Florence is a city that I have wanted to visit since I read the historical novel "The Agony and the Ecstasy" as a teenager back in Adelaide (a very long time ago). I had read that the entire city was a museum and now that I have finally been able to get there totally agree. We had landed in Venice and taken the 3 hour train trip down to Florence which was nice break from the normal flights. We had booked into the Grand Medici Hotel which was reasonably central and provided the old world charm with is so "Europe". Rather than try to see it all in 3 days, we had decided to see the Michelangelo Florence.
Starting from the square where his original formal training had started, we headed through the lovely streets and plazas to the S Lorenzo Piazza. Here, the Basilica of S Lorenzo, a rather ordinary looking building was well worth a visit. Michelangelo had hoped to decorate the facade of this church but never succeeded in fulfilling that ambition. He did however, design and build the Medici-Laurentian Library which is accessed from the wonderful old cloisters. The Basilica was beautiful and the apse vault in the Old Sacristy was interesting showing the star pattern from the night of July 4 1442. From here we made our way to the Accademia Gallery. Main objective here was to view the carving of David, which was every bit as impressive as expected.
We were not able to take any photos at the Gallery so the following day we (along with just about every other tourist) took photos of the copy of David which is found in the Piazza Della Signoria. Back to the Accademia - we were also able to view the partly finished sculptures of slaves that were intended to line to mausoleum of Pope Julius II and St Matthew. Of particular interest to me was the sculpture of Pieta di Palestrina.
Continuing to the Duomo (or Basilica of Saint Maria Del Fiore), we were able to spend some time looking around this exquisite building. There was a service underway which limited our ability to see all the interior - but it was still magnificent. The paintings on the interior of the dome,detailing the last judgement, were outstanding. During excavations in 1966, the ruins of an earlier Church was located beneath the Basilica which we were able to visit through the crypt.
In front of the Duomo was the Baptistery. This octagonal building is famous for its bronze doors which displayed stories from the New Testament. The Giotto's Bell Tower and S Zanobi's column were also located in the square next tot he Duomo.
The story goes that an elm tree which was located in the position of the column, suddenly flowered when it came in contact with the corpse of S Zanobu who was the Bishop of Florence.
Heading towards the river we were able to have a "proper" cafe latte in a wonderful old cafe. Home town of Melbourne has spoilt us with its Italian coffee shops - and it was great to have a "real deal" again. Over the river we found the Ponte Vecchio - the bridge which has been around since the 1300s originally housed the butchers of the city but since the 1500s has been home to many of the city's goldsmiths - so I had a great time looking (not sure Ian enjoyed it quite as much)
The next day we headed off to the Medici Chapel. This was spectacular and very unexpected. The initial rooms were interesting and set up as a museum housing many of the relics of the Medici family including the various Popes and Bishops who were family members. However, once we had stepped into the main Church area we were overwhelmed. The room opens up into the three story high marble hall. Totally unexpected and almost "over the top". From here we were able to enter the new sacristy which was designed and built by Michelangelo. The room contains a series of sculptures which were designed into the architecture of the room - The Madonna and Child, Dawn and Dusk, Night and Day and the Monument to Lorenzo - all magnificent.
From here we headed back towards the river to find the Basilica of Saint Croce. This Florentine Gothic building houses the tombs of Michelangelo and Machiavelli. Additional works by Michelangelo were housed at the Casa Buonarroti. The house was the residence of Michelangelo from 1516 and 1525 and was left in his will to his nephew who developed his private collection and designed the interior of the house around the pieces. The museum was opened to the public in 1859 and includes over 200 drawings, designs and paintings by Michelangelo as well as some of his very early marble pieces done as a teenager.
There is just so much to see in this city. Wonderful historic buildings, traditional lanes and streetscapes, magnificent works of art.......there is no way we could do it justice in a weekend. This is definitely one city where we will return - next time to spend at least a fortnight and see at least the rest of the major sights Florence has on offer.
