FLORENCE Streets Athousandtalesofthepast:Medievaldyers Coloured Evokes Woolin Eve Beinghurledoutofparadise
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© Lonely Planet Publications 92 lonelyplanet.com FLORENCE •• History 93 FLORENCE FLORENCE HISTORY and tact in dealing with artists saw the likes of Florence’s history stretches to the time of the Alberti, Brunelleschi, Luca della Robbia, Fra Florence Etruscans, who based themselves in Fiesole. Angelico, Donatello and Filippo Lippi flourish FLORENCE FLORENCE Julius Caesar founded the Roman colony of under his patronage. Florentia around 59 BC, making it a strate- In 1439 the Church Council of Florence, gic garrison on the narrowest crossing of the aimed at reconciling the Catholic and East- Arno so he could control the Via Flaminia ern churches, brought to the city Byzantine Return time and again and you still won’t see it all. Stand on a bridge over the Arno several linking Rome to northern Italy and Gaul. scholars and craftsmen, who they hoped After the collapse of the Roman Empire, would impart the knowledge and culture of times in a day, and the light, the mood and the view change every time. Surprisingly small Florence fell to invading Goths, followed by classical antiquity. The Council, attended as it is, this city is like no other. Cradle of the Renaissance and of the masses of globe- Lombards and Franks. The year AD 1000 by the pope, achieved nothing in the end, trotting tourists who flock here to feast on world-class art and extraordinary architecture, marked a crucial turning point in the city’s but it did influence what was later known as Florence (Firenze) is magnetic, romantic, unrivalled and too busy. A visit here is madness, fortunes when Margrave Ugo of Tuscany the Renaissance. Under the rule of Cosimo’s moved his capital from Lucca to Florence. In popular and cultured grandson, Lorenzo il in fact, for anyone who can remain completely unmoved after viewing Botticelli’s Spring, 1110 Florence became a free comune (city- Magnifico (1469–92), Florence became the Michelangelo’s muscular warrior, or the Brancacci Chapel’s emotive frescoes of Adam and state) and by 1138 was ruled by 12 consuls, epicentre of this ‘Rebirth’, with artists such Eve being hurled out of Paradise. assisted by the Consiglio di Cento (Council of as Michelangelo, Botticelli and Domenico One Hundred), whose members were drawn Ghirlandaio at work. Yet there’s more to this river-side city than priceless masterpieces. Strolling its narrow mainly from the prosperous merchant class. But Florence’s golden age was not to last, streets evokes a thousand tales of the past: medieval dyers coloured wool in caldaie (vats) Agitation among differing factions in the city effectively dying along with Lorenzo in 1492. on Via delle Caldaie; Renaissance calzaiuoli (hosiers) hand-crafted fine shoes in workshops led to the appointment in 1207 of a foreign Just before his death, the Medici bank had head of state called the podestà, aloof in prin- failed, and, two years later, the Medici were on Via dei Calzaiuoli; tanners made a stink in conce (tanneries) on Via delle Conce; and yes, ciple from the plotting and wheeler-dealing of driven out of Florence. In a reaction against those Medici did keep caged leoni (lions), although nothing caused quite a stir as the giraffe local cliques and alliances. the splendour and excess of the Medici court, given to Lorenzo the Magnificent by an Egyptian sultan in 1486. Medieval Florence was a wealthy dynamic the city fell under the control of Girolamo comune, one of Europe’s leading financial, Savonarola, a humourless Dominican monk Plush, decadent and equally exotic is contemporary Florence’s flamboyant line-up of designer banking and cultural centres, and a major who led a stern, puritanical republic. In 1497 boutiques around Via de’ Tornabuoni. Gucci was born here, as was fashion designer Roberto player in the international wool, silk and the likes of Botticelli gladly consigned their Cavalli who, like many a smart Florentine, hangs out in the wine-rich hills around Florence today. leather trades. The sizable population of mon- ‘immoral’ works and finery to the flames of After a little while in this intensely absorbing city, you might just want to do the same. eyed merchants and artisans began forming the infamous ‘Bonfire of the Vanities’. The guilds and patronising the growing number following year Savonarola fell from public of artists who found lucrative commissions in favour and was burned as a heretic. this burgeoning city. But a political crisis was The pro-French leanings of the subsequent HIGHLIGHTS on the horizon. republican government brought it into con- Marvel at the world’s greatest Renaissance art in Struggles between the pro-papal Guelphs flict with the pope and his Spanish allies. In the Uffizi ( p112 ) (Guelfi) and the pro-Holy Roman Empire 1512 a Spanish force defeated Florence and Ghibellines (Ghibellini) started in the mid- the Medici were reinstated. Their tyrannical