How to Do Florence in 48 Hours

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By Katy Hyslop


You have just arrived in the Renaissance capital of the art world with a couple of days to spare, so where do you go and what highlights can you see in such a short time? This is the guide for you to get the maximum out of a short stay in Florence.
14:00
Now is probably a good time to familiarise yourself with the central city, if it's late summer it will be beginning to cool down and hopefully the crush of the tourist crowds will be starting to diminish. The centre of Florence is easy to walk around as the streets are narrow and most are closed to traffic.
Starting off around the main station there is the Piazza Santa Maria Novella with the church that gives the train station its name. Opposite the church there is the Piazza Nazionale and a road which leads down to the Piazza del Mercato Centrale. Here there are a few market stalls selling leather goods, souvenirs and other items. The 2 famous buildings to see here are the Cappelle Medici and the San Lorenzo e Biblioteca Laurenziana.
15:00
You will see the Duomo before you reach the piazza it resides in as you walk down Via Borgo San Lorenzo. The squat building in front of the cathedral is the Baptistery, built on the foundations of a Roman temple. The golden doors facing the cathedral are replicas of an original set made by Lorenzo Ghiberti and regarded by Michelangelo as the "doors to paradise". But the sight most visitors are bowled over by is Brunelleschi's dome, the cap on the already impressive Chiesa Santa Maria del Fiori. Standing guard beside it is the campanile, or bell tower built by Giotto.

Top 5 Historical Sites in Florence

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Author: Kristel van Winkel

1. The Duomo

The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore is the cathedral church or Duomo of Florence and is absolutely worth a visit. The building process begun in 1296 and was completed in 1436. The Duomo has a Gothic style and is a design of Arnolfo di Cambio. The complex includes the Baptistery and Giotto's Campanile. The three buildings are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Duomo is one of Italy's largest churches and has the largest brick dome ever constructed. It is located at Piazza del Duomo, which is a very nice square, with terraces and shops. You could walk the stairs all the way to the top of the tower Giotto's Campile and have an amazing view over Florence.

Weddings in Italy: Top 3 Romantic Venues

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By Laura Frappa

If you are looking for a romantic wedding in Italy you may consider one of these cities: Venice, Rome or Florence.
Your romantic wedding in Italy could be planned to perfection by capable and talented Wedding Planners. A magical day to remember forever, special moments set in great photo services. Different kind of ceremonies can be organized in Italy: civil, protestant, catholic, Jewish or non-denominational weddings, and every kind of service (beauty, flowers, photography, music, transportation, activities ect) to make it unforgettable.
Here you can find a short description of the three best romantic venues:

Florence: Little Details To Discover

Image via WikipediaAuthor: Stefano Becheroni
Travelers visiting Florence for the first time are so overwhelmed by the beauties of this city that it is hard for them to deviate from the standard tourist routes. They must not miss the Duomo, S.Croce or Piazza Signoria, to name just a few. Therefore they may hardly find the time to discover all the little details and curiosities of a city so full of history and stories. This is why we have decided to reveal some of the best spots that curious tourists can enjoy without going too far from the main and most popular attractions of Florence.
Right next to the Loggia dei Lanzi, just off Palazzo Vecchio, there is a monument
known worldwide: Perseo. The marvelous bronze statue was made in 1545 by Benvenuto Cellini, an eccentric, talented Florentine goldsmith and sculptor who was best known for his fine sense of humor. Once in front of the statue, walk around it and look at the back of Perseo's head. Look closely in the backlight and you will see a gloomy, bearded face wearing a helmet; that's Benvenuto Cellini himself! A really weird place for a self-portrait!

Let's go closer to Palazzo Vecchio now. Walk to the right corner of the building, stop there and look closely: you will see a human profile engraved on the wall. A mysterious face that created one of the most popular Florentine legends. It is believed that this face was engraved by the 'father' of the David and of the Universal Judgment: Michelangelo Buonarroti. There are many versions of this anecdote. According to the most popular one, the artist was standing in Piazza Signoria one day when he suddenly saw an 'enemy', a man who owed him a lot of money and who had been condemned to death by hanging in the Loggia dei Lanzi. The unfortunate man was condemned to have his hands and head tied to a wood board and to hang- still alive- in front of an angry crowd for a certain amount of time before being executed.

Michelangelo, who apparently could not stand him, asked a guard how long the torture would last. The answer must have dissatisfied him, as he decided to engrave the face of the poor man on the wall ( leaning against the wall and engraving it without even looking at it) so that every Florentine would remember the hated man forever.

Another version of the same legend says that the man engraved on the wall was only someone who was boring Michelangelo with his never ending talks. Michelangelo, then, engraved his face on the wall (again, without even looking at what he was doing) while pretending to be listening to him. Whatever the correct version of this legend, Michelangelo could engrave a wall with no need to view his subject.

As we have seen, Florentines are formidable narrators of anecdotes that, being passed on over the centuries, contributed to the creation of a curious and fun collective memory. They often talk about the daily life of popular characters of that time, mostly artists and writers, people that are usually thought of as serious and constantly inspired. These tales make us think of them as humane and help us relate to them.

So now, after Benvenuto Cellini and Michelangelo, it is the turn of Dante Alighieri.

Between Piazza delle Pallottole and Via dello Studio, precisely at 54 Piazza del Duomo, you will find a half hidden marble plate, with a sentence engraved upon that reads 'Dante's stone'. According to the legend, there used to be a stone right in that spot where Dante used to sit to think, write and admire the early works of the Duomo. Once, a chatty merchant who was passing by asked Dante what his favorite food was. Dante was absorbed in his thoughts (which we imagine to be absolutely poetic, of course) and after a while, he replied: 'Boiled eggs', without adding any other words or looking at the man.

The merchant, who saw that Dante was too absorbed to chat with him, left him to his own reflections and walked away.

Some months later, he went back to Florence and was surprised to see Dante still sitting on the same stone. He got close to him and asked him 'What with?'. Dante, who was not a very talkative man but certainly a man with an astonishing memory, did not even turn around to look at him and harshly replied 'With salt'.
About the Author

We rent two apartments in the very center of Florence, (by two-minutes walk you are in the Duomo square) equipped with all the comforts : air conditionning, tv-sat and everything you need to cook your own meals. A nice cheap way to visit Florence! nFlorence Holiday Apartments

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