Florence - The Renaissance City
from WorldWeb.com Travel Guide

Florence is the result of a symbiotic relationship between business and the arts, complimented by a cast of the most talented characters in history.

Mix a population known for being hearty and resilient, brilliant and endlessly romantic, with the lush hills of Tuscany, among the most stunning scenery in all of Italy. The result is a city responsible for an artistic and cultural revolution that is recognized today as the Renaissance. The rest of Europe followed its example, dragging itself out of the Dark Ages to birth a period of modern history that produced some of the most beautiful art and meaningful thought of all time.

	Florence's russet rooftops

And yet, even with its penchant for pomp and presentation, and high-brow list of native sons like Michelangelo, Dante and Machiavelli, Florence is immediately ambient and welcoming. Florentines love their city, and each has their own personal reason why. It could be the truly charming Ponte Vecchio, a bridge lined with permanent buildings that has a history as interesting as its architecture. Or it could be Florence's stunning Duomo, which rests on its haunches protectively over the city, its massive dome dominating the skyline. Or, a case could be made for simple composition, as Tuscany's surrounding hills offer views of Florence's red, russet rooftops, and the occasional fog only highlights its curves and shadows.

ORIENTATION

Florence (Firenze) is located in the province of Florence and is the capital city of the northwestern region of Tuscany. Bordering on Latium (Lazio) to the south, Umbria to the east, Emilia-Romagna and Liguria to the north, and the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west, Tuscany is one of the most visited places in Italy.

Florence has an urban population of around 400,000, with another 200,000 living on the city's outskirts. The impulsive Arno River streches through the region, bisecting Florence, finally reaching the Tyrrhenian at nearby Pisa. The Arno has regularly, throughout history, flooded and caused heavy damage to the area. The last major occasion was in 1966, when Florence was hit with almost 20 cm (7.9 in) of precipitation. New dams built north of the city have helped alleviate the problem in the past few years.

HISTORY

	The stubborn Ponte Vecchio

The Roman Empire and Medieval Florence: 59-1000 AD
The area around Florence had been occupied by the ancient and mysterious Etruscans for 700 years, who disappeared (not without leaving behind a handful of relics to further tempt the imagination surrounding their complex culture) just before Roman soldiers arrived in 59 BC to establish a military camp. The Romans named their settlement Florentia, or the florid, which they located at the site of an Etruscan marketplace along the Arno. People from nearby Fiesole would come to trade, and a small economy was created.

The first 400 years under the Roman Empire were lucrative for the fledgling Florence. The city had a forum (a meeting place for people of political power, and now the Piazza della Repubblica), aqueducts, thermal baths integral to Italian custom and habit, plus an amphitheatre (Via Tòrta). At the beginning of the fourth century AD, Florence became the seat of a bishropic, meaning the Catholic church would appoint a clergyman of a bishop's rank to oversee the city and its population, ensuring Florence's position as a city of some respect. A full-time bishop meant a voice at the Vatican and, usually, dividends in the form of infrastructure, education and ornate houses of worship.

But the medieval city remained a mostly unstable place to live. For the next 500 years it would come under the power of the Byzantines (a Christian state of the Greek nation whose capital was Constantinople, sometimes referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire), the Ostrogoths (a Germanic tribe who took control sometime in the fifth century), the Lombards (another Germanic tribe who occupied northern Italy from the sixth to eighth centuries AD), and the Franks, yet another Germanic tribe that held most of France and some of Italy at the end of the ninth century.

