Florence is one of the most breathtaking cities on earth. Located inside the heart of Tuscany, a stupendous province of hills and mountains, the Renaissance capital worldwide, with famous sons like Leonardo, Dante, Machiavelli and Michelangelo, can be a sight not to be missed.
The world renowned Duomo with all the Brunelleschi cupola and also the marble clad baptistry are simply just stupendous, but not every one of the monuments are just like this. The streets in the historic town centre are often narrow and dark, the palaces robust and intimidating. But check out the squares - wonderful mediterranean places in places you will enjoy spending too much time sitting yourself down, having a caffe and merely watching people passing by.
However, Florence can be a capital of scotland- incomparable pleasure concerning churches, monasteries, museums, galleries and palaces. Among the things you can not afford to miss are the Uffizi Galleries, one in the best art museums on the globe, the cathedral with all the baptistry, the Santo Spirito church along with the Ponte Vecchio. To get a great overview of the city, head for Piazza Michelangelo in Oltrarno (other part of river Arno) or farther up to the church of San Miniato.
The surroundings of Florence have some of circumstances to offer on the visitor in addition to does the whole Florence Province. You can explore this region for weeks without getting bored. For these day trips the town of Florence is the ideal starting place.
reater Florence now spreads several kilometres on the Arno Valley and onto the hills north and south in the city, however the major sights are within a region which can be crossed on foot inside of a half-hour.
A short walk southeast through the place brings you to definitely Piazza del Duomo, site from the Duomo itself and the neighbouring Baptistry. The compact district came from here south on the river is the inner core, the area into which most with the tourists are packed, and which boasts the best-preserved medieval aspects of Florence along with the majority of the fashionable streets. Just south of the duomo is Florence's outstanding sculpture gallery, the Bargello. The large Piazza della Signoria, some 300m south of the duomo, is overlooked through the Palazzo Vecchio along with the famous picture gallery of the Uffizi.
West in the duomo, and backing onto the train station, could be the unmissable church of Santa Maria Novella . Immediately north of the duomo may be the grand church of San Lorenzo , the hub of a throng of market stalls across the covered Mercato Centrale . Clustered together just northeast of San Lorenzo would be the monastery of San Marco , with its paintings by Fra' Angelico; the Accademia , home of Michelangelo's David ; and Piazza Santissima Annunziata , Florence's most attractive square. The main attraction inside the eastern quarters of the city centre is the vast Franciscan church of Santa Croce .
South in the river - preferably using the medieval Ponte Vecchio , that is still picturesquely lined with shops perched in the water - lies the Oltrarno district, the location where the variety of museums from the Palazzo Pitti exerts the strongest pull, as well as the church of Santo Spirito stands in the focus of a lively student quarter. Overlooking town from your south could be the lavish hilltop church of San Miniato al Monte .
