Florence

Founded by the Romans in 59a.C., Florence is worldwide the ideal city of art. Due to its beauty and the numerous monuments located in the old town, it is definitely one of the city that deserves a visit at least once in their lifetime.

Florence began its great economic, artistically and cultural growth in the Middle Ages. Despite the infighting between factions known opponents of the city, the Guelphs and the Ghibellines, who for years have opposed the welfare of the city, the fame and the importance of Florence were never diminished. Between the 400th and the 500th reaches the heyday, becoming the political power, artistic and cultural dominance over the whole of Europe.

With rich and powerful family De'Medici, and in particular the figure of Lorenzo Il Magnifico, Florence became the driving force of the new trends from all points of view: artistic, philosophical, cultural and political. Hence, the phase of Humanism and the Renaissance, which indicated precisely the revival of civilization after the barbarism of the Middle Ages.

It is in this period that art knows its greatest masters: Donatello, Michelangelo, Raffaello, Masaccio and Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci and then, Filippo Brunelleschi and Leon Battista Alberti, who through their ideas have revolutionized forever the face of 'architecture, art and science.

With its invaluable artistic and cultural heritage, the historic center of Florence was introduced in 1982 among the UNESCO World Heritage listed. All the monuments that characterize this city have a major importance, because commissioned by the most powerful families and by the greatest artists of all time: the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore and Giotto's Bell Tower, the Baptistery of San Giovanni with the dome Brunelleschi, Basilica of San Lorenzo, Santa Maria Novella and Santa Croce.

Besides these monuments one must also mention the many buildings in the city: Palazzo Medici-Ricciardi, Palazzo Strozzi and Palazzo Davanzati to name a few.

The place, however, most fascinating and full of history is Piazza dellaSignoria, which has always been the heart of the social and political life of the city. You look around you will see the Palazzo Vecchio, the Loggia deiLanzi, the Court of Merchandise and Palazzo Uguccioni. In addition to these buildings, you can admire the many statues that are in place: the famous Michelangelo's David, Hercules and Cacus by Bandinelli, the Equestrian Monument of Cosimo I by Giambologna, the Fountain of Neptune by and numerous other statues found in the Loggia deiLanzi.

There should also be a walk in the Vasari Corridor, a raised path that connects Palazzo Vecchio to Palazzo Pitti, crossing the Uffizi Gallery and the Ponte Vecchio. Among other things, it said that it was about the beautiful view enjoyed from the large windows of the hall in the center of the Old Bridge, to convince Hitler from saving the bridge by bombing Nazis.