Notable People Born in Florence Dante Alighieri Lorenzo de Medici Cosimo de Medici Michelangelo Girolamo Savonarola Niccolò Machiavelli Francesco Guicciardini Baccio D'Agnolo Marco Masini Franco Zeffirelli Florence Nightingale Oriana Fallaci Countess de Castiglione

Restoration Florence: 1000-1400 AD
Before the Renaissance would begin, Florence, like many other Italian cities, watched its citizens divide into two factions, the Guelphs and the Ghibellines. The Guelphs supported the papacy, and eventually successfully ousted the Empire-faithful Ghibellines near the end of the 13th century. Choosing the losing end of a power struggle resulted in the exile of writer and Ghilbelline Dante Aligheri. Broadly defined, Guelphs typically came from wealthy mercantile families, while the Ghibellines' prosperity came from landed estates, achieved through business wiles, might and coercion. The terms church party and imperial party, respectively, are preferred in some parts of the country today.

By 1250, Florence's local merchant groups had begun organizing themselves, seeing that their own business's health was somewhat dependent upon each other's. They titled their various guilds, giving each a degree of authority denoted by their size and wealth, and called themselves primo poplo, or first people. Although it was short-lived, this initial attempt at a democracy was a breakthrough in the autocratic history of Europe, and Florence was becoming an economic powerhouse. The city's wealthy were papal bankers who instigated a system of credit that was used to lend internationally, and Florence's currency, the gold florin, became the standard by which other currencies were measured. The city began to slowly restore itself, heaving a collective sigh of relief at being underneath its own jurisdiction once more.

Ensuing events like an attempted strike by the powerful wool merchants in 1345 (whose guild accounted for almost half of the city's total population), the Black Death's arrival in 1348, and another revolt by the wool merchants in 1378, weakened the strength of the populist guilds and the city's government was usurped by the wealthy Albizzi clan. Their reign would be short-lived, however, as Florence was about to be introduced to the family who can claim more influence on Florence than any other.

Salvestro de' Medici (1331–1388) - led the assault against the revolt of the ciompi, became dictator of Florence, and banished in 1382 Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici (1360–1429 -restored the family fortune and made the Medici family the wealthiest in Europe Cosimo the Elder (1389–1464) - founder of the Medici political dynasty Lorenzo the Magnificent (1449–1492), leader of Florence during the Golden Age of the Renaissance Giovanni de' Medici (1475–1523) - also known as Pope Leo X Giulio de' Medici (1478–1534), also known as Pope Clement VII Cosimo I the Great (1519–1574) - First Grand Duke of Tuscany and restored the Medici lustre Catherine de' Medici (1519–1589) - Queen of France Alessandro Ottaviano de' Medici (1535–1605), also known as Pope Leo XI Marie de' Medici (1573–1642) - Queen and Regent of France Found at www.wikipedia.com

Renaissance and Baroque Florence: 1400-1750 AD
An extremely powerful family name is synonymous with hundreds of years of Florentine history, art and architecture. Cosimo de' Medici took the reigns of Florence over quietly, without a coup, but supported by a widespread patronage as well as the city's immigrant population. The Medici's are responsible for some of the most recognizable features of Florence, including the Uffizi Galleries, the Pitti Palace and the Boboli Gardens. Before Cosimo took over the reins of Florence, his father, Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici, had previously commissioned Brunelleschi to reconstruct the Church of San Lorenzo in 1419. Impressed with the architect's work, Cosimo then commissioned Brunelleschi to finish the uncompleted dome of Santa Maria del Fiore, which, 17 years later, would be Brunelleschi's masterpiece, and the largest in the world at that time.

The Medici family became noted leaders during this time, and reached their height of power and popularity under the hand of Lorenzo de' Medici (1449-1492). A talented politician as well as an arts lover, and called Il Magnifico, or the Magnificent, he surrounded himself with the most prominent writers, thinkers, poets and philosophers.

Lorenzo's son, (Piero) was less successful in office, and was forced to leave Florence in 1494. For the next ten years, Florence existed through an unusual period where it was ruled by the anti-Renaissance Dominican friar Girolamo Savonarola, who preached against lapses in morality and ordered the burning of pagan books, art, makeup and wigs, something he called the Bonfire of the Vanities, a term still used today. Several important pieces were lost, including some from Boticelli, who threw his own work into the fire. Savonarola's voice was so dissident, and the citizens and the pope so annoyed, that the friar was charged with uttering prophecies, sedition and religious error, and was hung in 1498.

