls of the leather market hide what is most likely the oldest church in Florence, founded in A.D. 393. San Lorenzo was the city's cathedral until the bishop's seat moved to Santa Reparata (later to become the Duomo) in the 7th century. More important, it was the Medici family's parish church, and as those famous bankers began to accumulate their vast fortune, they started a tradition of lavishing it on this church that lasted until the clan died out in the 18th century. Visiting the entire church complex at once is tricky: Though interconnected, the church proper, the Old Sacristy, and the Laurentian Library have different open hours. The Medici tombs, listed separately below, have a separate entrance around the back of the church and have still different hours.

The first thing Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici, founder of the family fortune, did for the church was hire Brunelleschi to tune up the interior, rebuilding according to the architect's plans in 1426. At the end of the aisle is a Desiderio da Settignano marble tabernacle that's a mastery of schiacciato relief and carefully incised perspective. Across the aisle is one of the two bronze 1460 pulpits -- the other is across the nave -- that were Donatello's last works. His patron and the first great consolidator of Medici power, which at this early stage still showed great concern for protecting the interests of the people, was Cosimo il Vecchio, Lorenzo the Magnificent's grandfather. Cosimo, whose wise behind-the-scenes rule made him popular with the Florentines, died in 1464 and is buried in front of the high altar. The plaque marking the spot is simply inscribed PATER PATRIE -- father of his homeland.

Off the left transept is the Sagrestia Vecchia (Old Sacristy), one of Brunelleschi's purest pieces of early Renaissance architecture. In the center of the chapel Cosimo il Vecchio's parents, Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici and his wife, Piccarda Bueri, rest in peace.

On the wall of the left aisle is Bronzino's huge fresco of the Martyrdom of San Lorenzo. The 3rd-century namesake saint of this church, San Lorenzo was a flinty early Christian and the treasurer of the Roman church. When commanded by the Romans to hand over the church's wealth, Lorenzo appeared before Emperor Valerian's prefect with "thousands" of sick, poor, and crippled people saying "Here is all the church's treasure." The Romans weren't amused and decided to martyr him on a gridiron over hot coals. Feisty to the last, at one point while Lorenzo lay there roasting he called out to his tormentors through gritted teeth, "Turn me over, I'm done on this side."

Near this fresco is an entrance to the cloister and just inside it a stairwell to the right leading up to the Biblioteca Laurenziana (Laurentian Library), which can also be entered admission free without going through -- and paying for -- the church (the separate entrance is just to the left of the church's main doors). Michelangelo designed this library in 1524 to house the Medici's manuscript collection, and it stands as one of the most brilliant works of Mannerist architecture. The vestibule is a whacked-out riff on the Renaissance, all pietra serena and white plaster walls like a good Brunelleschi piece, but turned inside out. There are phony piers running into each other in the corners, pilaster strips that support nothing, and brackets that exist for no reason. On the whole, however, it manages to remain remarkably coherent. Its star feature is a pietra serena flight of curving stairs flowing out from the entrance to the reading room. This actual library part, however -- filled with intricately carved wood and handsomely illuminated manuscripts -- was closed indefinitely in 1999 until "urgent maintenance" is completed.

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Grom is a gelateria that is frequented by not only tourists but Florentines as well.  It has their own specific gusti (flavors) that really entice the new traveler.  Founded in 2003 in Torino, it grew very successful and famous among the Italians.  In fact, in 2007 Grom opened in New York it being the first city abroad to take on this delicious gelato.  In Florence, there is constantly a line running along side the tiny shop near the Duomo. 

Our Local Expert Says:

"The jewelry is superb and really expensive on the Ponte Vecchio. Grab your camera and catch the Tuscan Hills alive and rolling beyond the city center."

Description:

You can't miss the most recognizable landmark of Florence, the Ponte Vecchio.  Constructed in 1345, the Ponte Vecchio is the oldest bridge still standing in Florence, hence the name.  The multicolored structure bridge was first home to butcher shops. As the noble bankers would cross the Arno river to their offices, there was a rancid smell of pigs blood and rotted meat which extremely offended them.  In an effort to improve the area, the Medici stepped in and ordered the lower class shopkeepers out and moved goldsmiths and diamond-cutters in. Ponte Vecchio is the only bridge that escaped the bombing by the Germans in WWII.  Today, now a pedestrian bridge, the shops shimmer and shine with necklaces, rings and charms of the most expensive kind.  Tourists can enjoy an early morning walk over the bridge before the shops open or at sunset where lovers stare at the horizon as musicians sing and be merry.

Our Local Expert Says:

Try any one of the pizzas, they are delicious!

Description:

Yellow Bar is located a few steps from the famous Duomo. Yellow Bar was established in 1974 and since then these 2 families have been serving with passion for cooking and Italian cuisine. A hot spot for Florentines and tourists alike. Their specialty is pizza and pasta. The ambiance has soft lighting and wooden benches. It is cozy and warm with hospitality. Yellow Bar is a perfect place to eat with a budget. The location is also ideal for those who want a quick bite after visiting the Bargello museum that is nearby. Enjoy a long dinner or a calming lunch when you are walking through Florence at Yellow Bar.

