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Recommended structures for this itinerary
International Panoramic Florence Fiesole Mugello Verde
From the terrace of Piazzale Michelangelo and the Church of San Miniato al Monte it is possible to admire Florence, an open-air museum.

The city is crossed by the Arno river and bordered by the riverside joined by unique bridges, including the romantic Ponte Vecchio.

Stroll through the streets of the historic center where you will encounter artistic treasures kept in palaces, museums and churches and you will discover treasures such as the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, the Baptistery, the Uffizi Gallery, the Bargello and the Accademia Gallery.

Do not miss the churches of Santa Maria Novella and Santa Croce, magnificent church-museums rich in works of art, the Pitti Palace with its museums and the Boboli Gardens.

A unique place to experience: the Oltrarno. Characteristic neighborhood in the name of Florentine typicality: artisan shops, typical trattorias and good wine.

Points of interest
PIAZZA DEL DUOMO

– The Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, begun by Arnolfo di Cambio in 1296, begun by Arnolfo di Cambio in 1296 and crowned by Filippo Brunelleschi only in 1436, is the third largest church in the world. It was named after Santa Maria del Fiore with an allusion to the lily, the symbol of the city.
– The Crypt of Santa Reparata was brought to light between 1965 and 1973 with a large excavation campaign carried out under the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore.
– The Dome, from which you can enjoy a fantastic view of the city as well as the interior of the Cathedral, is a masterpiece capable of withstanding lightning strikes, earthquakes, over the centuries. Anecdote: Michelangelo, to make fun of one of his “colleagues”, judged the decoration of the octagonal drum of the dome as a “cage for crickets”. The master builder Baccio D’Agnolo felt offended and left the drum unfinished as you see it today.
– Giotto’s bell tower, slender in its colors, is another panoramic point of the city. It is covered with white, red and green marbles like those that adorn the Cathedral. It was started by Giotto in 1334, continued by Andrea Pisano and completed by Francesco Talenti. It is the most eloquent testimony of the Florentine Gothic architecture of the fourteenth century.
– The Baptistery of San Giovanni is dedicated to San Giovanni Battista, patron saint of the city. It is one of the oldest churches in Florence, located in front of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. The Baptistery, with an octagonal plan, is entirely covered with slabs of white and green Prato marble and embellished with three beautiful bronze doors: the oldest is the South Door made by Andrea Pisano, showing episodes from the life of the Baptist and the Christian virtues; the North Door depicts scenes from the New Testament, the Evangelists and the four Fathers of the Church; the Gates of Paradise, a Renaissance masterpiece by Ghiberti.
– Museo dell’Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore: after the Vatican Museums, it is the largest collection of sacred art in the world, with masterpieces by Donatello, Lorenzo Ghiberti, Luca della Robbia, Antonio Pollaiuolo and Michelangelo. It collects statues and paintings made for the Baptistery, Bell Tower and Duomo of Florence.

PIAZZA DELLA SIGNORIA

– Palazzo della Signoria or Palazzo Vecchio was built at the end of 1200. In the internal courtyard it is possible to admire the fountain with the putto by Verrocchio and the frescoes by Vasari. For over 7 centuries the Palazzo della Signoria has been the symbol of the civil power of the city of Florence. It is the seat of the Municipality and museum: you can visit the Michelozzo courtyard, the Salone dei Cinquecento, the Eleonora Chapel, the Sala dell’Udienza and the Sala dei Gigli, where the original of Donatello’s Judith is also found. In the Sala delle Carte Geografiche there is a terrestrial globe of exceptional dimensions.
– The Tower of Palazzo Vecchio or Torre di Arnolfo, attributed to Arnolfo di Cambio and accompanied by the embattled walkway, is the completion of the first nucleus of the government palace, built between the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The Tower of Arnolfo, with its 95 meters high, stands out over the city, constituting one of its unmistakable symbols and points of reference.
– Loggia dei Lanzi built between 1376 and 1382 exhibits very famous statues such as Benvenuto Cellini’s Perseus and Giambologna’s Rape of the Sabines.
– Fountain of Neptune built by Ammannati between 1560 and 1565, with the very precious Carrara marble, renamed “Il Biancone” by the Florentines.

