November 22, 2012

Well, today was a self-planned, self-guided walking tour of Florence. The aim was to visit and see as much as I could of the highlights of the city as I could before the daylight went (around 5:00pm) and I could no longer take pictures easily. This meant getting started early (around 7:30am when there is useful daylight) and continuing through the day walking from one site to the next in as logical an order as I could create. So, in order, here are the places I visited, along with some pictures of, or related to, these places.

1. The Ponte Vecchio - this is the quintessential bridge across the Arno and probably should not be here. The current bridge, built in 1345, is not the first bridge on this site (there was a Roman bridge here), just the most recent. It is also the oldest of the six bridges across the Arno. The unusual two-story nature of the bridge came about because Cosmo I de Medici wanted a covered walkway from his residence in the Palazzo Pitti to the Palazzo Vecchio (the Town Hall) and ordered his architect Giorgio Vasari to build what is known as the Vasari corridor in 1565. The shops on the bridge had always existed, and at this time were all butcher shops. The story is that Cosmo could not tolerate the smell every morning so had the butchers evicted and replaced them with gold merchants and still are (jewelers today). Whatever the true story, this is an unusual bridge and a Florentine icon.

The Ponte Vecchio

The covered walkway runs over the top of the shops and looks very planned compared to the shops.

Another view that shows the relationship between the shops and the walkway.

The actual pedestrian walk across the bridge. The Medici walkway is overhead to the right.

2. The Piazzale Michelangiolo - this is listed in every guide book and web site about Florence as the must visit site to get the best views of Florence. In the morning the light is from behind you as you look towards Florence so this was an ideal time for taking photos. To get there, I walked down the river from Ponte Vecchio then followed a road that wound up the face of the bluff on which the Piazzale is located. Even at this early hour there were people taking photos, including a Japanese couple on their honeymoon. They were struggling to get a photo of the two of them together so I offered to take a couple for them. By the time I left the Piazzale about 45 minutes later, I'd done this for two other couples plus two individuals and, in one case, exchanged photos to get one of myself in the Piazzale. The view is as incredible as described and worth the effort to get there.

A general view of old Florence from the Piazzale Michelangiolo

The Basilica of Santa Croce - Galileo and his sister are both buried here.

The Duomo

The Palazzo Vecchio which was the final destination of the the Medici's walkway

Part of one of medieval city wall which is preserved in this area

Another view of the city after the sun broke through the haze

The Arno and the Ponte Vecchio

3. The Galileo Museum - okay, so this is not a well known museum/gallery in Florence nor is the name indicative of what you can expect to see. To get to the Museum, I left the Piazzale by a different route, which resulted in walking through one of the original pedestrian portals through the old city wall, some of which is very well preserved in this locale (San Niccolo). I returned to the Ponte Vecchio, crossed over and headed on down the river past the building that houses the Uffizi Gallery (you've heard of this, of course, right???). I had decided before arriving in Florence that, as famous as the Uffizi collection is (and it IS special), I would be seeing many works by the same master artists throughout Italy and wanted to use the time it would take to visit the gallery to see some of the other sights, like the Galileo Museum, that many people overlook. The Galileo used to be known as the Science Museum which is more indicative of what is in the collection. It is also a product of the Medici's, who not only commissioned and collected art but also promoted the sciences and also collected, or were given by donation, important pieces of scientific equipment. This does include the only two original Galileo telescopes known to remain plus the objective lens of the telescope that Galileo used in 1609-1610 to discover the Galilean moons of Jupiter. There are original copies of some of his publications (including his classic Sidereus Nuncius (Starry Night), some of the instruments that he designed and/or used, and perhaps rather macabrely, the middle finger of his right hand (one of three preserved). But the collection is much, much more than this. Because of the fame and wealth of the Medici's, and the commitment of the those who have conserved and maintained the collection since the end of the Medici's to continue expanding the collection, what is on display (there are thousands of other pieces in storage) is a history of scientific equipment, separated into the major disciplines, from the 14th century onwards. And it's all easily viewed in about two hours. I had a great time (yeah, I'm a geek but I'm also interested in the history of science and invention).

Galileo's telescopes from 1605-10

The objective lens of the telescope Galileo used to discover the moons of Jupiter

The Siderius Nuncius with Galileo's hand-drawn illustrations

Galileo's instruction manual for his geometry tool. He employed an instrument maker to produce the tool which he then sold with a set of instructions on how to use it.

This is a geometric tool that Galileo invented. Together with several attachments, this multi-purpose tool could be used to make complicated calculations, both geometric an arithmetric.

 

The mummified middle finger from Galileo's right hand

This, and the remaining photos illustrate some of the other items on display

An armillary sphere which attempts to model the position of objects in the sky. This one stands over 2 meters high.

A smaller armillary sphere, based on a Ptolemaic or earth-centric, view of the universe.

A terrestrial globe of about 1500mm diameter

A facsimile of a world map from 1459 - it's drawn upside down, for what its worth.

Early linear a spiral thermometers.

