Italy - Florence

After an early start we made our way into the Florence city centre. Florence is a beautiful city filled with a phenomenal number of breathtaking churches and museums.

Our sightseeing tour on foot took us to see Galleria dell’ Accademia which is the Academy of Fine Arts founded in 1563 famous for being the first school in Europe set up to teach drawing, painting, and sculpture. Since 1873 it has housed Michelangelo’s sculptures including the statue that defined him as a sculptor of the time, ‘David’ (1504). Other sculptures of Michelangelo’s are also housed here including the ‘Quattro Prigioni’ (4 Prisons), which are individual sculptures all depicting muscular figures trying to free themselves from stone.

We walked across the Ponte Vecchio which is the oldest surviving bridge of the city built in 1345. This bridge once housed blacksmiths, butchers, and tanners, but these were evicted and replaced with Jewellers in the 16th century because they would pay higher rent. It was the only bridge to escape destruction in WW2.

The Museo di Storia della Scienza was one of the highlights. This museum is a fabulous display of the history of Science, Mathematics, and Navigation. The museum is dedicated to the great Gallileo who was actually born in Pisa but his parents were Florentine, and therefore he was claimed as Florentine. It houses some of Gallileo’s telescopes and models of Gallileo’s experiments. It also had some obstetric plaster models from the 1700’s which demonstrate all sorts of birth complications and even the application of forceps... Brii was amazed at how much intricate knowledge there was this long ago. This museum was only 2 floors but it was so interesting we took a couple of hours here.

Santa Croce Church (1294) houses the tombs of Michelangelo, Galileo and Machiavelli, among others. It is also the home of Donatello’s ‘Annunciation’ and multiple 14th century frescoes by Giotto. It was awesome to see the final resting place of people so famous and tombs that are so old.

We wandered through the Palazzo Vecchio which was where David originally stood until he was moved to protect him from the elements. In his place is a very good copy. In Vasari’s courtyard of the Palazzo we saw the Putto fountain, some beautiful architecture and fresco’s.

We also visited the outside of the Duomo (Santa Maria del Fiore) which is famous for having the largest dome of its time built without scaffolding.

To finish off this great day we explored the famous Florentine leather shops and markets... and yes Jack finally got himself a leather jacket :-).