UFFIZI

– Designed by Giorgio Vasari between 1560 and 1580 on commission of the Grand Duke Cosimo I de ‘Medici as the bureaucratic seat of the various magistrates gathered in one place. The Uffizi Gallery houses one of the largest collections of paintings from the fourteenth century to the Renaissance including Leonardo’s Adoration of the Magi, Michelangelo’s Tondo Doni, Botticelli’s Spring and Venus, Caravaggio’s Bacchus, Portraits of the Dukes of Urbino by Piero della Francesca, the Madonna del Cardellino by Raphael.

OLD BRIDGE

– The Ponte Vecchio, symbol of the city, destroyed many times by the floods of the Arno, was rebuilt at three passes in 1345 and is the work of Taddeo Gaddi or Neri di Fioravante. In 1442 it became the meat market. The butchers became owners of the shops and added small rooms jutting out over the river, supporting them with wooden poles.
Ferdinand I walked the Vasari corridor every day and could not bear the unpleasant smells coming from the shops, so in 1593, he had goldsmiths and jewelers transferred to the place of the butchers.
It is the only bridge in the city that was not destroyed during the Second World War.

VASARIAN CORRIDOR

It is an elevated path more than a kilometer long that connects Palazzo Vecchio to Palazzo Pitti passing through the Uffizi Gallery and over Ponte Vecchio. It was built by Giorgio Vasari on commission of the Grand Duke Cosimo I in 1565 on the occasion of the marriage of his son Francesco with Giovanna of Austria. The corridor was designed to allow the Grand Dukes to move safely and unnoticed, from the private residence to the government palace.

PITTI SQUARE

It is dominated by the façade of the majestic 15th-century Pitti Palace, which bears the name of its first owner, Luca Pitti, a Florentine banker. Later purchased by Cosimo I de ‘Medici then it was also the palace of the Habsburg-Lorraine and Savoy dynasties. Home to numerous museums (including: the Treasury of the Grand Dukes, the Palatine Gallery, the Royal Apartments, the Gallery of Modern Art and the Museum of Fashion and Costume) and enriched by a wonderful park, the Boboli Gardens, one of the major examples of Italian gardens. Inside, among the various works, you can admire the Roman amphitheater with the Egyptian obelisk in the center, the Grotta del Buontalenti, large fountains, such as that of Neptune and the Ocean and the lemon house.

SQUARE SANTA MARIA NOVELLA

The large square houses the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella. The elegant white and green marble facade is in typical Renaissance style. Inside there are extraordinary masterpieces, including Masaccio’s Trinity, Ghirlandaio’s frescoes in the Tornabuoni Chapel, Giotto’s Crucifix and Brunelleschi’s Crucifix.

SQUARE OF SAN LORENZO

– The Basilica of San Lorenzo is the first Florentine cathedral, consecrated by Sant’Ambrogio in 393 AD. and rebuilt by Filippo Brunelleschi in the 1400s. Michelangelo’s façade project was never completed and still remains unfinished today. Inside: the Cloisters, the Treasury of San Lorenzo, the basement, the chapter archive and the Old Sacristy.
– The Medici Chapels, the burial place of many members of the Medici family, include the New Sacristy by Michelangelo and the Chapel of the Princes. In the New Sacristy, the tomb of Giuliano which rests under the sculptures of Day and Night and the tomb of Lorenzo which rests under the sculptures of Dawn and Twilight, both made by Michelangelo, should be observed.
– The Laurentian Medici Library, designed by Michelangelo and completed by Vasari and Ammannati, was commissioned by the Medici family to house their treasure of papyri, manuscripts and volumes.

