Florence
Everyone encountering this city for the first time immediately feels the great fascination of Florence. There is a palatable air of history in every corner, a sense of art, culture and harmony at every turn. Florence is known the world over as one of the outstanding sites of European art history – one might even say as the very place of origin of the arts. It was also the birthplace of the Renaissance – and of Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), the father of the Italian language and creator of the most important work of Italian poetry: the ‘Divine Comedy’. Its advantageous location on the Arno – in the middle of a broad valley and surrounded by rolling hills – gave the trading city of Florence an important role in Italian history over the centuries. From 1865 to 1871, Florence was even the capital of united Italy for a few short years – before that it was Turin, with Rome only made the country’s seat of government afterwards. However, Florence experienced its most magnificent era and greatest significance as a political and economic power factor in the 15th and 16th centuries. It was no coincidence that the city republic had more income in the year 1400 than the whole of England – profits of its flourishing economy and wide-reaching trading activities. At their peak, the Florentine banks alone had no less than 80 branches in many different countries. Due to this affluence, the arts reached full bloom during this era: the patronage of the wealthy aristocratic families brought such outstanding painters and sculptors to the fore as Raphael and Michelangelo. In this way, the Medicis for example held sway over the city’s cultural life for more than three centuries, exercising a fundamental influence over its appearance down the years. The entire historical centre of Florence was adopted onto the UNESCO’s list of world cultural heritage sites in 1982. Its central square, where every visitor ends up sooner or later, is the Piazza della Signoria, forming a harmonious ensemble with the majestic Palazzo Vecchio. Only a few steps away is the world famous Uffizi art museum, a sheer unbelievable treasure trove of significant paintings and sculptures, including works as well known as Leonardo da Vinci’s Annunciation and Botticelli’s Birth of Venus. It is well worth visiting the Galleria dell’Accademia too, simply to admire Michelangelo’s impressively male David. The marble sculpture outside the Palazzo Vecchio, over four metres high, is an exact copy of the original, which was relocated to a more protected spot inside the museum in 1873.The Florentines focus all their energies and ambitions on art, be it under the roofs of the characteristic wooden jewellery stalls on the Ponte Vecchio or in the many little workshops and outlets for arts and crafts on the left bank of the Arno, lending the city a unique old-fashioned atmosphere. The nimbus of the Renaissance city even remains intact when you leave Florence itself: the surrounding hills afford a wonderful view from above. Particularly Forte Belvedere with its Piazzale Michelangelo and the lofty town of Fiesole offer visitors a uniquely beautiful panorama of the Arno valley and the old city embracing the river’s banks.
