italian partner introduction our town: florence. our town: firenze

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Italian partner introduction Our town: Florence

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Page 1: Italian partner introduction Our town: Florence. Our town: FIRENZE

Italian partner introduction

Our town:

Florence

Page 2: Italian partner introduction Our town: Florence. Our town: FIRENZE

Our town: FIRENZE

Page 3: Italian partner introduction Our town: Florence. Our town: FIRENZE

Florence is called the capital of arts; according to statistics produced by UNESCO, 60% of the world's most important works of art are located in Italy and approximately half of these are in Florence. Florence attracts a high proportion of international travelers to Italy.Florence's historical center has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1982. Visiting the center of Florence you truly can have the sensation on being in an open-air museum!

Page 4: Italian partner introduction Our town: Florence. Our town: FIRENZE

Florence and its history• Florence was founded around 59 B.C. by Romans with the name of

Florentia.

• During 12th century: formation of the first Comune (the city-state) in which Florence is run by a 100-strong assembly.

• Between the 12th and 14th centuries Florence is caught in the struggles between the Guelphs (supporters of the Pope) and the Ghibellines (supporters of the Emperor).

• In 1424, Florence is ruled by Cosimo "the Elder" de' Medici at the head of the Signoria.

• Between the 15th and middle of 16th centuries Florence is the "cradle of the Renaissance", a period of great artistic and cultural splendor.

• In 1569, Tuscany becomes a Grand Duchy. Cosimo I de' Medici is named the Grand Duke of Tuscany by Pope Pius V and the members of the Medici family passed down the title for the next two centuries.

• Once the Medici family died out, the Lorraine family ruled over the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.

• In 1861, Tuscany was annexed to the Kingdom of Italy.

• From 1865 to 1871 Florence was the capital of Italy.

Page 5: Italian partner introduction Our town: Florence. Our town: FIRENZE

Let’s go and have a look

of Florence!

Page 6: Italian partner introduction Our town: Florence. Our town: FIRENZE

Piazzale MichelangeloPiazzale Michelangelo stands as a huge panoramic terrace perched over the

south bank of the Arno River, from where visitors will marvel at the incredible views of Florence, such as the Duomo as well as the Arno Valley, surrounded by enchanting green hills.

In 1864 the talented Florentine architect and engineer Giuseppe Poggi was commissioned from the Florentine municipal authorities to design the new town-planning of Florence, as the city had been nominated capital city of the Kingdom of Italy (1865-1870).

That ambitious project also included the amazing Piazzale Michelangelo and the prolongation of the most important circular boulevards coming from up to the hills to the south of Florence.

Page 7: Italian partner introduction Our town: Florence. Our town: FIRENZE
Page 8: Italian partner introduction Our town: Florence. Our town: FIRENZE
Page 9: Italian partner introduction Our town: Florence. Our town: FIRENZE

Il duomo - Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore Among Florence's churches, the most important is the beautiful

Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, also commonly referred to as the Duomo of Florence. Construction of the cathedral began at the end of the 13th century by Arnolfo di Cambio. Giotto designed the bell tower and Brunelleschi designed and supervised the construction of the famous dome that can be seen from anywhere in Florence. The exterior is covered in a decorative mix of pink, white and green marble. The interior, by contrast, is pretty stark and plain. The best way to see the dome is to climb its 463 steps: the route takes you by the interior of the dome where you can admire close-up Giorgio Vasari's much-reviled frescoes of the Last Judgment.

Page 10: Italian partner introduction Our town: Florence. Our town: FIRENZE
Page 11: Italian partner introduction Our town: Florence. Our town: FIRENZE
Page 12: Italian partner introduction Our town: Florence. Our town: FIRENZE
Page 13: Italian partner introduction Our town: Florence. Our town: FIRENZE

Piazza della Signoria – Signoria square

It’s one of the main squares of the city, where you can admire a copy of Michelangelo's David (the original is in the Accademia Gallery museum) and Neptune's Fountain, by Ammanati, which symbolizes the Medici's maritime ambitions.

