Florence is second only to Rome in art wealth and mother of the Italian language. Artists like Giotto, Michelangelo, Leonardo, Dante, Donatello, and many other culture and art personalities have all worked in Florence. The center of the city, the Duomo, is a receptacle of rare value and with the Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral, the dome, the Baptistery, Giotto's campanile, is the symbol of Florence.
The Duomo, designed by Arnolfo di Cambio, who started working on it in 1296, was completed in 1436 by Brunelleschi, who also added the enormous dome.
A stone's throw away, passing through the famous Via dei Calzaiuoli - one of the main arteries of the city - lie the church of Orsanmichele, born as a market and depot for wheat, later turned into a representative church for corporations, and San Lorenzo Basilica, constructed on an ancient building restored by Brunelleschi. Another two sites of great artistic and religious value are the basilica of Santissima Annunziata, with its cloister, and the church of San Marco, with the frescos by beato Angelico.
The second important Florentine monument is the Galleria degli Uffizi, edified at the end of 1500s by desire of Cosimo I, grand duke of Tuscany and real starter of the Medicean collections. Starting in 1762, the Museo Fiorentino - the original name of the Uffizi - is reorganized according to Enlightenment principles: works were divided by genre, painting, sculpture, scientific instruments, minor arts. It is today one of the most important Italian galleries and the most ancient museum of modern Europe. It hosts Italian masterpieces from different eras and a selection of foreign creations.
Another important Florentine museum is the Bargello, located in the austere palace of the Podestà, erected between mid-1200 and mid-1300. With its tower, beautiful windows with single and double lights on the sides, the palace was the home of the podestà first and subsequently hosted head of the police. It holds statues, ivories, majolicaware, weapons, tapestries, works in enamel, textiles.
Tuscany
Though violence and intercommunal strife tore Tuscany apart in the Middle Ages, today the castles, hamlets and farmhouses of that era are just some of the many reasons it is the arguably the most beloved tourist spot in Italy. Past and present merge beautifully in this scenic region, as Etruscan walls and rolling hills provide the backdrop for some of the world's most astounding art and architecture. Tuscan cities such as Florence, Siena, and Pisa, together with smaller towns like Lucca, Cortona, and Arezzo, contain some of Italy's most famous artistic treasures. And don't miss San Gimignano, the Medieval village that sits in the heart of the countryside, beguiling all who visit with its ancient charm and beauty.