The Medici's re-assumed their theoretical throne in 1530 after a few more years of political turmoil, and the next generation of the family was given the title of Grand Duke(s) of Tuscany. They patronized Vasari, who erected the Uffizi Galleries in 1560, and founded the Academy of Design in 1562. And Marie de Medici, widow of Henri IV and mother of Louis XIII, is used by Peter Paul Rubens in 1622-23 as the subject in his oil painting Marie de' Medici. The family line became extinct in 1737.

Modern Florence: 1700 AD to Present
The accession in 1737 of Francis Stephen, Duke of Lorraine and husband of Maria Theresa of Austria, led to Tuscany's inclusion in the territories of the Austrian crown. They would remain, along with Lombardy, as an annex of Austria until the insurgents were defeated by the French and the kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont in 1859.

An independent Florence served as the capital of the country from 1865 to 1871, when Rome re-joined the kingdom and regained its former title. During that time, Florence hosted Italy's very first parliament and began to be re-discovered by travellers. Its trade and finance services grew as a result, out of necessity as well as guile, as the city's population would double from 1800 to 1900, and triple again in the 20th century.

During the Second World War Florence was occupied by the Germans from 1943 to 1944. Monuments erected in the names of fallen Allieds can be found around the city.

ATTRACTIONS

	Florence's Piazza del Duomo

Built between the years of 1294 and 1418, the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, or Florence's Duomo, pulses gently in the heart of the city. Originally designed by Arnolfo di Cambio, the structure was subsequently worked on by a succession of different architects including Francesco Talenti, Alberto Arnoldi, Giovanni d'Ambrogio, Giovanni di Lapo Ghini, Neri di Fioravante and Orcagna. By 1418, everything was finished but but one final detail. Filippo Brunelleschi, commissioned by Cosimo the Elder 1419, completed the cathedral in 1436 by designing a truly original, massive dome with an octagonal shape and no wooden supporting frame. The dome was the biggest in the world at the time, and became the model for the slightly larger St. Peter's in Rome.

At first, the reserved Florentines found the Duomo to be too large, and, indeed, it is difficult to get a good enough distance away from its dazzling pink, green, and white marble facade (white from Carrara, green from Prato and pink from Siena), to take a picture of the entire building. A famed 19th century author named Stendhal (pseudonym of Marie-Henri Beyle), described a rapid heartbeat, dizziness, confusion and even hallucinations upon seeing the Duomo for the first time, and cited, "an overdose of beautiful art, paintings and artistic masterpieces," as the cause. The Stendhal Syndrome was then substantiated by Italian psychiatrist Graziella Magherini, who observed and described more than 100 similar cases among tourists and visitors in Florence.

One of Florence's, (and, indeed, Italy's), most recognized and remarkable attractions is not the work of a famous artist or a noted architect. Although it tends to be crowded, the persevering Ponte Vecchio unfailingly charms from first sight on. Its name means Old Bridge, and it is the oldest in Florence, as well as the oldest segmental arch bridge in Italy. Originally constructed out of wood during Roman times, the bridge was completely washed out in 1333 and rebuilt out of stone in 1345. The bridge has always held shops and merchants, supposedly due to a now-fabled, rare tax exemption.

The first Grand Duke of Tuscany, Cosimo I de' Medici, a direct relation to the original Cosimo, built a passageway, the Vasari Corridor, above the bridge in 1565 as an alternative to walking with the general public while travelling to his work at the town hall from his palace. Later, in 1593, he prohibited the 150-year monopoly of butchers from selling their wares on the bridge, as unsightly animal parts were continuously floating down the river. The gold merchants immediately moved in, and have remained there since.

