From PISA: The Square of Miracles, we headed back to FIRENZE (Florence).
This is the capital and most popular city of Tuscany and considered the birthplace of Renaissance.
The city contains numerous museums and art galleries and is noted for its culture, Renaissance art, architecture and monuments.
It has been ranked by Forbes as one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
It has been ranked by Forbes as one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
CATTEDRALE DI SANTA MARIA DEL FIORE | DUOMO DI FIRENZE
(Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower | Florence Cathedral)
The cathedral complex is located in Piazza del Duomo, includes Baptistery and Giotto's Campanile and is the major tourist attraction in the region of Tuscany.
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| FLORENCE CATHEDRAL |
The basilica is one of Italy's largest churches and its dome was once largest in the world
This remains the largest brick dome ever constructed.
Duomo di Firenze was begun in 1926 in the Gothic Style and completed structurally in 1436.
The basilica is covered with polychrome marble panels in various shades of green and pink bordered by white.
The basilica is covered with polychrome marble panels in various shades of green and pink bordered by white.
The Baptistry of St. John
One of the oldest buildings in the city, constructed between 1059 and 1128 in the Florentine Romanesque style.
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| THE FLORENCE BAPTISTERY - East door - Gate of Paradise |
It is renowned for its three sets of artistically important bronze doors with relief sculptures. South doors were done by Andrea Pisano; North and East doors by Lorenzo Ghiberti. The East door were dubbed by Michaelangelo the Gates of Paradise.
These have ten panels depicting scenes from the Old Testament which Ghiberti toiled for 27 years. The gates are surmounted by a group of statues portraying The Baptism of Christ.
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| Statues of THE BAPTISM OF CHRIST - above the Gates of Paradise |
The Giotto's Campanile
Standing adjacent to the Basilica of Santa Maria del Fiore and the Baptistry of St. John, the tower is one of the showpieces if the Florentine Gothic architecture, named after its designer Giotto.
The structure stands on square plan, with side of 14.45 meters with height of 84,7 meters tall; the tower is divided into into 5 levels. It has 7 bells.
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| GIOTTO'S CAMPANILE |
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| FLORENCE CATHEDRAL |
PIAZZA DELLA SIGNORIA | PALAZZO VECCHIO (OLD PALACE)
The focal point and origin of the history of the Florentine Republic.
The town hall of the city; a massive, Romanesque, crenelated fortress-palace is among the most impressive town halls of Tuscany. It was initiated in 1299.
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| PALAZZO VECCHIO |
Fountain of Neptune
Commissioned on the occasion of the wedding of Francesco I de Medici with Johanna of Austria in 1565 and is the work of the sculptor Bartolomeo Ammannati.
Facade of the Square
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| The Equestrian statue of Cosimo I de Medici |
LOGGIA DEI LANZI | LOGGIA DELLA SIGNORIA
An open air sculpture gallery of antique and Renaissance art, located in the corner of Piazza della Signoria, built between 1376 and 1382.
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| Loggia Della Signoria |
Rape of Polyxena is a fine diagonal sculpture by Pio Fedi from 1865.
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| Rape of Polyxena |
Rape of Sabine Women by Jean de Boulogne aka Giambologna. This impressive work was made from one imperfect block of white marble, the largest block ever transported to Florence.  |
| The Rape of the Sabine Women |
Hercules beating the Centaur Nessus was another marble sculpture by Giambologna, scuplted from one solid block of marble with the help of Pietro Francavilla
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| Hercules and Nessus (1599) |
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| Menalaus supporting the body of Patroclus |
Below are female statues identified as Matidia, Marciana and Agrippina Minor, Sabines and a statue of barbarian prisoner Thusnelda. They were discovered in Rome in 1541.
Few more steps from the Piazza della Signoria is the PONTE VECCHIO (Old Bridge).
It is a Medieval stone closed - spandrel segmental arch bridge over the Arno River at its narrowest point. It is believed to be built in Roman times. It appears in documents from 996, however destroyed by flood in 1117, reconstructed but was swept away again in 1333, It was rebuilt in 1345.
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| PONTE VECCHIO |
It is noted to have shops built along from 17th century which butchers initially occupied; now it has jewelry, art and souvenir shops.
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| PONTE VECCHIO - Jewellry Shops |
PONTE SANTA TRINITA (HOLY TRINITY BRIDGE)
The oldest elliptic arch bridge in the world.
It is constructed by architect Bartolomeo Ammanati from 1567 to 1569.
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| PONTE SANTA TRINITA |
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| PONTE SANTA TRINITA |
PONTE ALLE GRAZIE
This was originally constructed in 1227; rebuilt in 1345 with 9 arches making it the oldest and longest bridge in Florence.
The bridge was destroyed in 1944 and rebuilt in 1953. |
| PONTE ALLE GRAZIE |
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| PONTE ALLE GRAZIE |
We took some turns on our way back to the train station for some more sight seeing.
We pass by the PIAZZA DELLA REPUBLICA
It is a square in the city center, location of cultural cafes and bourgeois palaces.
It was a long and exciting walk in the City of Florence, it's like walking in a "living museum" since it was believed to have the greatest concentration of art (in proportion to its size) in the world.
Should you feel tired walking, here's the ride that is waiting for you out there...
Surprises brings out the best.
Florence was not in our list, we went to Tuscany to visit Pisa.
However, our sister, Ciara insisted that we should visit this more than Pisa...
And she was right, with this entire Europe Travel, Florence is indeed the best city that we visited.
The cathedral was the best that I've seen so far, not to mention the statues along the Piazza and the Ponte Vecchio.
Its less than 2 hours via Italiarail from Milan to Firenze (vice versa).
A day trip is advisable if you do not have enough time to stay in the city for a night.
(c) KALI Photography
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--- Source: WIKIPEDIA ---
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