Not to be missed! Our TOP 10 hits – from the absolute No. 1 to No. 10 – TOP 10 help you plan your tour of the most important sights.

DUOMO SANTA MARIA DEL GALLERIA DEGLI P64 FIORE P94 One of the largest and most famous This magnificent building is the art galleries in the world: the works symbol of the city and third-largest of art – paintings, tapestries and church in Christendom – il Duomo is statues – are exhibited in over 100 a source of great Florentine pride rooms and a series of corridors. and is the city’s top attraction. MUSEO NAZIONALE DEL GALLERIA DELL’ACCADEMIA P72 P103 What was once the city’s goal and Home to ’s , torture chamber is now one of the an imposing (4.1m /13.5ft high) most famous sculpture galleries in masterpiece that was sculpted from . a single block of Carrara marble. Other sculptures by the master are also on display in the museum, P130 which was founded in 1784. The main attractions of this Dominican church are its marble SANTA CROCE P56 facade and precious frescoes. With 23 monumental graves and hundreds of tombstones, this P150 Franciscan church is ’s The largest of all of Florence’s pantheon. ­palaces, the complex and adjoining , now house seven museums. The Galleria Palatina, P60 with its exquisite collection of The beautiful piazza is dominated ­paintings, is especially fascinating. by the (left), the Loggia dei Lanzi, the Uffizi and the enormous Neptune Fountain. P156 A classic example of Romanesque P126 architecture and sweeping vistas At sunset this is one of the most of Florence – this iconic location picturesque sights in Florence when is immediately recognizable from “the old bridge” jewellery shops Florence guidebooks, and the reality and the River Arno are all aglitter. more than lives up to the image! The Magazine The Magazine

INSIDER INFO Who’s Who Throughout the city you’ll notice the ubiquitous Medici coat of arms: a cluster of red balls on a gold background. Some say it signifies the shield OF THE MEDICI of the legendary knight Averardo, a descendant of the family; others claim they are medicinal pills, Few cities are as closely recalling the family’s possible origins as doctors linked to one family as (medici); or perhaps pawnbroker’s coins, a symbol of their financial background. Florence is to the Medici, the powerful dynasty who ruled the city almost Cosimo inherited his father’s financial nous, and increased the family fortune tenfold, but he is best remembered for his ardent support of the con­tinuously for over three arts and humanism during the flowering of the Renaissance in Florence. centuries and whose Keen to build churches, palazzi and libraries that would last a thousand generous patronage of years like the buildings of ancient , Cosimo commissioned the city’s finest architects to construct scores of buildings (including the churches the arts contributed to the of San Marco and San Lorenzo) and appointed some of the greatest artists city’s Renaissance revival. of the day to adorn them. Everywhere you go in He died leaving a peaceful, wealthy city – “the new Rome”. He was succeeded by his sickly son, Piero the Gouty (1416–69), who died soon Florence, the Medici name afterwards, leaving Cosimo’s grandson, crops up. Lorenzo to assume power.

Giovanni di Bicci – The Banker Lorenzo il Magnifico – The prosperity of the Medici was largely due to Giovanni di Bicci Poet and Humanist (1360–1429), the founder of the family. He established the Medici Lorenzo (1449–92), a Bank in Florence and, thanks to his shrewd business acumen, it soon ­humanist and a great poet, ­became the most profitable bank in Europe. Once he’d landed the was devoted to literary Pope’s bank account, the family’s fortune was secured. ­pursuits as well as to affairs of state and promoted the Cosimo il Vecchio (the Elder) – Patron of the Arts study of Dante, Boccaccio It was with Giovanni’s son, Cosimo (1389–1464), that the “Medici rule” really­ and Petrarch. began. Pope Pius II called him “King in everything but name” and the city’s His rule was not uneventful: governing body, the Signoria, bestowed upon him the title Pater Patriae Pope Sixtus IV withdrew the (Father of the Country). Even so, he kept a low profile, rejecting Filippo papal account from the Brunelleschi’s designs for the family palace (P111) as too ostentatious Medici Bank, causing near and settling for a more discreet symbol of Medici power from which to bankruptcy; then there was ­govern the city. the Pazzi conspiracy of 1478 –

Above: Domenico Ghirlandaio, Lorenzo de Medici with the Sasseti family, Andrea del Verrocchio, Cosimo de Medici

10 11 Eastern Florence Getting Your Bearings TOP 10 Getting Your Bearings # Santa Croce P56 $ Piazza della Signoria P60 P This district represents the very heart of Florence. Here you will find & Galleria degli Uffizi 64 some of the city’s finest buildings; its main square and the showcase ' Museo Nazionale of its power and might – Piazza della Signoria; and the masterpieces del Bargello P72 of some of the world’s greatest painters in the internationally renowned Uffizi Gallery.

Further east, you’ll find Santa Croce, Florence’s pantheon and one of its most remarkable churches. The surrounding neighbourhood provides a rare glimpse of workaday Florence – an area few tourists penetrate, with lively local markets, tiny The marble workshops and simple homes. ­facade of This eastern area also em- Santa Croce braces the city’s medieval ­kernel, from the maze of tiny alleyways and hidden lanes of Dante’s neighbourhood north of Piazza della Signoria to such imposing civic build- ings as the Palazzo Vecchio and the Bargello – once the ­prison, but now one of Italy’s ­leading sculpture museums. You’ll also find the largest ­selection of shops, bars and ­restaurants here. By night, this Neptune Fountain, Piazza della Signoria is the liveliest part of town and, with most of its streets pedestrianized­ and many of the buildings illuminated, the perfect venue for an ­after-dinner stroll.

At Your Leisure +  P76 , Palazzo Vecchio P76 - Museo Gucci P77 . Loggia dei Lanzi P78 /  P78 0 Casa di Dante P79 1  P79 2 Gelateria Vivoli P79 3  P80 4 Museo dell’Opera di Santa Croce & Cappella dei Pazzi P80 5 Museo Horne P81

52 53