The city of Florence: an open-air museum

Author: Serena

Florence is the main city of Tuscany and it is placed in a valley surrounded by green hills characterized by the presence of olive groves and vineyards and crossed by the Arno river. Florence surely is the most famous and the most attractive Tuscan city being visited every year by thousands of visitors coming from all over the world.

Panoramic view of Florence

In this city you can admire many Medieval and Renaissance artistic works like monuments, historical palaces, museums, galleries, parks and gardens like the beautiful Giardini di Boboli (Boboli Gardens).

Among all the Florentine museums the most important one is surely represented by the Uffizi Gallery where you can find many precious and unique paintings made by the most famous Italian artists. However also the Accademia Gallery deserves your attention especially because of the presence of the famous David by Michelangelo.

This is the city of Cimabue and Giotto (the Italian painting fathers), of Brunelleschi, Donatello and Masaccio (the Renaissance style initiators) and even of universal genius like Leonardo and Michelangelo. Their works, together with those of other big artists like Botticelli and Paolo Uccello, are collected in the several museums present in Florence.

The urban centre is divided into four historical districts: everyone of them has its own colour and takes its name from the religious monument placed in its territory. These four districts are the following ones:

The district of Santa Maria Novella: It is placed in the north western part of the city and it is characterized by the red colour taking its name from the church of Santa Maria Novella placed very closed to the central railway station.
The district of San Giovanni: It is the heart of Florence and it is characterized by the green colour taking its name from the Baptistery of San Giovanni that belongs to the Cathedral Dome of Santa Maria del Fiore.
The district of Santa Croce: It is placed in the south eastern part of the city and it is characterized by the blue colour taking its name from the Church of Santa Croce. Exactly in Santa Croce Square every year there is the celebration of the Historical Florentine Soccer: this is an original and ancient competition among these four urban districts.

The church of Santa Croce

The district of Santo Spirito: It is placed in the south western part of Florence and it is characterized by the white colour taking its name by the Basilica of Santo Spirito.

The Basilica of Santo Spirito

In 1982 the historical centre of Florence has been added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List because it collects the most important monuments of the city. Here, in fact, you can admire: the Baptistery with its mosaics, the Cathedral Dome with its sculptures, the medieval churches with their frescos like the Romanesque Church of San Lorenzo connected to the beautiful Medici’s Chapels, many historical palaces like Palazzo Vecchio (Old Palace), the Pitti Palace, the Medici-Riccardi Palace, the Strozzi Palace, the Davanzati Palace; the wonderful Piazza della Signoria, monasteries, cloisters and convents.

You can observe the whole historical centre from the surrounding hills especially from Forte Belvedere and from the Fiesole hill that offers one of the most striking landscapes of the Arno valley. From this point you can see all the beauty of Florence with its towers, its bell towers and its bridges like the Ponte Vecchio.

The Forte Belvedere

However, Florence is also well-known because it is the native land of Dante Alighieri (the father of the Italian literature); of Machiavelli (the initiator of the modern political science); and of Galileo (the initiator of the modern observational science).

Florence has always unified art and science and still today it is the seat of an important university that also includes many specialized institutes and a Cultural Centre for Foreigners.

Great books collections are preserved in the Central National Library and in other famous libraries like the Mediceo-Laurenziana, the Riccardiana and the Marucelliana.

The Central National Library

During the year there are in Florence a series of events like the “Maggio Musicale Fiorentino” (“Musical Florentine May”): this is an important festival of opera, concerts and of ballets. In the urban centre there are also the Italian fashion events and other traditional events like the San Giovanni Feast with its Soccer in Costume, the San Lorenzo Feast, the Float Burst, the “Mad” Oxcart and the Magi’s Cavalcade.

Another famous event is the Festival dei popoli (the Folks Festivals) : this is the first European film festival completely dedicated to the social documentary.

Another famous feature of Florence is its artistic craftsmanship with its elegant and beautiful creations like embroidery, straw works, mosaics. A very important element is the production of leather objects and the activity of the gold jewelry industry.

Moreover, this territory offers a traditional gastronomy made up by simple and genuine dishes like the famous Florentine Steak. You can also taste the various Tuscan wines whose quality is well-known all around the world.

How to arrive in Florence

It is very easy to arrive in Florence because it is placed at the centre of the most important national roads.

By Car:

Arriving from Milan you should go through the A1 Highway (Bologna-Florence) following the indications for the urban centre.
Arriving from Genova or from France you should go through the A12 Highway until Viareggio then you should go on through the A11 Highway until the Firenze Nord exit. Then you should go on towards the centre of Florence.
Arriving from Rome you should go through the A1 Highway (Rome-Milan) until the Firenze Sud exit. Then you should go on towards the centre of Florence.

The A11 Highway also connects Florence to Prato, Pistoia, Montecatini and Lucca.

There also is a freeway to easily reach Siena.

By Train:

Which one of Santa Maria Novella is the most important railway station in Florence. It is placed at the middle of the historical centre of the city. The Eurostar trains coming from Milan, Turin, Venice and Rome arrive here in this station just like the trains for Viareggio and Versilia. By arriving here you can directly visit the historical centre without needing to catch a bus or a taxy.
Which one of Firenze Rifredi is a small railway station placed in the Rifredi zone. It is closed to the Hospital of Careggi and to the University of Florence. It is few km far from the historical centre.
The Firenze Campo di Marte railway station is some km far from the historical centre of the city but it is closed to the Artemio Franchi Stadium.

By Plain:

The Florentine airport called “Amerigo Vespucci” is just 5 km far from the urban centre (Peretola Zone). There are not international planes that directly arrive to Florence but this airport covers many European routes very often trough low cost solutions. You can reach Florence by taxis, shuttles and buses. You should pay more or less 15 – 20 € to move from the airport to the historical centre in taxi. The Shuttle bus connects this airport to the Santa Maria Novella railway station with a tariff of 3,00 – 4,00 € par person. Here there are also several car rentals and this airport can be easily reachable from many closing cities like Prato (8 km), Pistoia (24 km), Montecatini (36 km), Lucca (65 km), Siena (68 km), Arezzo (77 km), Pisa (86 km), Carrara and Massa (117 km), Grosseto (143 km), and also from the main Tuscan ports like Livorno (115 km) and Piombino (170 km).
You can also arrive to the airport of Pisa even if it is 70km far from Florence. There is a bus that connects the Pisa airport to Florence and its ticket costs more or less 7 €. To move from this airport to Florence in taxi you should pay more or less 100€, but you can even use the train that connects this airport to the Santa Maria Novella railway station in Florence.