Page 14: Italian partner introduction Our town: Florence. Our town: FIRENZE
Page 15: Italian partner introduction Our town: Florence. Our town: FIRENZE

Palazzo Vecchio – The Old palace

Palazzo Vecchio stands tall overlooking Piazza della Signoria, and is still today the home of Florence's city government. The Palazzo houses the majestic Salone dei Cinquecento, the assembly hall for the city's five hundred members general council. The hall is adorned with frescoes by Vasari and by Michelangelo's Genius of Victory marble statue.

Page 16: Italian partner introduction Our town: Florence. Our town: FIRENZE
Page 17: Italian partner introduction Our town: Florence. Our town: FIRENZE

Loggia dei Lanzi

Flanking the piazza is the 14th-century Loggia dei Lanzi, in which there are such world-renowned statues, as Benvenuto Cellini’s Perseus.

Page 18: Italian partner introduction Our town: Florence. Our town: FIRENZE
Page 19: Italian partner introduction Our town: Florence. Our town: FIRENZE

The Uffizi gallery

The Uffizi is the most important and visited museum in Florence. The Uffizi palace was designed and begun in 1560 by the architect Giorgio Vasari in the period when Cosimo de' Medici, first Grand Duke of Tuscany, was bureaucratically consolidating his recent takeover of power. Built in the shape of a horseshoe extending from Piazza della Signoria to the Arno River and linked by a bridge over the street with Palazzo Vecchio, the Uffizi were intended to house the administrative offices (uffizi) of the Grand Duchy. From the beginning, however, the Medici set aside a few rooms on the third floor to house the finest works of their collections. The Gallery was subsequently enriched by various members of the Medici family. Two centuries later, in 1737, the palace and their collection were left to the city by Anna Maria Luisa, the last Medici heir, and today houses one of the world's great art galleries.The Uffizi Gallery is one of the world's top art museums - it houses some of the most important works of the Renaissance, including works by Leonardo da Vinci, Giotto, Botticelli and Michelangelo. Lots of sculptures too.

Page 20: Italian partner introduction Our town: Florence. Our town: FIRENZE
Page 21: Italian partner introduction Our town: Florence. Our town: FIRENZE
Page 22: Italian partner introduction Our town: Florence. Our town: FIRENZE

Palazzo Pitti – Pitti palaceThis enormous palace is one of Florence's largest architectural

monuments. The original palazzo was built for the Pitti family in 1457, designed by Filippo Brunelleschi. The original construction consisted of only the middle cube of the present building. In 1549, the property was sold to the Medicis and became the primary residence of the grand ducal family. The palace was then enlarged and altered; from 1560, Bartolomeo Ammannati designed and added the grandiose courtyard and two lateral wings.

Page 23: Italian partner introduction Our town: Florence. Our town: FIRENZE
Page 24: Italian partner introduction Our town: Florence. Our town: FIRENZE

Palazzo Pitti – Pitti palaceToday, the Pitti Palace houses some of the most important

museums in Florence: the Palatine Gallery, containing a broad collection 16th and 17th century paintings, the Royal Apartments, containing furnishings from a remodeling done in the 19th century; the Silver Museum (Museo degli Argenti) displaying a vast collection of Medici household treasures; the Gallery of Modern Art is, holding a collection of mostly Tuscan 19th and 20th century paintings; the Porcelain Museum and the Costume Gallery, a showcase of the fashions of the past 300 years.

Page 25: Italian partner introduction Our town: Florence. Our town: FIRENZE
Page 26: Italian partner introduction Our town: Florence. Our town: FIRENZE
Page 27: Italian partner introduction Our town: Florence. Our town: FIRENZE

Behind the palace lies the famous Boboli Garden

Page 28: Italian partner introduction Our town: Florence. Our town: FIRENZE

Ponte Vecchio – The Old bridgeAnother of the main symbols of the city of Florence is the famous Ponte Vecchio, or Old Bridge, that

crosses over the Arno, the main river in Tuscany.

