UNESCO Historic Centre of Florence (Firenze)

I reached Florence by almost night 9:30 and directly went off to the hostel. My actual exploration of Florence started on the next day. I had booked the entry of Galleria dell'Accademia at 8:15AM when it opens its doors. I had booked for Uffizi by noon and by afternoon was my bus to Pisa. So I was exploring Florence soon after I got out of Galleria till I entered Uffizi.

Firenze Duomo and David were my primary inspirations to visit Florence. Its a place that I wanted to see since, not my college days, but my school days. Long back I was gifted a table calendar by someone called 'Renaissance' with its cover image as Florence Duomo and 12 Renaissance paintings in the monthly pages. And I was so so so enthralled to see it from a distance. While learning about it online to buy tickets, I came to know that its entry is free and no booking is required. However when I went there, the queue was.............................

The queue began at the door of the Duomo and went all around the duomo!!! At certain places there were placards that gave an idea of how much more time is expected to reach the entrance! And the place where this queue ended, the placard was at 2.5hrs!!!!!!!!!! There was absolutely no point in waiting in that queue, so I just began to pacify myself with just the outside view of the Duomo.

There was a very short queue though. But that was to see the dome of the Duomo which has tickets that could be booked online for a particular time slot. Also the Museum and Bell Tower have a time slot booking system which is a part of the Dome visit ticket. Once you're inside, you can see the Cathedral as well! However if you opt to see just the Cathedral for free, no choice than to stand in the queue.

The Cathedral is called Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore or Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flowers and along with its Baptistry and Campanile, together they are listed under UNESCO. Its construction began in 1296 and was completed in 1436, after being stopped for several times due to various reasons incl death of architect, war, unrest etc. The exterior of the basilica is faced with polychrome marble panels in various shades of green and pink bordered by white and has an elaborate 19th-century Gothic Revival facade.

Leaving the cathedral, I stopped by at the Open Air Museum - Loggia della Signoria. Next I had a look at another piazza - Piazza della Republica where 2 things attracted me. One was this arch called the Arcone designed by Micheli with an inscription on it that says that the ancient city has revived. Second was an awesome carousel aka merry-go-round complete with Renaissance styled images atop!

There are several pillars with statues atop & fountains scattered all over Florence. As I was walking the streets of Florence, kinda aimlessly (since Duomo visit flopped), just admiring the old world charm and the inherernt chaotic nature (that's so similar to India). Almost every building in the town was ancient. And then I saw a group of tourists who were being explained by a tour guide. So I stopped to figure out what's so important in that. It was a church and there was a plaque which explained its history.... - Its the Orsanmichele Church & Museum.

Documents for the existence of this church are from 893 CE which was demolished in 1239. Later on this was built as a granary in early 1290 CE. It was then a loggia with lots of open spaces and was used as for agricultural marketplace. The original architects were Andrea Pissano, Francesco Talenti, Neri di Fioravante, and Benci di Cione. However later the place became more known for its painitng of Madonna on a pillar and miracles associated with it.

So the loggia was closed with exquisite stained glass work and gothic styled arched windows. Several sculptures were made to ornate the church and some were even made of bronze all between 1399-1430. These were funded by the various guilds of that era incl Silk workers, Linen workers, Physicians, Furriers, Butchers, Bankers, Armorours etc. Those bronze sculptures were made the rich guilds. Once this was the most beautiful collection of sculptures by the greatest Gothic artists.

Today some of the sculptures have been moved to the 1st floor which is today a museum. The original tabernacles (similar to Goshtam in Hindu temples) are filled with replicas of original sculptures. Efforts are on to move all the sculptures and refill with replicas. Unfortunately I did not get to visit the Museum as its open only on Mondays. The main painting of Madonna is Madonna della Grazie from 1346 by Bernardo Daddi. The Marble Altar is by Andrea Orcagna made in 1359. Beside the main altar is the altar of St.Anne.

Some of the sculptures were so exquisite and the one I liked the most was of Thomas and Jesus which depicts Thomas reaching out to touch the wound on Jesus' chest. Infact this is the one that faces an important road there called Via dei Calzaiuoli (well, that's the shopping street with all the high end brand showrooms). The entire church is completely filled with frecoes on its wall and ceiling, mostly of 14th C CE.

Infact even before I got to Galleria dell'Accademia, on my way from the hostel to here, I came across Piazza della Santissima Annunziata. Its a square from which both the Duomo and Galleria are accessible. Bang at the centre of the Piazza is an Equestrian Monument of Ferdinando I made in 1602. Plus there are also 2 fountains here. These were sculpted by Pietro Tacca.

This bridge is across river Arno and that's the view from Uffizi. This is the oldest bridge in Florence and is called the Ponte Vecchio. Its a medieval stone closed bridge filled with shops all over. The earliest reference of this bridge is from 996 CE. The current structure was built in 1345 CE. Guess what, the whole of this area of Florence incl Duomo, Galleria, Uffizi, Ponte Vecchio, Loggia dei Lanzi, and many more monuments together is called the Historic Centre of Florence and all of it are under UNESCO!

Finally, roaming about the streets of Florence, I had a strange sense of belonging.... As weird as it may sound - the streets were filled with hawkers and open spaces near places of interest were filled with flea markets - soooo much like Chennai or Mumbai or Delhi!!!!!

To Get There:
Florence Duomo:
Nearest Metro Station: Santa Maria Novella

Entry Ticket to dome of Duomo (combined with Baptistry, Bell Tower, Museum, Crypt etc): €15.00

Museum alone is closed on the first Tuesday every month.

Orsanmichele Church & Museum
Entry Ticket: Free
Timings of Church: 10:00AM to 17:00PM Everyday
Timings of Museum: 10:00AM to 17:00PM Mondays only

Here are some tips:

There are way too many sites that sell tickets for entry and I had a tough time to figure out which is real and which is fake, so let me make your life easier - Official Florence Duomo Tickets

UNESCO Historic Centre of Florence (Firenze) - Italy

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