The Florence Cathedral (Duomo) is the 4th largest church in the whole of Europe and has, in the past

Florence Italy tourist disney cruise line prices information for a superb sightseeing disney cruise line prices experience, also known as Firenze, for its classical art, cuisine, great shopping and Renaissance architecture. This is a city that you will never tire of, no matter how long you stay, because disney cruise line prices there is so much to see and do.
Florence Italy is known for its classical art, cuisine, great shopping and superb architecture. Florence will often be a traveler's first port of call when visiting Italy if they love art and sculpture. It was here in the 1400s under the patronage of the Medici family that the classical age was nurtured.
As a result, Florence is full of examples from the sculptures disney cruise line prices of Michelangelo and his David, the architecture of Brunelleschi including the dome of the Cathedral to the paintings of Botticelli and his Venus. Once can visit this Tuscan city again and again and never tire of it, as there is always something new to see or learn about.
Because there is so much to see in Florence, unless you are going to be spending months on end in the city, it would be better to decide before you go as to what is important to you, to see. Then get yourself a hotel that is central to what you want to see. Then divide the city up into sections and visit the sites within each section noting good restaurants in Florence for you to eat at.
Of course there are several good museums to visit, the Uffizi Gallery being one of them. However, it is best to book online for these much visited museums if you want to avoid standing for long hours in the queues. This is especially so in summer when temperatures can be really hot in Florence.
Also, I suggest that you check the opening times before going anywhere . There is nothing worse leaving a day to visit a museum or attraction only to find that dreaded disney cruise line prices sign. "Chiuso" - closed. Sundays and Mondays are the days where you can find museums or attractions closed although slowly Florence is slowly being dragged into the 21st century in this regard.
People are often confused when doing research on Italian places as often you have capital towns taking the same names as the provinces. Florence is no different. Besides the city of Florence, there is also the Province of Florence which is made up of a number of areas, as can be seen below with all the municipalities making up this area.
Florence the Province is part of the region of Tuscany. As you can see from the map below Florence has several neighbours; Prato, Pistoia, disney cruise line prices Lucca, Pisa, Siena and Arezzo. As a result, Florence is easily reached from just about anywhere in Tuscany. Which is good to know if you want to visit Florence the city for a day trip.
* The Piazza del Duomo is the best place to start your sightseeing in Florence as most of the major sights are within easy walking distance from here. You can walk from one end of the city to the other in about 30 minutes.
It's here, at the Duomo ( The Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore ) where you can either climb to the top for the wonderful views or climb to the top of the bell tower (Giotto's Campanile) next door. Both will give you a wonderful sense of how the city is laid out. Do go inside the Duomo, it is a fantastic church filled with art works of great importance.
The Florence Cathedral (Duomo) is the 4th largest church in the whole of Europe and has, in the past seen congregations 10,000 strong when the out of control monk Savonarola was preaching against the papacy.
The Florence Baptistery of San Giovanni has wonderful Byzantine mosaics disney cruise line prices as well as Gheberti's Gates of Paradise which are gates that were so named by Michelangelo after viewing them, and the name stuck.
It was only after 5 panels were knocked off the door and another left hanging in the great Florentine flood of 1966 that after some restoration work had taken place that it was realized just how wonderful the work was under the grime and dirt. It was only in 2000 that serious restoration on the panels took place.
Despite this, the Baptistery is still worth a visit. Just make sure that you visit when the Baptistery is open. The Baptistery disney cruise line prices only opens at noon so leave this building to visit last out of the three. Admission is free.
* Giotto's frescoes of St. Francis and Ghirlandaio's fresco cycle in Santa Croce. It is in Santa Croce that you can also see the tombs of Michelangelo and Galileo. Off the cloisters is a chapel designed by Brunelleschi and decorated disney cruise line prices by Luca della Robbia.
The magnificence of this church is such that the French writer Stendhal felt so dizzy and overcome that he couldn't walk afterwards for a short period. This condition is known as Stendhalismo disney cruise line prices or Stendhal's Disease named by Florentine doctors who are said to treat about 12 cases of this phenomenon each year. So, have a look for
Santa Croce has had a long history of being an area for artisans. For 200 years, from the 14th - 16th centuries, Santa Croce housed huge dye vats for their famous dyeing trade. Before the floods of 1966 the area still used to be filled disney cruise line prices with many artisans. However, after the flood most artisans moved away and leather workshops were established to sell their wares to tourists.