SQUARE SANTA CROCE

The Gothic-style Basilica of Santa Croce is one of the largest Franciscan churches. Inside it houses an immense artistic heritage: frescoes by Gaddi and Giotto, burial place of the great and powerful of Florence including: Michelangelo Buonarroti, Galileo Galilei, Niccolò Machiavelli, Vittorio Alfieri, Ugo Foscolo, Gioacchino Rossini and also houses the commemorative monument to Dante (buried in Ravenna, after his exile from Florence).
The Museum of the Opera of Santa Croce is located inside the ancient refectory and the wing of the convent that divides the two cloisters. It houses numerous works including the crucifix by Cimabue, symbol of the Florence flood in 1966.

 

CHURCH OF ORSANMICHELE

In 1290 Arnolfo di Cambio, in place of the church, erected a loggia for the grain trade on commission from the municipality. After the fire of 1304 it was rebuilt even bigger and the old building was raised by 2 floors. In 1380 the loggia was closed and transformed again into a church maintaining the original shape, unusual for a religious building.

FOUNTAIN OF THE PIG

The Porcellino Fountain (even if it is actually a wild boar), built by Pietro Tacca in 1633, is located next to the loggia of the New Market. Popular tradition has it that touching the pig’s nose brings good luck, and if you place a coin in the animal’s mouth and slip into the grate, your wish will be fulfilled.

PARK OF CASCINE

Parco delle Cascine is the largest public park in the city. It is characterized by rich vegetation, large lawns, avenues and is the ideal place to spend your free time. “Le Cascine” is also a market place (every Tuesday morning) and a venue for musical (Arena del Visarno), cultural and trade fair events. At the edge of the park is the new municipal theater “Opera di Firenze”.

FORTRESS FROM BASSO

Renaissance fortification built between 1534 and 1537 designed by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger commissioned by Alessandro de ‘Medici. Since 1967 it has been the exhibition and congress center of Florence.

SQUARE SAN MARCO

The Church of San Marco was a part of the convent of the same name, the intellectual center of the city. In fact, some of the most important representatives of fifteenth-century spirituality and culture worked and lived in this Church, such as Beato Angelico, a Dominican friar and early Renaissance artist, Fra Bartolomeo and Girolamo Savonarola.
The San Marco Museum includes the architectural spaces of the convent, the cloister of Sant’Antonio, the Cenacolo del Ghirlandaio, the Refectory and the Chapter room. It is rich in Renaissance frescoes by Fra Angelico including the Annunciation of 1440.

ACCADEMY’S GALLERY

The Galleria dell’Accademia has hosted, since 1873, the famous David by Michelangelo and his other famous sculptors such as the Prisons and San Matteo. Also found in the museum are Giambologna’s The Rape of the Sabines, the Madonna with Child and the Madonna of the Sea by Botticelli and some works by Perugino, Filippino Lippi, Pontormo and Bronzino. The Gallery houses the museum of musical instruments where it is possible to see a violin that belonged to Stradivari and the oldest upright piano.

 

SANTISSIMA ANNUNZIATA SQUARE

The Spedale degli Innocenti, an architectural work by Brunelleschi, was born to welcome abandoned childhood as early as 1440. Inside it houses a museum that develops the theme of hospitality and tells visitors the essence of the Institute in its six centuries of activities.
The Santissima Annunziata Church dates back to the mid-200s. Characterized by the Baroque style, it has inside splendid organs, frescoes by Andrea del Sarto, Pontormo and Rosso Fiorentino.
The Archaeological Museum contains one of the most complete collections of Italian archeology. There is a Greek section, where you can admire the François Vase, an Etruscan one, where you can see the Chimera d’Arezzo, and a Roman one. Inside, the Egyptian section, the second largest collection in Italy after that of Turin, collects works from private collections and excavations from the 1930s.
In the square there are the two fountains of sea monsters by Pietro Tacca, late Mannerist style masterpieces. In the center there is a bronze monument commissioned by Ferdinando I dei Medici to Giambologna, later finished by Pietro Tacca. A curiosity of this monument are the bees found on one side of the pedestal: being able to count them is truly a feat!

