FLORENCE private tour: the cradle of the Renaissance

The guided tour of Florence will immerse you in the historic center of the city cradle of the Renaissance where the greatest Italian artists have expressed all their magnificence. The guided tour starts from the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella, one of the most important works of the Florentine Renaissance and amazes for its facade with white and green marble; inside it houses the paintings by Masaccio and two famous crucifixes, that of Giotto in the central nave and the wooden one by Brunelleschi in one of the chapels. Continuing our external tour we arrive at the Basilica of San Lorenzo, recognizable by the incomplete facade that Michelangelo should have made but was never finished. It was for some time the cathedral of Florence as well as the symbolic church of the wealthy Medici family and houses several works of art including those by Donatello, buried in the crypt.

The church is part of a monumental complex which includes a delightful cloister and the imposing Medici Chapels. Walking through the streets of the center full of shops that work leather, we arrive in the heart of the city in the historic Piazza del Duomo where you can admire three of the symbolic monuments of Florence, the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, Giotto’s Bell Tower and the Baptistery of S. Giovanni. The imposing Gothic-style church with the facade covered with pink, white and green marbles pushes our gaze upwards towards the immense red brick dome designed by Brunelleschi and the adjacent bell tower with the same type of marble decorating the Duomo. The bell tower designed by Giotto and testimony of the Gothic architecture of the fourteenth century, was enriched with sculptural decorations by great Florentine masters such as Donatello and Luca Della Robbia.

The Baptistery of S. Giovanni has a geometric aspect with an octagonal plan and is also famous for its three magnificent gilded bronze portals. The guided tour continues by discovering one of the most popular squares of the Tuscan city, Piazza del Mercato Nuovo, dominated by an elegant Loggia and made famous by the many tourists who flock to the fountain of the “piglet”. In reality, the bronze statue depicts a wild boar and popular tradition has it that touching the nose brings good luck. A few steps away we find the oldest crossing on the Arno river, Ponte Vecchio, another symbol of Florence that has become famous because on this bridge there are only goldsmiths and jewelers’ shops. Along the Lungarno you can see part of the Vasari Corridor above Ponte Vecchio, built in 1565 to allow the Medici family to move from Palazzo Vecchio to Palazzo Pitti without crossing the streets of the city.

Strolling through the evocative streets of the historic center we arrive in the splendid Piazza della Signoria, the center of political life, overlooked by the imposing Palazzo Vecchio with the iconic Arnolfo Tower overlooking the entire square, a copy of Michelangelo’s David. , the fountain of Neptune, the Loggia dei Lanzi and a few steps away from the Uffizi Gallery, the most important museum full of priceless works of art in Italy. The tour ends by arriving in another historic square that houses the Basilica of Santa Croce, this Franciscan Basilica, with its polychrome marble facade, is the burial place of the greats of Florence such as Michelangelo, Rossini, Macchiavelli and Galileo Galilei as well as a commemorative monument to Dante, also testified by the statue placed on one side of the entrance.

Included:

• Walking tour with licensed tour guide

Not included:

• Food and drinks
• Museum tickets
• Transfer service

What to bring:

• Comfortable shoes
• Water
• Sun hat on hot days

Meeting point:

• Piazza Santa Maria Novella square (Basilica entrance)