Built very close to the Roman crossing, the Old Bridge was until 1218 the only bridge across the Arno in Florence. The current bridge was rebuilt after a flood in 1345.

There have been stores on the Ponte Vecchio since the 13th century. Initially, there were all types of shops, including butchers and fishmongers and later tanners, whose industrial waste caused a pretty rank stench. In 1593, Ferdinand I decreed that only goldsmiths and jewellers be allowed to have their stores on the bridge. Cellini, a 16th century goldsmith, is honoured with a bust on the bridge.

When the Medici moved from Palazzo Vecchio to Palazzo Pitti, they decided they needed a connecting route from the Uffizi to the Palazzo Pitti on the other side of the Arno that would enable them to keep out of contact with the people they ruled. The result was the Corridoio Vasariano, built in 1565 by Vasari and which runs above the little goldsmiths' shops on the Ponte Vecchio.

During World War II it was the only bridge across the Arno that the fleeing Germans did not destroy.

On November 4, 1966, the bridge miraculously withstood the tremendous weight of water and silt when the Arno once again burst its banks.

Page 29: Italian partner introduction Our town: Florence. Our town: FIRENZE
Page 30: Italian partner introduction Our town: Florence. Our town: FIRENZE

Santa Croce – Saint Cross church

Santa Croce, rebuilt for the Franciscan order in 1294 by Arnolfo di Cambio, is the burial place for the great and good in Florence. Michelangelo is buried in Santa Croce, as are Rossini, Machiavelli, and the Pisan-born Galileo Galilei, who was tried by the Inquisition and was not allowed a Christian burial until 1737, 95 years after his death. There is also a memorial to Dante, but his sarcophagus is empty.

The church exterior is covered with a polychrome marble facade added in 1863. It looks onto the Piazza Santa Croce, which is the site of the annual soccer game in medieval costume, the Calcio Storico.

Close to the church you can find the Museo dell’Opera, with Brunelleschi’s lovely Pazzi Chapel.

Page 31: Italian partner introduction Our town: Florence. Our town: FIRENZE
Page 32: Italian partner introduction Our town: Florence. Our town: FIRENZE

Santa Maria Novella church

The Church of Santa Maria Novella is one of the most important Gothic churches in Tuscany. The exterior is the work of Fra Jacopo Talenti and Leon Battista Alberti. The interior holds extraordinary works of art including Masaccio's Trinità, Ghirlandaio's fresco cycle in the Tornabuoni Chapel and Giotto's Crucifix, among others.

The convent was built between 1279 and 1357 by Dominican friars near a 7th century church located in the fields just outside Florence's medieval walls.

It is also the only church with its original planned facade in place. The church of San Lorenzo never even received its planned marble facade while others were completed centuries later with new designs.

Page 33: Italian partner introduction Our town: Florence. Our town: FIRENZE
Page 34: Italian partner introduction Our town: Florence. Our town: FIRENZE

Porcellino fountainIl Porcellino (Italian "piglet") is the local Florentine nickname for the bronze

fountain of a boar.

Originally intended for the Boboli Garden, then moved in the Mercato Nuovo in Florence, where it still stands as one of the most popular spots for tourists. The present statue is only a copy, while the original is sheltered in the new Museo Bardini.

The fountain figure was sculpted and cast by Baroque master Pietro Tacca in 1612, following a marble Italian copy of a Hellenistic marble original.

Visitors to Il Porcellino put a coin into the gaping boar's jaws with the intent to let it fall through the underlying grating for good luck and rub the boar's snout to ensure a return to Firenze, a tradition that has kept the snout in a state of polished sheen while the rest of the boar's body has patinated to a dull brownish-green.

Copies of the sculpture can be found around the world.

Page 35: Italian partner introduction Our town: Florence. Our town: FIRENZE
Page 36: Italian partner introduction Our town: Florence. Our town: FIRENZE

We are waiting for you in Florence!