Archive for 'Florence'

Explore this fascinating part of Florence city, which is off the beaten tourist track, called Oltrarno! It means ’Across the Arno’ and can be visited most directly by crossing the Ponte Vecchio, a very old bridge that crosses the large Arno River. Strangely, during World War II, the German army destroyed every bridge in Florence except for this one!

Tourists wishing to stay in this city for a few days have a huge range of Florence holiday rentals to choose from where they can relax and admire the city views and attractions!
Start off your day of exploring the Oltrarno by stepping of the other side of the Vecchio Bridge to the south side of Florence.

This quarter is packed full of beautiful artisan shops, antique stalls, delicious restaurants, craft fairs and much more. The added benefit is that it still is home to many lovely museums and churches to walk around but it’s much calmer than the busiest area of Florence where Palazzo Vecchio and the Uffizi gallery are.

There are three primary areas in the quarter worth visiting; Santo Spirito, San Niccolò and San Frediano. Firstly, why not visit the famous Capella Brancacci decorated with exquisite Renaissance frescoes in the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine. The architecture of this building is mesmerising and is one of the finest examples you’ll find in the city!

If your are holidaying in or close to the city of Florence in Tuscany then a day trip around the Palazzo Strozzi is well worth your time! Situated between the Piazza Strozzi and the Tornabuoni road, this beautiful building and exhibition space is one of the finest examples of domestic Renaissance architecture in all of Florence.

Tourists planning to come here have plenty of luxurious holiday apartments and other rental accommodation available to them, both within Florence city and the surrounding area. Palazzo Strozzi is about a ten minute walk North West of the nearest train and bus station which is called Firenze Santa Maria Novella.

Palazzo Strozzi’s foundation was laid in 1489 but wasn’t completed until 1538. It was the home of the noble Strozzi family and remained in their ownership until 1937. It now belongs to the city of Florence and is its largest exhibition platform. Visitors can immerse themselves in the sheer magnificence of the exterior architectural design before going inside to be spoiled with an ocean of visual beauty from the many exhibitions it houses within its walls.

The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore (English: Basilica of Saint Mary of the Flower) is the main church of Florence, Italy. The Duomo, as it is ordinarily called, was begun in 1296 in the Gothic style to the design of Arnolfo di Cambio and completed structurally in 1436 with the dome engineered by Filippo Brunelleschi.
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 façade by Emilio De Fabris.


The cathedral complex, located in Piazza del Duomo, includes the Baptistery and Giotto's Campanile. The three buildings are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site covering the historic centre of Florence and are a major attraction to tourists visiting the region of Tuscany. The basilica is one of Italy's largest churches, and until development of new structural materials in the modern era, the dome was the largest in the world. It remains the largest brick dome ever constructed.
The cathedral is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Florence, whose archbishop is currently Giuseppe Betori.

Ted Jones, the author of 'Florence And Tuscany: A Literary Guide for Travellers', was kind enough to write this introduction to his book. We highly recommend the book for all literary-minded travellers.

Perhaps no other city contains so many visual treasures than Florence. Painting, sculpture, architecture, gardens – a gilded gallery of a city so stunning it can cause visitors to collapse in their hotel rooms, not from exhaustion, but from inspiration overload.

In the midst of this mind-bending beauty, it is easy to forget that Florence is also the birthplace of modern literature. Dante Alighieri, in the 14th century, created the Italian language while writing what is probably the most iconic post-Homer poem in human history – The Divine Comedy.

If Helen of Troy was the “lady who launched a thousand ships,” Florence is the city that captivated legions of writers – John Milton, Charles Dickens, E.M. Forster, Mary Shelley, D.H. Lawrence, T.S. Eliot, Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Oscar Wilde, and countless others.

And why not?