Description:

Loggia del Mercato Nuovo or Loggia del Porcellino, was built in the middle of the 16th century. Walk a few steps towards the Duomo, you will find Piazza della Repubblica and following the crowds towards the Arno river, the Ponte Vecchio. The stalls used to sell more of silk and luxury goods, but today all you will find is leather bags, coats and tourist souvenirs. The main focus is the Fontana del Porcellino, which was by Pietro Tacca in the 16th century, the original wild boar sits in the Palazzo Pitti. If you rub the nose of the boar it is said you will receive good fortune, after of course leaving a coin in the mouth of the boar as well. Superstition implies that the wish will be granted if the offering tumbles through the grate whence the water flows. Check out the Loggia at night as well. Without the stalls, it is somewhat peaceful.

Description:

Borgo Antico is constantly packed with a relatively young crowd. Its location, opposite Santo Spirito church, makes it particularly enchanting. In summer, customers can eat in the outdoor cafe. The gigantic dishes that are offered include vegetable and fish starters and excellent meats with salad and tomatoes.  It also offers good pizza and great homemade desserts.  You can also get the pizzas to go.  Just say "porta via" and you are set to go.

Description:

Of all Florence's major churches, the home of the Dominicans is the only one with an original facade that matches its era of greatest importance. The lower Romanesque half was started in the 14th century by architect Fra' Jacopo Talenti, who had just finished building the church itself (started in 1246). Leon Battista Alberti finished the facade, adding a classically inspired Renaissance top that not only went seamlessly with the lower half but also created a Cartesian plane of perfect geometry.

The church's interior underwent a massive restoration in the late 1990s, returning Giotto's restored Crucifix to pride of place, hanging in the nave's center -- and becoming the first church in Florence to charge admission. Against the second pillar on the left of the nave is the pulpit from which Galileo was denounced for his heretical theory that Earth revolved around the sun. Just past the pulpit, on the left wall, is Masaccio's Trinità (ca. 1428), the first painting ever to use perfect linear mathematical perspective. Florentine citizens and artists flooded in to see the fresco when it was unveiled, many remarking in awe that the coffered ceiling seemed to punch a hole back into space, creating a chapel out of a flat wall. The transept is filled with spectacularly frescoed chapels. The sanctuary behind the main altar was frescoed after 1485 by Domenico Ghirlandaio with the help of his assistants and apprentices, probably including a very young Michelangelo. The left wall is covered with a cycle on The Life of the Virgin and the right wall with the Life of St. John the Baptist. The works have a highly polished decorative quality and are less biblical stories than snapshots of the era's fashions and personages, full of portraits of the Tornabuoni family who commissioned them.

Restoration workers in 2005 found a fresco hidden behind one of the lesser-known works here -- by 16th-century Veronese painter Jacopo Ligozzi -- and the mystery of who created it is the talk of local art circles. As of the printing of this edition, it remains unknown.

The Cappella Gondi to the left of the high altar contains the Crucifix carved by Brunelleschi to show his buddy Donatello how it should be done. At the end of the left transept is a different Cappella Strozzi, covered with restored frescoes (1357) by Nardo di Cione, early medieval casts of thousands where the saved mill about Paradise on the left and the damned stew in a Dantean inferno on the right.

Description:

In 1437, Cosimo de' Medici il Vecchio, grandfather of Lorenzo the Magnificent, had Michelozzo convert a medieval monastery here into a new home for the Dominicans, in which Cosimo also founded Europe's first public library. From 1491 until he was burned at the stake on Piazza della Signoria in 1498, this was the home base of puritanical preacher Girolamo Savonarola. The monastery's most famous friar, though, was early Renaissance painter Fra' Angelico, and he left many of his finest works, devotional images painted with the technical skill and minute detail of a miniaturist or an illuminator but on altarpiece scale. While his works tended to be transcendently spiritual, Angelico was also prone to filling them with earthly details with which any peasant or stonemason could identify.

The museum rooms are entered off a pretty cloister. The old Pilgrim's Hospice has been converted into a Fra' (Beato) Angelico Gallery, full of altarpieces and painted panels. Also off the cloister is the Reffetorio Grande (Great Refectory), with 16th- and 17th-century paintings, and the Sala del Capitolo (Chapter House), frescoed from 1441 to 1442 with a huge Crucifixion by Fra' Angelico and his assistants. The door next to this leads past the staircase up to the Dormitory to the Sala del Cenacolo (Small Refectory), with a long fresco of the Last Supper by Domenico Ghirlandaio.

The Dormitorio (Dormitory) of cells where the monks lived is one of Fra' Angelico's masterpieces and perhaps his most famous cycle of frescoes. In addition to the renowned Annunciation at the top of the stairs to the monks' rooms, Angelico painted the cells themselves with simple works to aid his fellow friars in their meditations. One of these almost anticipates surrealism -- a flagellation where disembodied hands strike at Christ's face and a rod descends on him from the blue-green background. Angelico's assistants carried out the repetitious Crucifixion scenes in many of the cells. At the end of one of the corridors is the suite of cells occupied by Savonarola when he was here prior. In the first are two famous portraits of him by his devout follower and talented painter Fra' Bartolomeo, along with an anonymous 16th-century painting of Savonarola Burned at the Stake on Piazza della Signoria. The Biblioteca (Library) off the corridor to the right of the stairs was designed by Michelozzo in 1441 and contains beautifully illuminated choir books.