Monday, October 4th 2004
A full day excursion to Florence, by train | |
Breakfast at the hotel. A full day excursion to Florence by train.
Florence, world-renowned as a center of the art world, rose to glory under the guiding hand of the Medici family. From the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries, an unprecedented burst of artistic activity among the artists and schools of Florence resulted in the birth of the Renaissance. Under the patronage of the Medicis, the geniuses who are still held in reverence today produced paintings, sculpture, and architectural wonders, many of which can still be seen in the city. Florence remains the world's greatest repository of art, thanks largely to the Medicis, who ruled the city and most of Tuscany, for three hundred years. The final gift bestowed upon Florence by its patron family was the donation to the people of the city in 1737 of the Galleria degli Uffizi, originally the offices of the Medici, filled with the family's personal collection of paintings and sculpture. The collection remains forever the possession of the city - it cannot be sold, or moved. The world owes a great debt of gratitude to the Medici - what chance would mere tourists have had to stand in front of Botticelli's Birth of Venus?
Many museums, churches, cathedrals, palaces, government buildings, all of incredible artistic worth, are here in Florence. The visitor can be overwhelmed (syndrome of Stendal) by the wealth of art and architecture. From Brunelleschi's dome to the magnificient David, other works by Donatello, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, Giotto..... Several days are essential just to make a brief overview of the wonders of Florence. The city has been a popular destination of art lovers for almost two hundred years, and never ceases to win more admirers.
Florence is famous for its fine leather goods, high quality paper, and exquisite gold work. High fashion shops abound, and some welcome shoppers in to see the production of their wares. A stroll across the Ponte Vecchio, the oldest bridge on the Arno (shown mercy by the Germans in World War II), takes the visitor through the street of goldsmiths, where one can admire the fine jewelry still fashioned by local artisans.
The first day we will visit the Duomo with its famous dome, the Battistero, the Piazza della Signoria, the Ponte Vecchio, and the Palzzo Pitti.
Lunch on the go, and dinner in a restaurant. Return to Pistoia by train.
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