Introduction
Page 2 (Piazza della Signoria, Palazzo Vecchio, Uffizi)
Page 3 (Duomo, Baptistery, Piazza della Repubblica)
Page 4 (Ponte Vecchio, Pitti Palace, Accademia)
Academia Gallery profile

GOING ASHORE EXPERIENCE:

WALKING THROUGH FLORENCE

FLORENCE, ITALY

by

Richard H. Wagner

page 4

Ponte Vecchio

The guided tour ended at the Duomo. However, we had some “free time” before we had to be back at the coach. Most of the people on the tour, opted to go shopping. However, I decided to visit a few major sites that had not been on the route taken by our guide.

Retracing my steps back to the banks of the River Arno, I came to the Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge). This is supposedly the narrowest point of the Arno and there has been a bridge at this location since Roman times.

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The current bridge dates from 1345 and is medieval in design. In those days, it was common to have shops on a bridge and the shops on this bridge have continued to this day. Originally, the shops included butchers and tanners. Because of the unpleasant odors this created, Grand Duke Ferdinando I decreed in 1593 that only jewelers and goldsmiths could have shops on the bridge and you still see jewelry shops on the bridge today.

At the end of World War II when the Germans were retreating, the Ponte Vecchio was the only brdige over the Arno that they did not destroy. The bridge also survived the great flood of 1966 when the Arno overflowed its banks.

The Pitti Palace

After crossing the Ponte Vecchio, I continued a few streets inland to another great museum and historical site: the Palazzo Pitti. This severe and somewhat forbidding looking building sprawls like a fortress along the high ground on the left side of the road.

The Pitti Palace was begun in 1458 by Luca Pitti, a Florentine banker. One of his descendents sold the building to Eleonora di Toledo the wife of Cosimo I de' Medici. Cosimo enlarged the palace and under his son, Ferndinando I, it became the principal residence of the Medici. It continued to be the main palace even after Tuscany passed to the House of Lorraine and then to the House of Savoy. Napoleon used the Pitti Palace during his occupation of Tuscany and it was the residence of the king during the period that Florence was the capital of Italy.    

Over the years, the occupants of the Pitti Palace collected many great works of art. Today, some 500 works by artists such as Raphael, Titian, Correggio and Rubens are in the Palatine Gallery. Also open to view is a Modern Art Gallery, several smaller collections and the 14 room Royal Apartments.

For information on visiting the Pitti Palace click here.

Left: After the Pitti Palace came into the Medici family, Cosimo ordered the constriction of an above ground passageway that would connect the Pitti Palace to the Palazzo Vecchio. The Vasari Corridor was completed in just five months and allowed the Medici to move from one residence to the other without an escort and without mixing with the common people. 

Galleria Accademia

Florence's other great art museum is off in the opposite direction. Returning to the Duomo, I walked up the Via Ricasoli a few blocks to the Accadmia Gallery.  (This route takes you outside of the pedestrian-only portion of the city so beware of auto traffic).

Founded in 1563 by Cosimo I, the Accademia e Compagnia delle Arti del Disegno was an organization of the working artists of Florence. Michelangelo was a member. In 1748, Grand Duke Pietro Leopldo combined all of the city's artistic academies into the Accademia di Belle Arti, or academy of fine arts.  The Academy Gallery was established to provide students with an opportunity to study the works of past masters.

The academy is housed in a former convent. Its most famous work is the statue of David by Michelangelo. (See separate profile).

Above: The Accademia.
Below:  Nearby is the Church of San Marco, which contains works by Fra Angelico. 

Click here to return to page one of this tour
Click here for our article/photo tour of Pisa
Click here for our article on cruise port Livorno
Click here for our section on Venice, Italy 

Cruise article - Walking Through Florence - Florence, Italy - page 4