View the Duomo, baptistry and campanile from atop 13th century, with power yo-yoing between rule endeared them to few, and when Rome, Brunelleschi’s famous red-brick dome ( p105 ) the two for almost a century. Into this frac- ruled by the Medici pope Clement VII, fell to Do a David tour: Michelangelo’s original in the tious atmosphere were born revolutionary art- the emperor Charles V in 1527, the Floren- Galleria dell’Accademia ( p119 ), the famous cop- ist Giotto and outspoken poet Dante Alighieri, tines took advantage of this low point in the ies on Piazza della Signoria ( p108 ) and Piazzale whose family belonged to the Guelph camp. Medici fortunes to kick the family out again. Michelangelo ( p127 ), and those by Donatello and Fiesole After the Guelphs split into two factions, the Two years later, though, imperial and papal Andrea Verrocchio in Museo del Bargello ( p108 ) Florence Neri (Blacks) and Bianchi (Whites), Dante forces besieged Florence, forcing the city to See the bistecca alla fiorentina (loin steak or T-bone San went with the Bianchi – the wrong side – and accept Lorenzo’s great-grandson, Alessan- steak), alongside other Florentine specialities in the Miniato was expelled from his native city in 1302, dro de’ Medici, a ruthless transvestite whom city’s colourful food market ( p143 ), then sample never to return. Charles made Duke of Florence. Medici rule one at Trattoria Mario ( p137 ) or Trattoria Angi- In 1348 the Black Death spirited away al- continued for another 200 years, during which olino ( p141 ) most half the population. This dark period in time they gained control of all of Tuscany, Il Chianti the city’s history was used as a backdrop by though after the reign of Cosimo I (1537–74), Flee the city for a breath of fresh air in Fiesole ( p154 ) Boccaccio for his Decameron. Florence drifted into steep decline. Hunt white truffles and learn about Chianina cattle The history of Medici Florence begins in The last male Medici, Gian Gastone, died on an estate near San Miniato (p170 ) 1434, when Cosimo il Vecchio (the Elder, also in 1737, after which his sister, Anna Maria, Swill and spit some of Italy’s finest wines on a tasting tour through Il Chianti ( p164 ) known simply as Cosimo de’ Medici), a patron signed the grand duchy of Tuscany over to of the arts, assumed power. His eye for talent the House of Lorraine (at the time effectively 94 FLORENCE •• Orientation lonelyplanet.com lonelyplanet.com FLORENCE •• Dangers & Annoyances 95 FLORENCE FLORENCE under Austrian control). This situation re- Internet Resources Tourist Information mained unchanged, apart from a brief inter- THE RED & THE BLACK Locally generated blogs are also useful; see p56 . Comune di Firenze Tourist Office Train Station (Map ruption under Napoleon from 1799 to 1814, Florence has two parallel street-numbering City of Florence (www.comune.firenze.it) City pp98-9 ; %055 21 22 45; www. comune.fi.it in Italian; Piazza FLORENCE FLORENCE until the duchy was incorporated into the systems: red or brown numbers (which information. della Stazione 4; h8.30am-7pm Mon-Sat, 8.30am-1.30pm Kingdom of Italy in 1860. Florence briefly usually have ‘r’ for rosso, or red, after the Firenze-Oltrarno (www.firenze-oltrarno.net) Loadsa’ Sun); Santa Croce (Map pp100-1 ; %055 234 04 44; Borgo became the national capital a year later, but number) indicate commercial premises, links south of the river. Santa Croce 29r; h9am-7pm Mon-Sat, 9am-2pm Sun) Rome assumed the mantle permanently in whereas black or blue numbers are for Firenze Net (http://english.firenze.net) Up-to-the-minute Information on the city, run by Florence’s city council. 1871. private residences. information on city life. Florence Tourist Board (Map pp100–1 ; %055 233 Florence was badly damaged during WWII Black/blue numbers may denote whole Florence for Fun (www.florenceforfun.org) Practical info 20; www.firenzeturismo.it; Via Manzoni 16; h9am-1pm by the retreating Germans, who blew up all buildings, while each red/brown number aimed at international students in Florence. Mon-Fri) its bridges except Ponte Vecchio. Devastat- refers to one commercial entity – and a The Florentine (www.theflorentine.net) English-language Provincia di Firenze Tourist Office City Centre (Map ing floods ravaged the city in 1966, causing building may have several. It can turn you newspaper. pp98-9 ; %055 29 08 32/3; www.provincia inestimable damage to its buildings and art- purple if you’re hunting for a specific ad- Studentsville (www.studentsville.it) Everything about .firenze.it in Italian, www.firenzeturismo.it; Via Cavour works. However, the salvage operation led dress in a hurry. studying, living and lodging in this student-busy city. 1r; h8.30am-6.30pm Mon-Sat, 8.30am-1.30pm to the widespread use of modern restoration viviFirenze (www.vivifirenze.it) Another student perspective: Sun); Florence Airport (Map pp96-7 ; %055 31 58 74; techniques that have saved artworks through- practical guide to living and studying in Florence.