The Ponte Vecchio's recent history features Hitler and the Second World War. A couple of versions exist, but in both the bridge emerges from near-destruction in remarkably good condition. One report says that, while on retreat from the city after having been defeated by the Allieds, German soldiers were told to destroy all the bridges. In direct conflict with orders from the Führer, and because they had grown fond of the old landmark, they saved they bridge but made it impassable by bombing the buildings on either side. Another version has Hitler's orders being the reverse, for the soldiers to take all the bridges, but to spare the Ponte Vecchio.

Among the most important museums in the world are the Uffizi Galleries, or Gallerie degli Uffizi, where works by Botticelli, da Vinci, Michelangelo, Titian and Caravaggio decorate the walls and hallways. Research and a map are needed to navigate the rooms without accidentally missing some of the more obscure, but equally intriguing pieces.

	A view of the baptistry doors

Built on the site of a Roman palace, somewhere between 300 and 600 AD, one of Florence's oldest and most venerated buildings is the Baptistry of St. John or Battistero di San Giovanni. Littered internally with mosaics on the ceiling and floor, the Baptistry has three sets of bronze doors, two of which took 15th century sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti 50 years to complete. Michelangelo described Ghiberti's east-facing doors as fit for the "Gates of Paradise," and the name has held since then. Expertly duplicated, the originals are now housed in the nearby Museo dell' Opera del Duomo, which also boasts a Pietà by Michelangelo and some of the fascinating machines used to erect the Duomo's dome.

	Michelangelo's David

One comment made by newcomers to Florence is, "David is everywhere!" Indeed, it seems Michelangelo's masterpiece is around every corner. There are dozens of replicas of all shapes and sizes lurking in various locations around the city, but the original sculpture is safely ensconced in the Accademy Gallery, or Galleria dell'Accademia. The Bargello National Museum, or Museo Nazionale del Bargello, was once a working palace built in 1255, and now contains Florence's best collection of sculptures, including Donatello's Cupid and 22-year-old Michelangelo's Bacchus, a tribute to the God of Wine (who seems to be visibly drunk). The Archaeological Museum, or Museo Archeologico, has an important grouping of Etruscan artifacts, Egyptian art, Roman remains and a priceless, rare, 16,000-year-old Hittite wood-and-bone chariot.

The 13th century Santa Maria Novella Basilica is Florence's second most recognizable church, featuring an original period facade and a Renaissance top by Leon Battista Alberti that creates a Cartesian plane of geometry. Continuing with the theme of math and science, inside is Masaccio's 1428 Trinità, the first painting in the world to use perfect linear mathematical perspective, and the pulpit is the one from which Galileo was denounced for his unorthodox theory that the earth revolves around the sun.

The tombs of Michelangelo and Galileo are found at the Santa Croce Basilica, which also has monuments to Dante and Machiavelli. This church took nearly 600 years to complete, and houses the much talked-about Crucifix by Donatello, who deemed Brunelleschi's version superior, calling his depiction of Christ a "peasant." To compare, visit Brunelleschi's rendering at the Santa Maria Novella.

Built in 1337 as a granary and market, Orsanmichele was converted to a chapel after it is said an image of the Madonna appeared mysteriously on a column on the first level. The city's 14 influential guilds were each given a niche around the building to adorn with a statue of their profession's patron saint, resulting in an assortment of works by Ghiberti, Donatello, Verrocchio, and Giambologna, the originals of which are now housed in the upstairs museum. Directly across from the church is the 1308 Palazzo dell'Arte della Lana, a Gothic palace that was home to the most mighty of all the guilds in Florence, the wool merchants.

The Carmelite church of Santa Maria della Carmine has frescoes, currently being restored after a devastating fire, completed by the young painter Masaccio at the age of 23. Masaccio died in Rome at 27, making his work extremely rare.

