Florence and its countryside

Florence and its countryside

Florence, a city rich in art, history and tradition, preserves an exceptional artistic heritage as evidence of its centuries-old civilization. In Florence lived Cimabue and Giotto, fathers of Italian painting; Arnolfo di Cambio and Andrea Pisano, renewers of architecture and sculpture; Filippo Brunelleschi, Donatello and Masaccio, initiators of the Renaissance; Ghiberti and the Della Robbia; Filippo Lippi and Beato Angelico; Sandro Botticelli and Paolo Uccello; and the universal geniuses of Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo Buonarroti.
Their works-with those of many other generations of artists, up to the masters of our own century-are collected in the city's many museums the Uffizi, the world's most select picture gallery; the Palatina Gallery, with paintings from the "golden ages"; the Bargello Museum, with Renaissance sculptures; the Museo di San Marco, with works by Angelico; the Galleria dell'Accademia, the Medici Chapels, and the Casa Buonarroti, with sculptures by Michelangelo; the Bardini, Horne, Stibbert, Romano, and Corsini Museums; the Galleria d'Arte Moderna; the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo; the Museo degli Argenti; and the unique Opificio delle Pietre Dure.

Distinguished monuments mark the stages of the Florentine artistic civilization: the Baptistery, the beautiful San Giovanni, with its mosaics; the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore with its precious sculptures; the medieval churches with their cycles of frescoes; the public and private palaces such as Palazzo Vecchio, Palazzo Pitti, Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, Palazzo Davanzati; the many monasteries with their beautiful cloisters and frescoed cenacles as can be seen at the Certosa del Galluzzo.
The civilization of the Etruscans has, in the Archaeological Museum, a very rich documentation.

A World Heritage Site recognized by UNESCO in 1982, the historic center of Florence, is enclosed by the circle of avenues, open on the route of the ancient medieval walls, to collect the most important cultural assets of the city. From the hills of Belvedere or Bellosguardo, the historic center of Florence appears to us almost treasure in its casket where the facades of the city's most important monuments, palaces and churches stand out. In a special way, from Forte di Belvedere or Piazzale Michelangelo with the shining Romanesque Basilica of San Miniato al Monte, we can enjoy one of the most striking views of the Arno valley against the backdrop of the hill of Fiesole.