A collection of compound microscopes (both monocular and binocular) that date from 1700 through 1850

Precision balances of the 19th century

Burning device for using the sun's heat to perform chemical analyses

Early "bathroom" scale

Part of the museum's extensive collection of watches and time pieces

4. The Accademia Gallery - there was one gallery that I really wanted to visit and that was the Accademia as it is the home of Michelangelo's David, perhaps the most famous sculpture in the world (the Mona Lisa is the most famous painting and on my must see list for Paris). The guide from yesterday suggested turning up after midday and getting in line for a ticket as the crowd is much smaller in the afternoon. So, after a great lunch at a local pizza place (the locals were eating there so I knew I was in the right place) I headed up to the Accademia to see how long the line was. When I walked in the door there was no line (it took a few minutes to find as I was looking for the line). So I got my ticket and off I went and let me assure you, David is VERY impressive. It dominates the space that was specifically created for it and I wish I could show you a picture but photography is not allowed and they incredibly vigilant about it as many people found out (there are signs all over the place in multiple languages but I guess some people can't help themselves). What I can show you (see the picture) is the 100% correct replica of the David (also in marble) in the original location of the statue - on a pedestal outside the Palazzo Vecchio. There are five other pieces by Michelangelo, all unfinished as the projects for which they were commissioned were themselves never finished, as well as an amazing collection Russian icons and cathedral art pieces, and some paintings by Florentine Medieval lesser masters. Again, easily viewed in a couple of hours and worth the time.

The replica of Michelangelo's David at the entrance to Palazzo Vecchio. This where the original stood until being relocated to the Accademia

The Palazzo Vecchio

The entrance to the Palazzo.

The Fountain of Neptune in the Piazza della Signoria in front of the Palazzo Vecchio

 5. The Duomo - the Duomo is the largest cathedral in Florence and is the main church of the city. The external finish of the facade is quite remarkable, made up of polychrome marble, that covers all of the cathedral except the dome which remains unfinished. The Dome, itself, was the largest dome in the world for some time and remains the largest brick dome in the world. The cathedral was paid for by public funds so the interior of the cathedral features art work that celebrates the accomplishments of some of the leaders of the day as well as work of a more religious nature, all by leading Florentine artists of the 14th and 15th centuries.

The exterior of the Duomo is very striking. You can see the unfinished brick finish of the dome.

The bell tower.

The baptistry.

The entry facade.

The interior of the cathedral looking towards the high altar.

The fresco on the inside of the dome.

The high altar.

One of the side naves, or chapels, of the Duomo.

The rear of the cathedral features a large clock.

The clock is a one-handed liturgical clock, with the numbers arranged in the Italian time scale that ends with the 24th hour at sunset.

6. Piazza della Reppublica - built on the site of the old Roman forum and the Medieval ghetto, the Piazza was developed during the short period of time (1865-71) that Florence was the capital of a united Italy. The most striking feature of the Piazza today is the Arcone, or triumphal arch, that proclaims (I'm paraphrasing here) that a new city heart has been created from squalor.

The triumphal arch, or Arcone, of the Piazza della Reppublica.

7. Basilica of San Lorenzo - the unfinished exterior of the cathedral belies the fact that this is the church of the Medici family, and the dome in the picture is the dome of the Medici chapel where the Medici Grand Dukes are buried, along with other members of the family in the crypt (the family was still paying for the chapel when the last surviving member died in1743). Unfortunately, by the time I arrived here, I was unable to enter so all I have is the one photo of the exterior of the cathedral. It is very difficult to photograph as it is in the heart of the old market district and closely surrounded by buildings but there is a small piazza (San Lorenzo) by the front entrance. The entrance is very unremarkable but was intended to have a white marble facade commissioned from Michelangelo that was never built (but he did build the interior facade).

The unfinished entrance to the Basilica of San Lorenzo.

8. Porta San Gallo - the medieval city was surrounded by a very substantial wall as it was in constant battle with its neighboring city states for much of the 14th-16th centuries. There were a number gates in the walls to allow access and these were protected by large gate complexes. Most of these are gone now, but several remain. One (Porta San Frediano) still has the old gates mounted in place and we drove through it in the bus yesterday on the way to Siena. This gate was a little to far out of the way to walk to today but another gatehouse was. You can see just how massive the gates were from the dimensions of the opening and you can see the groove in which the portcullis grate was raised and lowered. Apparently every night the gates were swung closed and locked until morning. This was carried out by one man but how he managed to swing the doors by himself I don't know. He carried with him the key to lock the door and one of these keys still exists and is in one of the museums in the city.

The Porta San Gallo

The gates were very substantial based on the dimensions of the opening.

A view of the gatehouse through the central arch of the Florence Triumphal Arch that share the Piazza della Liberta with the Porta San Gallo

The Florence Triumphal Arch which was erected due the same urban renewal that resulted in the Piazza della Reppublica

As you can see by the pictures, the light had pretty much gone by this time. The street behind the Porta is called Via San Gallo and my hotel lay about one kilometer down the road, so I called it a day and headed back.