Florence Travel Guide

Florence is considered one of the most magnificent cities in Italy, as well as the world. Located in the heart of Tuscany, the tourist can find fields of sunflowers, miles of vineyards, rolling hills and mountaintop castles. This place is the Renaissance capital of the world, its famous sons are Leonardo Da Vinci, Dante Alighieri, Machiavelli, Fra Angelico and Michelangelo. It is a destination not to be missed.

Florence has an exceptional artistic patrimony, celebrated testimony to its secular civilization. Cimabue and Giotto were considered the fathers of Italian painting, they lived in this place, along with Arnolfo and Andrea Pisano, reformists of architecture and sculpture; Brunelleschi, Donatello and Masaccio, founders of the Renaissance. The Italian Renaissance, Europe's richest cultural period, began in Florence when the artist Brunelleschi finished the Duomo, with the huge dome. Ghiberti and the Della Robbia; Filippo Lippi and l'Angelico; Botticelli and Paolo Uccello; the universal geniuses Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. Their works are exhibited in the city's many museums and known around of the world. Boccaccio wrote his 'Decameron' in Florence. From the 13th to the 16th century it was a seemingly endless source of creative masterpieces and Italian genius. During the Italian Renaissance Florence constructed its renaissance palaces and squares, turning it into a living museum. Many squares, such as Piazza della Signoria exhibit famous statues and fountains.

Probably Florence is a city of incomparable indoor pleasures. Its chapels, galleries and museums are an incomparable treasure, apprehending the complex, often elusive spirit of the Renaissance more fully than any other place in the country. The most famous museum in Florence is the Uffizi which houses works by Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Titian and Rubens. Other great art museums include the Pitti Palace, Galleria dell'Accademia and Palazzo Vecchio. Florence is also home to some of the biggest churches in Italy, including the famous Duomo of Florence, San Lorenzo, Santa Maria Novella and Santa Croce.

The surroundings of Florence have many things to offer to the visitor. You can explore this region for weeks without being bored. For these day trips the city of Florence is the perfect starting point.