Florence lies at the foot of a Tuscan-Emilian Apennines, in the large plain cut by the Arno river and surrounded by hills. After being inhabited in prehistoric times, during the 8th century BC, an Italic people, with a Villanovan culture, settled in the area between the Arno and the Mugnone rivers, but little is known of these remote times…

1 The Cathedral of Florence, dedicated to Santa Maria del Fiore, is the 3rd largest cathedral in the world!

2 One of the most picturesque quarters of Florence, St. Lorenzo covers the piazza, dominated by the large Church of San Lorenzo and a multitude of small narrow streets leading to the “Mercato Centrale”, the largest food market.  

4 In this wonderful church there is a special fresco…We are talking about Masaccio Trinità (1427). It was unknown to art historians until 1861 and it is certainly one of the most intense and significant paintings in all Florentine art of the Quattrocento!

7 The convent has been known since the 12th century. In 1437, Cosimo the Elder commissioned Michelozzo to restructure it, therefore it is the first convent built in the elegant forms of the Renaissance.

8 When it was originally built (1250) outside the second circle of walls, it was an oratory. As time passed, the church was enlarged to the present size.

10 The church is one of city’s largest and has a neo-Gothic façade added in the 19th century heavily decorated. The building, attributed to Arnolfo di Cambio (13th cent.), has a majestic interior. On the wall are the funeral monuments to Michelangelo Buonarroti by Vasari (1564), to Dante Alighieri by Stefano Ricci (1829); to Vittorio Alfieri by Canova (1803) and to Niccolò Machiavelli by Innocenzo Spinazzi (1787).

11 The Bargello palace looks like a fortress and has a powerful crenellated tower above the severe façade. It was built in 1255 and since 1859, the palace has been the seat of the National Museum which contains Renaissance sculpture and masterpieces of the minor arts from various periods.

12 It was designed in 1299 by Arnolfo di Cambio and later expanded by the Medici family until they moved to the Pitti Palace and the Palazzo was renamed “Vecchio” (old).

13 It is city’s oldest bridge, built, as it appears today, in 1345 by Neri di Fioravante, with its elegant structure on three arches. Above the houses, on the upstream side of the bridge is the Vasari Corridor, built by Vasari for Cosimo I to go from Palazzo Pitti to Palazzo Vecchio. The shops on either side of the bridge are still working and are the workshops of artisan goldsmith.

14 The church received its present form in the 15th century, when it was built from a model by Brunelleschi.

15 Pitti Palace housed three royal dynasties: Medici, Lorraine and Savoy and currently contains both their royal apartments (14 rooms) and their prestigious collections.

16 The Medici were the first to take interest in the gardens, establishing the model of the italian-style garden that became a standard for many European courts.

17 The wide terrace, designed by Poggi and opened in 1875, offers breathtaking view over the city and its hill. At the center of the terrace stands a monument dedicated to Michelangelo.