Glimpses of Florence

Title:
Glimpses of Florence

Description:
Florence (or Firenze)is famous among tourists and scholars for her glorious artwork, cultural heritage, and the major role she played in the Renaissance and Humanist movements. All these facets combine to make this one of the most glorious cities in the world. Cradle of the Renaissance, this beautiful city is also called the Athens of the Middle Ages. The "Historic Centre of Florence" was declared a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO in 1982. Florence, the main town of Tuscany, is just at the center of Italy (300 kms south from Milan and 280 north from Rome). As a Renaissance city famous for its art and architecture, I rediscovered history and culture in every corner, tucked among the city's many piazzas, beautiful churches, and fascinating galleries and museums. As a matter of fact, there are few places in the world that have such a huge concentration of monuments and masterpieces in such a small space. The city is dominated by the splendid piazza del Duomo, and, at its core, the Duomo, the city's cathedral, with its exterior inlaid with intricately patterned pink, white and green marble. The symbol of Florence soars above the surrounding buildings; in fact, it's so huge that there's no point nearby from where you can see the entire building, but one gets glimpses of it wandering through the neighboring streets. The word duomo comes from a latin word "domus" (house) and "Domus" is the House of God. The Duomo, or Cattedrale de Santa Maria del Fiore, is one of Europe's most recognizable landmarks. Looming over the city, the building features a massive dome designed by Filippo Brunelleschi. The Florentine Gothic duomo was begun in 1296 and consecrated in 1436. The baptistry doors dedicated to St. John the Baptist (which date back to 1059), known as the Gates of Paradise, were created by Ghiberti, and Dante, the father of Italian Renaissance poetry, was baptized here. Giotto continued the construction work begun in 1296 by Arnolfo di Cambio, who was also the famous architect of the church of Santa Croce and the Palazzo Vecchio, and Giotto's major accomplishment was the building of the campanile (built in 1334). The frescos at the Dome represent the Last Judgement done by Giorgio Vasari and Federico Zuccari, renowned Renaissance artists. Built around the end of the thirteenth century as a symmetrical contrast to the city's religious center, Piazza della Signoria has always been the civic center of Florentine life right from the medieval times. Of all its many squares, this is Florence's showpiece piazza, with the 13th-century crenellated Palazzo Vecchio, and surrounded by other important buildings, such as the Loggia della Signoria and the Palazzo degli Uffizi on the south side, the sixteenth century Palazzo degli Uguccioni on the north side, and the Palazzo del Tribunale di Mercanzia (about 1359) on the east side. At the heart of the piazza is Bartolomeo Ammanati's Fountain of Neptune, which is a masterpiece of marble sculpture at the terminus of a still functioning Roman aqueduct. Heading towards the river from the piazza Signoria, the piazzale degli Uffizi is home to the greatest museum of Renaissance art in the world, the Uffizi Gallery. Occupying the former offices of the Medici administration, many of Italy's most celebrated paintings can be seen here -- the Uffizi has a room filled with nothing but Botticellis, including the famous Birth of Venus and the glowing Allegory of Spring, along with stunning works by Michelangelo, Da Vinci and Titian. The huge area that surrounds Santa Croce is one of Florence's richest neighborhoods. The mock-Gothic church of Santa Croce dates back to the 13th century, and is filled with the tombs of the city's illustrious dead. Dante's tomb is just a memorial, as he was buried in Ravenna, but Michelangelo does actually lie in his elaborate tomb, as does Galileo in his.

Author:
emeritamanansala

Tags:
Florence, Italy, Duomo, SantaMaria, del, Fiore, Piazza, della, Signoria, Uffizi, Croce,