Florence Vacation Packages & Travel Deals
The Italian capital city of Florence is a box of cultural, artistic, and architectural marvels. Florence is the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance and Opera, and is also credited for reinventing golden Florin as the preferred currency in the city. It is worth noting that Florin had played a crucial role in revival of Italian trade and commerce and had made this beautiful city one of the wealthiest in the world at one time. Today, this affluent city is home to many museums and art galleries that tell the proud story of how this city has been a European powerhouse in its own might.
Places of Interest in Florence
National Museu del Bargello (or the National Museum of Bargello)
For an art enthusiast, there is no better place in Italy than the National Museu del Bargello. This state-of-the-art museum is considered to be one of the best in the country for its delightful range of Renaissance and Mannerist sculptures. It has an extensive display of some of the most famous works of maestros like Michelangelo, Donatello, Ammannati and Rossellino. The museum also has an enviable collection of ceramics, textile, tapestries, ivory, silver, armors and old coins. Once through with it, you should watch out for a stellar artwork called ‘Sacrificio di Isacco (or the Sacrifice of Isaac).’ This masterpiece was made by two artists to contest for the second set of doors of the Florence Baptistery in 1401 AD and is immensely popular among the tourists even today for its historical and artistic worth.
Santa Maria del Fiore (Santa Maria of Fiore)
A hot cake among all seasons, the Santa Maria del Fiore cathedral is a stunning masterpiece of Italian Gothic architecture. You would be particularly impressed with its huge dome and this is understandable because its construction was an almost miraculous piece of structural engineering that was successfully pulled off by the master architect, Filippo Brunelleschi. Its interiors are known for Giorgio Vasari's frescoes of the Last Judgment (1572-79 AD), and a number of stained glass windows. Visitors may climb upstairs all the way to the top of the dome to get an enthralling view of the city.
Santa Croce
The Santa Croce church contains the tombs of some of the greatest Italian names in the history and the list includes Galileo, Michelangelo, Machiavelli, and Dante. This church is also known for its top notch artistic decorations and allied artworks on its interiors. Next up is the stunner called Museo dell'Opera di Santa Croce (or the Museum of Opera of Santa Croce). It contains a flood-ravaged but a still surviving and beautiful Crucifix by Cimabue that is symbolic of the floods that had rocked the city in 1966 AD