The piazza of Santa Croce has certainly disney cruise line prices witnessed some violent history in the passed. During the time of the monk Savonarola heretics were burned at the stakes, and book burnings continued until 1580.
However, despite seeing violence there were also more pleasant disney cruise line prices occurrences. During the time of Lorenzo the Magnificent the piazza was where elaborate pageants were held. During the 16th and 17th centuries disney cruise line prices football matches were held here too. A disc, dated February 10, 1565 on the ground floor of the frescoed Palazzo dell' Antella
* Masaccio's Adam and Eve in Santa Maria del Carmine . Don't miss the Brancacci Chapel disney cruise line prices with its wonderful frescoes by Masaccio that were started in 1425 and have been studied by Fra Angelico, Raphael and Michelangelo.
* Benozzo Gozzoli's Journey of the Magi in the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi on Via Cavour. Another palace that belonged to the Medici family with 360 degree frescoes where various members of the Medici family are on horseback traveling through disney cruise line prices Tuscan countryside.
It was at the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi that 21 year old Lorenzo the Magnificent accepted the control of government and was visited by Emperor Charles VIII and Charles disney cruise line prices V of France. Uccello's Battle of San Romano once hung in the bedroom of Lorenzo.
* Piazza disney cruise line prices della Signoria where on the steps in front of the Palazzo Vecchio stand the statues of Hercules and Cacus by Baccio Bandinelli, disney cruise line prices and Michelangelo's David, replaced by a copy in 1873 when the original was moved to the Galleria dell'Accademia.
During this time Savonarola 's preaching against the papacy was reaching disney cruise line prices its peak and he was getting his bands of boys to loot wealthy houses and dragging out things of value to place on bonfires in the square known as the Bonfires
When Savonarola called for the Bonfires of Vanities priceless disney cruise line prices artworks were destroyed as well as precious books and manuscripts, disney cruise line prices jewelry, ancient relics and statues, cosmetics, fine clothing, mirrors, musical instruments and many priceless works of early Renaissance art.
If you look closely you will see a bronze plaque on the floor marking the spot where Savonarola was burned in the piazza . Every year on 23rd May people remember his death by placing flowers on the site.
The outside of this church is very plain, this is because the church is unfinished, despite being the oldest church in Florence, consecrated in 393 A.D. The building as it exists today was enlarged by the Medici family over the 1400s and 1500s.
Here you will be able to see wonderful paintings and works by Raphael, Leonardo di Vinci, Michelangelo, Titian, Botticelli, Giotto, Caravaggio and Rembrandt to name just a few wonderful masters of their craft. With about 1,700 paintings on display expect to spend at least 3-4 hours here to do it justice.
There are of course other, more famous museums in Florence, but try to make it to the Bargello which heaves with remarkable sculptures. Added interest is that the Bargello used to be Florence's prison and medieval town hall as well as the residence of the Chief Magistrate. It's here that you can see the city's best Donatello disney cruise line prices collection of artworks. The courtyard is very pretty with the loggia and staircase dating back to the 1300s. You can find the Bargello disney cruise line prices on Via del Proconsolo.
But it is not all about paintings and sculpture. It's important to wander slowly around Florence at dusk, perhaps take a stroll in the afternoon heat around the Boboli Gardens on the southern side of the Arno. The gardens are attached to the Palazzo Pitti , once home to the Medici disney cruise line prices family.
Palazzo Pitti has the finest private city garden known as the Boboli Gardens and it's the largest private building in Florence with a wonderful art collection. Inside this once Royal residence are 7 museums with the world's best collection of art by Titian disney cruise line prices and Raphael.
For a wonderful view of Florence if you don't get to Fiesole, make the walk up the hill to the south of the river crossing either at the Ponte Vecchio or Ponte alle Grazia which is the bridge closest to the viewpoint, passing disney cruise line prices Galileo's house to the interesting disney cruise line prices church of San Miniato al Monte, and then descend via Piazzale Michelangelo for a stupendous view of the city.
Get your camera disney cruise line prices out here for a great shot of the city that also includes the lovely dome of the Cathedral. Just above the Piazzale is the Coffee House (Palazzina del Cafe) built in 1873. Stop awhile and take in the ambiance before going back down to the city.
In the middle of the piazzale is dominated by one of the city's two replicas of Michelangelo's David. If you stand at the center of the balustrade facing the Arno and above the tower of San Niccolo you will see, looking left to right across the city of Florence:
The bell-tower of the Signoria , the top of the tower of Santa Maria Novella , the Badia tower and immediately to its right the cupola of the San Lorenzo Cappella dei P