As an attempt to outdo his former friend Cosimo Medici, the Elder, Luca Pitti commissioned the Pitti Palace for himself, employing the great Brunelleschi to design the complex. Pitti requested the windows of his new home to be as large as the doors on the Medici residence, and to create an internal courtyard with enough space to contain the area of the entire palace. Pitti's fortunes failed, and the palace became home to Florence family dynasties like the Medicis, the Lorraines, the Bourbons, the Bonapartes and the Savoys. The palace is an example of what Brunelleschi and others thought a Renaissance palace should be, and now houses eight separate museums and galleries. The most important is the Galleria Palatina, which has on display master works by Raphael and Titian. Between 1550 and 1558 the Boboli Gardens, which has a collection of sculptures, fountains, grottos and temples, were sculpted out of the hill behind the palace, and are now essentially an open-air museum, with relics dating back to the Empire.

TRANSPORTATION

Useful Bus Lines: Bus Number — Popular Stop Name — Final Stop 7 Stazione — S. Domenico — Fiesole 10 Stazione — San Marco — Settignano 12/13 Stazione — Piazzale Michelangelo — Stazione FS SMN 17 Verga — Duomo — Boito/Kennedy 25a Stazione— P.zza Libertà — Pratolino (Villa Demidoff) 2 Stazione — Castello — Calenzano 37 Stazione — Porta Romana — Galluzzo — Tavarnuzze Vola in bus Stazione — Ponte di Mezzo — Vespucci Airport

Public Transportation
The historic centre of Florence is easily walkable, and it's a pleasure to do so. Sensible walking shoes are a good idea, as most streets and sidewalks in the city's historic centre are paved with tricky cobblestones.

The public transportation system is efficient as well as easy to navigate. Orange-coloured buses stop regularly at piazzas and main tourist destinations, and most drivers speak a degree of English. Tickets must be pre-purchased at newsstands or tobacconists. Once boarding, tickets must be stamped with the current date and time. Failure to do so may result in a fine from transit officials. Passes may be purchased for time increments ranging from one hour to a week, depending upon the type purchased. Day passes are a good value.

See Renting A Car in Florence for more information on driving in the city.

CLIMATE

Spring
The months of March through May are perhaps the best to visit Florence. There are fewer tourists at the attractions than during the summertime, accommodations are easier to find and the weather is generally mild and comfortable for walking. Bring an umbrella, though, as it may rain intermittently.

Month Avg. Daily Temperature Average Rainfall Min Max Jan 2°C (36°F) 10°C (50°F) 62 mm Feb 3°C (37°F) 12°C (54°C) 60 mm Mar 6°C (43°F) 14°C (57°F) 68 mm Apr 9°C (48°F) 19°C (66°F) 70 mm May 13°C (55°F) 23°C (73°F) 72 mm Jun 16°C (61°F) 28°C (82°F) 56 mm Jul 19°C (66°F) 31°C (88°F) 35 mm Aug 19°C (66°F) 30°C (86°F) 47 mm Sep 16°C (61°F) 26°C (79°F) 83 mm Oct 12°C (54°F) 19°C (66°F) 99 mm Nov 7°C (45°F) 13°C (55°F) 99 mm Dec 3°C (37°F) 9°C (48°F) 77 mm

Average Daily Temperatures and Climate Data for Florence found at http://www.comune.fi.it/inglese/

Summer
Between June and August, as the temperature rises, so does the city's tourist population. Summer can be relentlessly hot, so hot, in fact, that city-dwelling Italians traditionally celebrate their annual mid-August holiday (Ferragosto) by hitting the coast to cool off in the Tyrrhenian. Something to consider when finding a place to stay is that some pensiones, hostels and hotels do not have air-conditioning in every room.

Fall
Towards the end of September, tourists begin to thin out in the city, revealing its sometimes-hidden local culture. The months of October and November are generally Florence's wettest, but when it's not raining, the temperatures remain mild through November.

Winter
Easily Florence's lowest season for tourism, during the winter the temperature drops along with prices for accommodations, and attractions and historic sites are virtually abandoned. The months of December through February are still bearable for most, however, as seasonal highs can reach up to 10ºC (50ºF).