Firenze: Art Galleries, Churches, & more Gelato!

After a short 2 hour train ride from Venice we arrived in Florence. We had about a 20 minute walk form the station over to our hotel. Since we were so early, we locked our bags up at the hotel and then set out to explore the city. We headed over the Uffizi Gallery first. The Gallery houses the greatest collection of Italian paintings, including those by Michelangelo, Raphael, and Leonardo. Some of the paintings and sculptures were cool, but art galleries aren't really for me. After the gallery, I wanted to venture over to the Piazzale Michelangelo, which is a hilltop terrace that has sweeping views of the entire city.

Views from Piazzale Michelangelo:

Statue of David Replica by Michelangelo:

Just behid the Piazzale was San Miniato Church. The Church, named after Saint  Minias, was built in the 11th century to house St. Minias' remains. Surrounding the church is the first Christian cemetery of Florence. Some of the tomb-stones looked really old and were somewhat creepy at times. It is amazing how old some of the buildings are that we have been touring. To think that a church built in the 11th century is still standing and functioning is quite remarkable.

 

 

 

 

The Church:

 

In front of the church, Florence in backdrop:

 

Part of the Cemetery:

 

Walking back down from the Piazzale:

 

Walking back towards city over the historical Ponte Vecchio Bridge with shops:

 After touring the church and grounds we headed back over to the city center and decided to check out the Duomo, aka the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiores. The Gothic Cathedral took about 600 years to build and wasn't finished until the 1870's. It was built with a big hole in the roof, awaiting a dome; for which the technology to build did not even exist yet. The outside of the Cathedral is covered with pink, green, and white Tuscan marble, but is best known for it's magnificent dome. The dome was the first Renaissance Dome and was the model for domes to follow.

 Cathedrale di Santa Maria Del Fiores::

Once at the Cathedral we first climbed up the campanile, which is a 270 foot bell tower. Going up the narrow stairway was tough, but the views at the top were well worth it!.

Views from the Campanile: 



 

 

 Duomo from the Campanile:

Next we climbed up to the top of the Dome. On the way up we had great views of the mosaic painted on the inside of the dome. The views up the top were again spectacular. We could see the entire city in all directions.

Top of Duomo:

After climbing all those stairs we were ready for some dinner. We went to a restaurant on the north side of town, that was lively and really fun. The food was great, and they kept refilling our lemoncello glasses! Mmmmm.

During our second day in Florence, we set out around 830am to check out Accademia. This gallery houses the famous statue of David, sculpted by Michelangelo in 1501. It also houses several other unfinished statues and more Renaissance paintings. The statue of David was enormous and quite impressive, but again, I am not big on art galleries.

 

Famous Statue of David by Michaelangelo, Accademia:

Statue of David towering above stands @ 17 ft tall:

After Accademia we wandered through the Mercato Centrale market. Outside it was mostly leather hand bags and scarfs, but inside they had a fresh fish and meat market that was really cool to see. There were other vegetable, cheese, and wine stands. The rest of the day we decided to rest up, plan for Rome, do some laundry, and rest some more! Traveling and sightseeing can be exhausting!

 

Mercato Meat Market:

 

Pig's Feet!