PIAZZALE MICHELANGELO

Piazzale Michelangelo is the panoramic terrace par excellence. A view of Florence not to be missed! From here all the monuments and the Arno river that crosses the city are clearly visible.
It was built in 1869 by the architect Giuseppe Poggi, the year in which Florence was still the capital of Italy and the whole city was engaged in an urban renewal.
In the center of the square there are bronze copies of two works by Michelangelo: the four allegories of the Medici Chapels of San Lorenzo and the David. Curiosity: the monument was brought up by nine pairs of oxen on June 25, 1873.

CHURCH OF SAN MINIATO AL MONTE

Located in one of the highest places in Florence, behind Piazzale Michelangelo, it enjoys a wonderful view of the historic center of Florence.
Built between the 11th and 13th centuries, the exterior of the Church is decorated with green and white marble. The interior of the is in Romanesque style with three naves. The monumental cemetery houses the tomb of Carlo Lorenzini (Collodi), the author of Pinocchio.

 

FORTE DI BELVEDERE

Fortified villa, located at the highest point of the Boboli hill, can be reached from the San Giorgio coast, via Belvedere, via San Leonardo and the Boboli Gardens. Also from here you have an excellent view of the city. Built between 1590 and 1595 by the will of the Grand Duke Ferdinando I de ‘Medici who entrusted the project and construction to Bernardo Buontalenti. Home to temporary exhibitions and cultural events.

VIA TORNABUONI

The Roman walls passed through this street and, during the period in which the Countess Matilde di Canossa reigned, the river Mugnone flowed there. Today it is the most elegant street in the city full of numerous high fashion shops.
The “cube” of the great Palazzo Strozzi, one of the most significant Renaissance buildings in Florence, faces this street. The Palace has a large and majestic courtyard which is accessed by three large arches. Today it hosts important art exhibitions.

REPUBLIC SQUARE

It was once in Roman style while the current appearance with nineteenth-century buildings and a triumphal arch is the result of the urban reconstruction of Florence, the capital of Italy. Historic cafes overlook the square: Caffè Gilli, Caffè Paskowski and Caffè delle Giubbe Rosse, meeting points for many artists and writers of the past. Under the loggia, on the other hand, is the Hard Rock Cafe Firenze.

PALAZZO MEDICI RICCARDI

The Renaissance palace was commissioned by Cosimo Il Vecchio de ‘Medici to Michelozzo in the mid-1400s. Inside is the Chapel of the Magi frescoed by Benozzo Gozzoli: a religious subject (the Cavalcade of the Magi) where, however, characters from the Medici family and political figures of the time are portrayed.

SQUARE SANTO SPIRITO

It is located in the Oltrarno district, it is a place of markets and fairs and full of restaurants, night clubs, artisan shops and artists’ studios. Surrounded by beautiful fifteenth-century buildings and the homonymous Basilica.
The Basilica of Santo Spirito was designed by Filippo Brunelleschi in 1444. The interior contains notable works of art including a wooden crucifix attributed to a young Michelangelo.

PIAZZA DEL CARMINE

The square, dominated by the unfinished facade of the basilica, is one of the main squares in the Oltrarno district.
The Basilica of Santa Maria del Carmine, born in 1268 as part of a Carmelite convent, was largely destroyed by the fire of 1771. Famous for hosting the Brancacci Chapel, founded by the Brancacci family in the late fourteenth century. It houses the famous cycle of frescoes depicting stories from the life of St. Peter and the Original Sin, begun by Masolino and Masaccio in 1424 and finished by Filippino Lippi.

PIAZZA DELLA PASSERA

It is a small and characteristic square in the Oltrarno district. Meeting place for Florentines and foreigners.