Introduction to Florence
Like most of the main cities in Italy, Florence or Firenze is a great tourist attraction concentrating such a large amount of Art and history in a small central area. It retains the look and feel of a small town despite being the intellectual centre. It is considered to be the most beautiful city in Italy although it has a lot of competition in this fabulous country. As with many other Italian cities it has been immortalized on film most notably, E.M. Forster's Room with a View. Florence is synonymous with the Renaissance, being home of Uffizi Gallery, that is filled to the brim with works by Botticelli and Michelangelo, da Vinci and Uccello. The historic centre spreads across the Arno bridged by the medieval Ponte Vecchio uniting the squares of Piazza della Signoria and the Piazza Pitti, the multicoloured Duomo and the Medici Chapels. The city owes alot to the patronage of the Medici family, who supported the city's artists and philosophers of the time who were able to initiate the passage from medieval to renaissance. The legacy of the Medici can be found in the churches, galleries and museums that dot the city. While sculpture is concentrated in the museum of the Bargello and paintings are collected in the Uffizi, many great works can also be found in the fabulously decorated chapels of Santa Croce and Santa Maria Novella. The full genius of Michelangelo, the dominant creative figure of sixteenth century Italy for both painting and sculpture is on display everywhere, particular attention should be given to San Lorenzo's Biblioteca Laurenziana (library) and the marble statuary of the Cappelle Medicee without mentioning the greatest of all his work, Michelangelo's David. The superlative can be used, not only for its place and importance in art but also for its dimensions that are truly stunning. Every area of Florence can boast a church or collection worth a visit and the enormous Palazzo Pitti on the other side of the river is a museum district unto itself. In fact, in many ways, Florence is one big Museum.
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