If you were living in the heart of the Renaissance where would you be?
You guessed it!…. Florence, Italy!
After staying in Morocco, we returned to Barcelona and drove to Florence, Italy. While there we stayed in a nice apartment in the perfect location. We were right in the beautiful market called Mercat Central. It was near all of the important churches like the Church of Santa Maria Novella and the Duomo. When we arrived, the first thing we wanted to do was get to know the neighborhood by going on some tours. The first tour was about the Renaissance period. Here are some interesting things we learned while on the tour.
The Church of Santa Maria Novella
The Church of Santa Maria Novella is a beautiful church and has a tall facade made of green and white Italian marble. The top of the facade was built in the renaissance style and the bottom was built in the Medieval style. The church was sponsored by Johanes Orcicellarivs, who advertised his family’s business through designs on the front. For example, his name is in huge letters at the top of the church. His family symbol is the sail like a sail on a boat or a ship. Above the fresco, painted by Sandro Botticelli located above the big door in the middle, there is a whole row of sails. This is an example of the first logo. I think it was a really good idea to use the church to advertise their business because they did not have any billboards. I really enjoyed looking at the facade and learning about its history.
Santa Maria del Fiore
The Santa Maria del Fiore is a huge church also mostly made out of green and white Italian marble. It is the third biggest church in the world. The most noticeable feature on this church is the big dome placed on top of the church crowned with a golden cross. Right next to the facade of the church is a tall bell tower. It is made of green and white Italian marble. Physically, the tower is not connected to the church, but is actually the church’s bell tower. I think it is a smart idea to make the bell tower separate to the church so if the tower falls down away from the rest of it, they wont have to re-build the entire thing, just the bell tower…. If it falls towards the church, then they might have to re-build the whole building….
The Baptistry
Right in front of the facade of the Duomo, is the Baptistry. Unfortunatly, it was under resteration and was covered in scaffolding but we could still see that it was made of green and white Italian marble. Even though we did not see a lot of the walls, we did see the best part of the whole structure…. The bronze doors. There are three doors for the Baptistery, one on the north, south and east sides. They are tall doors with many detailed carvings on the front which tell the story of the bible. At the moment only one door is a shiny gold colour but maybe after the restoration all three will be shiny.
Interesting Facts About Florence
- Did you know that Carlo Collodi, the author of the children’s story “Pinocchio“, lived in Florence?
- Did you know that Michelangelo lived in Florence?
- Did you know that in the medieval times, people lived in medieval towers? Whenever there was a civil war, the winning team would go to the losing side and chop down the towers?
- Did you know that the traditional sandwich in Florence is called Lampredotto and contains the cows stomach?
- Did you know that Florence has a lot of floods and one of the highest the water has risen to was seven meters tall?
- Did you know that Florence has an underground city from many years ago? Under the Gucci Museum there is a Roman theater and under Chanel are the Roman villas.
- Florence reminded me of Barcelona because there was so much street art all around the city.
I really enjoyed Florence, especially the green and white Italian marble and hope to return in a few years to see the Baptistery when it is finished being restored.
Comments
12 responses to “Our First Tour of Florence”
Thank you for the unique look at Florence and the background on some of the people who lived there. Also loved your “Did you know” comments. Your family staying in apartments must be great as you get to get a real feel for a place as well as spreading out a bit as a family. And you get to try your recipes!
Hi!
It is also really nice staying in apartments because we have space! A lot of space! 🙂
Florence was my favourite city in Italy Zoe! I learned a lot more about it from your blog and pictures. Love Teta Doreen xoxo
Hope you had a great birthday!
Hi!
Florence is also one of my favourite cities in Italy! I had an AWESOME BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
Hi Zoë happy birthday!!!!!!
Hi!
Thanks for the birthday wishes!!!!!!!!!!!! 🙂
Hi Zoe,
We’re going to Florence and Rome in March so I’m really interested in all your stories about Italy. Keep up the great work!
Hi!
After your travels in Italy, please tell us what you did and how you liked it!
I, too, enjoyed Florence greatly! Loved your “Interesting facts,” and in depth architectural coverage! Your photos are beautiful!
Thanks for sharing, I can hardly wait to hear what you did on your Birthday! Love Baba
Hi!
My birthday was Awesome! 🙂 We were on a cruise boat going around Greece and Turkey! The first thing we did on my birthday was walk around in Olympia, Greece. We saw many things such as where the first Olympics was held and ran on the running track.
When we returned to the boat, the housekeeping staff sang “Happy Birthday” and gave me a cupcake! After, we had a delicious dinner and the waiters also gave me a cake! It was so Yummy! After, we went to see a live show in the theatre! The show was very funny and the man who performed was very talented! He mad a lot of shadow puppets that looked real such as a bird, a moose and E.T. We finished the day off with a party in our cabin and did a lot of fun activities! 🙂
Hi, Zoe, what a great posting, I especially enjoyed your write up on the beautiful church Santa Maria del Fiore. I have a photo of it pinned on a wall to the basement, to remind me that one day I’ll see this beautiful masterpiece. You can imagine that I enjoyed your photos from the different angles very much. I had no idea it is so big and the fassade is so amazing. Every part of it is a piece of art. I wonder how long it took to build this. I just loved the street art, because there is always a sense of humor attached to it. It is fun to go with you on a tour
HI!
Thanks for commenting! You are right, that church is a masterpiece….. I think all of the churches around the world that I have seen are masterpieces.
I also like street art because it there are some that are funny. My favourite one that I put in my post is the one with the people carrying the king! 🙂 Which one is yours?