moresueandstevestravels: 6-10 MAY 2015: FLORENCE

Firenze or 'flowering' city.

'I go to build a greater dome, but not a fairer one': Michaelangelo on leaving Florence to work on St Peter's, Rome.

We had decided to go away for a few days with our close friends Marion and Ann, so where to go? Pretty soon we all decided it had to be Florence even though we had all been, separately, before. So Sue was deputed to book flights and find accomodation. She managed to find a 3 bedroom flat (Apartment Pluto II, booked through Friendly Rentals) in a quiet district a short bus ride away from the centre of the city, while Ann fixed us up with 4 Firenze Cards which would give us quicker and cheaper access to all the main sites, as well as cover our public transport costs.

Florence, originated in 80 BC when it was established by Lucius Cornelius Sulla as a settlement for his veteran soldiers. Its first name was Fluentia , owing to the fact that it was built between two rivers, which was later corrupted to Florentia. It was not prominent in Roman times and it was only in the changed conditions of the later Middle Ages that geography and other factors favoured its rise as a city of literature (Dante), merchants, banking (the Medici) and, especially, the visual arts.

DAY 1:

River Arno

Any visit to Florence must involve numerous crossings of the Arno which, with a length of 241 kms., is the most important river of central Italy after the Tiber.

On our first day in the city we had left Marion back at the flat, as she was taking an on-line exam that afternoon, and set off by bus and on foot to the centre. We'd heard that there was a film crew shooting scenes for a Hollywood movie along the banks of the river and we saw them setting-up as we walked along, but we didn't see any Stars.

Ponte Vecchio

Dating from 1345 and probably built on Roman foundations,the bridge spans the Arno at its narrowest point.

There have been shops 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 rank stench in the area. In 1593 Ferdinand I decreed that only goldsmiths and jewelers be allowed to have their shops on the bridge in order to improve the well-being of all. The present tenants are jewelers, art dealers and souvenir sellers.

It is said that the economic concept of bankruptcy originated here: when a money-changer could not pay his debts, the table on which he sold his wares (the banco) was physically broken (rotto) by soldiers, and this practice was called bancorotto ('broken table'). Not having a table anymore, the merchant was not able to sell anything.

During WW2 the Ponte Vecchio, unlike all other bridges in Florence, was not destroyed by Germans during their retreat on the advance of the liberating British 8th Army in August 1944.

Benvenuto Cellini, a 16th century goldsmith, is honoured with a bust on the bridge.

Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore

Ordinarily called Il Duomo di Firenze, this is the main church of Florence. During its long history the cathedral has been the seat of the Council of Florence (1439), heard the preachings of Savanarola and witnessed the murder of Guiliano di Piero de'Medici (1478).

Begun in 1296 on the site of an earlier cathedral founded in the early 5th century, the new church was designed by Arnolfo di Cambio who was also architect of the church of Santa Croce and the Palazzo Vecchio. The building of this vast project was to last 140 years.

The nave was finished by 1380 and by 1418 only the dome remained incomplete. A structural design competition was announced for the dome and won by Filippo Brunellesci, who began work in 1420, completing in 1436. The building of such a vast masonry dome (starting 52 metres above the ground and spanning 44 metres) imposed many technical problems and Brunellesci looked to the great dome of the Pantheon in Rome for solutions.Without modern day understanding of of physical laws and the mathematical tools for calculating stresses, he had to rely on intuition and whatever he could learn from the large scale models he built.

Giotto's Campanile

This slender bell tower stands on a square plan with a side of 14.45 metres to a height of 84.7 metres, sustained by four polygonal buttresses at the corners. These four vertical lines are crossed by four horizontal lines, dividing the tower in five levels.

Giotto, then aged 69, was given the job in 1334 and when he died three years later he had only finished the lower floor. He was succeeded as Master of Works in 1343 by Pisano who scrupulously followed Giotto's design and added two more levels, construction coming to a halt in 1348, the year of the Black Death. Talenti built the top three levels, completing the bell tower in 1359.

Santa Croce

This is the main Franciscan church in Florence and the largest Franciscan church in the world, built for preaching and with a large square in front in case of overflow. Legend says that it was founded by St Francis himself. Construction began in 1294 and it was consecrated in 1442.

The basilica became the favourite resting place of Italian greats and earned the title 'The Temple of the Italian Glories'.

Michaelangelo, who died in Rome in 1564, was buried here beneath a monument with allegorical figures of Sculpture, Architecture and Painting, designed by Giorgio Vasari. Legend has it that Michaelangelo chose this spot so that the first thing he would see on Judgement Day, when the graves of the dead fly open, would be Brunellesci's Dome through Santa Croce's open doors.

The tomb of Galileo, who died in 1643 after being tried by the Inquisition and who was denied a Christian burial until 1737 was made by Foggini in the 18th century.

There is also a memorial to Dante, but his sarcophagus is empty as he is actually buried in Ravenna having been exiled from Florence in 1302 for his political activities.

The tomb of Machiavelli was not built until 1787 although he died in 1527. A marble structure, it bears the inscription 'Tanto nomini nullum par eulogium', or 'No elegy is equal to such a name'.

Boboli Gardens

It had been a long, hot and enjoyable day, so we felt the need for some R and R, so where better than a lush green open space?

The Boboli Gardens are behind the Pitti Palace, the main seat of the Medici grand dukes of Tuscany, and are some of the first formal 16th century Italian gardens. They are home to collection of sculptures dating from the 16th to the 18th centuries, with some Roman antiquities.

Neptune's Fountain.

DAY 2:

Uffizi

You can't go to Florence and not go to the Uffizi! And Michaelangelo's David. Today was going to be for culture-vulturing.

Michaelangelo's David

“When all was finished, it cannot be denied that this work has carried off the palm from all other statues, modern or ancient, Greek or Latin; no other artwork is equal to it in any respect, with such just proportion, beauty and excellence did Michelagnolo finish it”. (Vasari)

Created between 1501 and 1504, and originally meant to be one of a series of large statues to be positioned in the niches of the Florence Cathedral's tribunes 80 metres above ground level, the 14 ft. marble statue depicts the Biblical hero David, represented as a standing male nude.

Michaelangelo was asked to complete an unfinished project begun in 1464 which had been abandoned by two sculptors because of the presence of too many imperfections in the enormous block of marble that threatened the stability of such a huge statue. He accepted the challenge and worked constantly for over 2 years to create this masterpiece. He worked in utmost secrecy, unveiling his completed statue in 1504 when it was immediately agreed that it was far too good to be placed up high. A committee was convened to find an alternative site, eventually deciding on the Piazza della Signoria in the political heart of Florence. It took 4 days and 40 men to move it.

“It was midnight, May 14th, and the Giant was taken out of the workshop. They even had to tear down the archway, so huge he was. Forty men were pushing the large wooden cart where David stood protected by ropes, sliding it through town on trunks. The Giant eventually got to Signoria Square on June 8th 1504, where it was installed next to the entrance to the Palazzo Vecchio, replacing Donatello’s bronze sculpture of Judith and Holofernes”. (Luca Landucci)