Florence in one day. Part 2 |
Piazza della Signoria - the square in front of Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. Was the center of political life at the time of the Florentine republic. Now it is a tourist center.
Here sat priors. Palazzo Vecchio, famous for its windows were hanged conspirators who wanted to kill Lorenzo de 'Medici. This story in detail is shown in the film Hannibal by Thomas Harris novel.
Here, have one of the copies of Michelangelo's David. Originally the sculpture was intended to decorate the cathedral. Hence, these proportions - for review below. Then plans changed. As a result, the statue was in front of the Palazzo Vecchio. In the XIX century, the original was replaced with a copy. "Real" David now stands at the Academy of Fine Arts. Before entering the palace, you can admire David with unusual angle in an unusual light: the light breaks from the narrow lane leading to the Uffizi Gallery.
Here, a slight delay. During this time, you can enjoy the patio in the style of the early Renaissance. We pass a metal detector and go to the ticket window. Climb into the halls of the palace.
Salone dei Cinquecento was intended for meetings of the Grand Council (Consiglio Maggiore) consisting of 500 members. Magnificent design made ??after the destruction of frescoes by Leonardo and Michelangelo. However, the original remained a group of sculptures by Michelangelo, "Genius, trampling brute force" (Genio della Vittoria).
Another set of rooms with the spirit of the Middle Ages and the Florentine republic. Do not forget to look around, peek in windows and in small oak doors in narrow hallways. Here you can find den, which contained the well-known criminals or a chic wardrobe, which is the toilet of the XV century ... Interesting technology!
Go back to the street and walk south, past the Uffizi Gallery. You can look at the length of the queue and estimate the probability of visiting the gallery. There are two options. The queue stretched out before the "From standing about three hours." Or, Near the entrance hovers over a dozen people, that is not so rare, especially in the afternoon. In the second case, it is possible to visit the gallery. To this will be enough for several hours, because of its size is not so great, compared with the Hermitage, for example.
We went out on the promenade and go to the right - toward the bridge. It settled artists and souvenir sellers.
Come to Ponte Vecchio - the oldest and most famous bridge in Florence. The second level of bridge (Vasari's Corridor) connects the Uffizi Gallery and the Palazzo Pitti, and built for Cosimo I. In the main part of the bridge a lot of jewelry stores. One version of the appearance of the shops here says that in times of persecution of the Jews they were forbidden to settle on both riverbanks. So they settled down and opened their shops on the bridge.
If you plan to visit Florence with girlfriend, then advance plan at least an hour just on that bridge. Less fail. Jewels here are diverse, high quality and relatively low price. It also sells products from color glass, which is no worse than in Venice. If you go back a dozen yards down the street that goes to the bridge, you will see many shops with leather goods.
From the bridge you can go further, to the square Piazza de 'Pitti. There is a large gallery Pitti (Palazzo Pitti), which are usually held various exhibitions of crafts. Through the gallery can be reached in a large park that extends to Fort Belvedere, in one of the best lookouts in the city. But it takes a lot of time, including at least, and the entrance fee. So we go back to the quay and the ancient narrow lanes going in the direction of Piazzale Michelangelo, which is more commonly known observation deck.
House of the medieval windows, wrought-iron lattice. The street is narrow curved corridor up. How old are you know, when you see a sign in memory of Francis of Assisi, dated 1211 year.
We are approaching the steep ascent to the platform. Cars go around a serpentine. There is only for pedestrians.
We rise upward. Heavy lifting brightens communication with the local population whiskered and tailed.
From left to go out on the viewpoint. City from calendars and greeting cards. The weather was lucky today
2011.02.14
