Florence Museums
Museo di Palazzo Vecchio, Florence; credit JoJan/Wiki Commons
The hub of the European Renaissance, Firenze (called “Florence” in English) was originally founded by the Romans in the 1st Century BC. By fate and location luck, it has become one of the most wonderful artistic cities in Europe.
Its claim to fame is its architectural and artistic prominence, stemming from these early influences dating back to the 13th Century when many of the world’s greatest painters, architects, sculptors, writers and other artisans such as Donatello, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Cellini, Brunelleschi, Botticelli and numerous others created and imparted their masterpieces here.
You could spend weeks leisurely acquainting yourself with some of the city’s masters and masterpieces at landmark museums. The Galleria Dell’Accademia (Academy Gallery), hosts Michelangelo’s David statue. Museo Nazionale del Bargello (Bargello Museum) is considered Florence’s foremost sculpture museum.
Galleria Dell’Accademia (Academy Gallery), where you’ll find Michelangelo’s David; the Uffizi Gallery, one of the world’s great museums; and Santa Maria della Carmine, one of many impressive and historically significant churches in Florence, among many, many other attractions.
Palazzo Pitti museum in Florence; (c) Soul Of America
No trip to Florence would not be complete without a visit to the Palazzo Pitti and Boboli Gardens, situated in the Oltrarno (the other side of the Arno River). The Pitti Palace was originally the official residence of the Medici family in the 16th Century and a few centuries later became the royal palace of the Savoy dynasty. Today it is home to eight museums, the most famous of which is the Palatina Gallery for its collection of paintings.
Situated behind the Palace is the Boboli Gardens, one of the most breathtaking gardens one could ever behold in their lifetime. An Italian Renaissance Garden, the Boboli Gardens steadily rises up toward the Italian countryside, each step along the way filled with truly magnificent antique and Renaissance statuary, gurgling fountains, handfuls of groves and terraces, towering cypress and other variety of trees.
A display of Italian masterpieces in the Uffizi Gallery; (c) Harold Wainwright/UNSPLASH
What’s more, there are verdant flowers, box hedges, winding pathways, an artificial lake, an 18th-century coffeehouse, an amphitheater, and much more, together forming an extensive open-air museum that is almost indescribable.
The Uffizi Gallery, one of the world’s great museums.