To start, some views of the city:



The Arno River and Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge)



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Hills in the background



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The Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, or Duomo, with the famous Filippo Brunelleschi’s dome and Giotto’s bell-tower.



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Palazzo Vecchio; in the background, on the right, the new Law Courts in course of construction.




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The Synagogue



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The river and the banks close to Ponte di Santa Trinita by night.



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Oltrarno: the bell-tower of Santo Spirito’s church and the dome of San Frediano’s church.

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The Arno seen from East



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Close to the Ponte alla Carraia




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The river is leaving Florence



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The magic at sunset and at night:



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In Florence the banks are called “Lungarni”.



Oltrarno; in the first pictures you can catch a glimpse of the red dome of Santo Spirito’s church, in the second one, Ponte di Santa Trinita.



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Lungarno Archibusieri before Ponte Vecchio; on the right, the Uffizi.



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Lungarno Acciaiuoli



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Lungarno Vespucci



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Lungarni of Santo Spirito’s quarter (Oltrarno)



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Now the images of the most beautiful bridge, landmark of Florence, Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge):



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Ponte di Santa Trinita:



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Ponte alla Carraia:




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Ponte alle Grazie:



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Piazza della Repubblica, realized at the end of the 19th century after the demolition of the Ghetto (Jewry) and the Old Market, where the main roads of the ancient Roman town intersected.



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In Piazza Santa Croce:



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The overcrowding of the Lungarni:



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Toward Palazzo Vecchio (Old Palace), with the Loggia dei Lanzi in the background:



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Close to Piazza San Firenze:



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Piazza Pitti:



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Lungarno Soderini:



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At San Frediano:



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The Accademia dei Georgofili, next to the Uffizi; in 1993 Mafia’s bomb killed a man and damaged the famous museum. I remember that I was in Florence few months after the attack: the city appeared as it was in war-time. Via dei Georgofili was blocked and full of flowers.

Today all is in order, and an olive-tree marks the place of the cowardly attack.





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From Piazza della Signoria to Piazza del Duomo:




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The tower of the Bargello



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From Piazza Santa Croce:




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The National Library:



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From Via del Corso:



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Calimala



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Via de' Tornabuoni with its magnificent buildings:



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Via Maggio (Santo Spirito): frescos on the façade of Bianca Cappello’s Palace.



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Near Lungarno Soderini (San Frediano):



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It deals with the famous door of St. John's Baptistery, by Lorenzo Ghiberti, completed in 1452. Magnificent!



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There are no words to describe this monumental group of buildings.


The boldness of Filippo Brunelleschi’s dome, the slender Giotto’s bell-tower (but three different architects worked on it), the splendor of St. John's Baptistery, cannot leave indifferent.



BAPTISTERY



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CATHEDRAL OF SANTA MARIA DEL FIORE AND BELL-TOWER



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Some photos of an open air museum: Piazza della Signoria




PALAZZO VECCHIO



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In the foreground Hercules and Cacus, sculpture by Baccio Bandinelli (1533 and 1534)



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Perseus by Benvenuto Cellini.




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Michelangelo’s David copy and Hercules and Cacus; in the background the Uffizi.



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The Ratto delle Sabine by Giambologna, under the Loggia dei Lanzi.




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Another Giambologna's work, the equestrian monument to Cosimo I de' Medici; in the background, Palazzo Antinori.



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This beautiful church stands with its imposing massive structure between Via de' Calzaiuoli and Via Calimala.

The church is placed on the ground floor, while in the Middle Age upper floors used to be a barn.



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Behind Piazza della Signoria there is Piazza San Firenze, so called because of the church of San Filippo Neri or San Firenze, facing the square.





From the square you can see on the left the bell-tower of the Badia Fiorentina (Florentine Abbey), on the right the Bargello with the slender tower that characterizes it.





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The Bargello, in origin house of the podestà in Florence, today museum sheltering sculptures of exceptional value.



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A detail of the baroque façade of San Firenze’s church:



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And now we pass to one of the national glories, the Basilica di Santa Croce (Holy Cross), on the square bearing the same name, not so far from Piazza San Firenze.



The church contains innumerable masterpieces, among which Giotto's frescos, the Cappella dei Pazzi (Family Pazzi’s Chapel), Filippo Brunelleschi’s masterpiece and a museum with Cimabue’s Crucifix; besides, it acts as pantheon with the graves of some illustrious Italian notables.



The square and the church:




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Restorations in the church:



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Cimabue’s Crucifix, seriously damaged by the 1966 flood:



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The Cappella dei Pazzi by Brunelleschi



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From Piazzale Michelangelo it is easy to join San Miniato al Monte, beautiful romanesque church with a splendid façade, that dominates from the top of the hill the whole Florence:




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In Oltrarno, on the hill and near San Frediano, there are the rests of the ancient walls:



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The walls next to Borgo San Frediano and the same suburb framed by the gate:



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Church of San Frediano in Cestello



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Piazza di Santo Spirito



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Piazza dei Pitti



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In Piazza Ognissanti (Ognissanti means “All Hallows”), that lies on Lungarno Vespucci, we find the church with the same name and the beautiful Palazzo Lenzi-Quaratesi, fifteenth-century, adorned of "sgraffitti", current seat of the French Institute of the University of Grenoble and the annexe Libreria Francese.




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Piazza Santa Maria Novella is currently occupied from a yard that is taking care of the remaking of the flooring. The beautiful square shows itself with the well rearranged buildings, worthy frame to the majestic gothic church of Santa Maria Novella (= St. Mary the New, to distinguish it from Santa Maria in Fiore, Fiore = Flower, that is the Cathedral) whose splendid façade was realized by Leon Battista Alberti.



Square and church:



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The apse of the church:



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Particular of the Loggia di San Paolo (St. Paul), on the northern side of the square.



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In Piazza San Lorenzo (St. Lawrence) we find the beautiful homonymous Basilica, Brunelleschi’s masterpiece, with the Cappelle Medicee (Medicean Chapels), Palazzo Medici-Ricciardi and a vivacious market.




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Piazza San Marco (St. Mark) is very animated because of the proximity of the University. Facing the square is the church with the same name, wanted by Cosimo the Old; the Lord of Florence committed the project to Michelozzo, who also realized the annexe convent; the church was rebuilt then in the 18h century.



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Piazza della Santissima Annunziata (the Virgin Mary) is one of the most beautiful Florentine squares, a complex conforming to the architectural ideal of the Renaissance.


Its centre is adorned by the equestrian statue of the Grand Duke of Tuscany Ferdinando I, one of Gianbologna’s work.



Among the worthy of mention buildings, Palazzo Griffoni, built by Ammannati, with its unusual pink color and the famous Ospedale degli Innocenti, one of Brunelleschi’s masterpieces.





Equestrian statue of the Grand Duke of Tuscany Ferdinando



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Ospedale degli Innocenti



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The square



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In the background the dome of the Cathedral, to the left, Palazzo Griffoni.




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To conclude, some images of Fiesole, town of the Florentine hill, from which you can enjoy magnificient views over the city.



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The slope of St. Francis:




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Last look over Florence:



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Santa Croce during the flood. 1966




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Santa Croce before the construction of the façade (in 19Th century)



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Borgo Ognissanti



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Piazza della Signoria



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Duomo



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Santa Croce



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The Arno River



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Dante's house



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Aren't these frescos well preserved?

And they are some centuries old...






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