Monuments
and Landmarks
It is impossible
to mention all the countless important monuments and works of artistic
attraction, however, limiting the list to the really outstanding,
- Piazza del Duomo and Piazza della Signoria draw the attention of
all tourists. Piazza del Duomo is the site of the principal palaces
of religious interest:
- the Baptistry,
- a Romanesque building (11th-12th century) perhaps over an older
structure, with beautiful bronze doors (14th-15th century by A.
Pisano and L. Ghiberti) and mosaics;
- the Giotto campanile (14th century, 84.7 m high) and the Duomo,
in Gothic style (14th-15th century), surmounted by the famous Brunelleschi
cupola (15th century), housing works, among others, by Paolo Uccello,
Luca della Robbia, Andrea del Castagno, Michelangelo (the Pietà
sculpture).
- In Piazza della Signoria stand:
- the Loggia della Signoria (14th century), decorated with 16th
century statues, and
- Palazzo Vecchio (early 14th century), dominated by the Torre
d'Arnolfo (94 m.), with an interesting Renaissance interior.
Other monuments
include:
- Palazzo Medici-Riccardi (15th century),
- Palazzo Pitti (15th century, to a design by Brunelleschi),
- Palazzo Strozzi (15th - early 16th centuries),
- Palazzo Rucellai (15th century), Palazzo Davanzati (14th century).
Churches include:
- S. Lorenzo (15th century) with the Sagrestia Vecchia (by Brunelleschi,
decorated by Donatello) and
- the Sagrestia Nuova, housing the Medici family tombs sculpted by
Michelangelo,
- S. Spirito (15th century),
- S. Maria Novella (Gothic, with façade by L. B. Alberti),
- Orsanmichele (15th century),
- Santa Croce (13th century, Gothic), containing the tombs of Michelangelo,
Galilei, Alfieri, Machiavelli, Foscolo and other great men, with the
adjacent Cappella dei Pazzi, a Brunelleschi creation (15th century);
- S. Miniato al Monte (Romanesque, with rich interior).
Further attractions
are the stupendous Italian gardens at Boboli, created in the 16th and
17th centuries, and the inspiring Ponte Vecchio (14th century). |