home click highlighted hovered text for more info, see help

Florence UNESCO world heritage sites

Florence north

Fortezza da Basso at Viale Filippo Strozzi, 1
Fortezza da Basso was designed by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger for Alessandro de' Medici, Duke of Florence and built between 1534 and 1537. It is the largest historical monument of Florence.
Pandolfini Palace at Via S. Gallo, 74
The Palazzo Pandolfini is considered as one of the most beautiful building to be constructed in Florence during the Late Renaissance period.
San Marco Museum at Piazza San Marco, 3
It comprises a church and a convent. The convent, which is now a museum, has three claims to fame. During the 15th century it was home to two famous Dominicans, the painter Fra Angelico and the preacher Girolamo Savonarola. Also housed at the convent is a famous collection of manuscripts in a library built by Michelozzo.
Hospital of Innocents at Piazza della Santissima Annunziata, 12
The building reveals a clean and clear sense of proportion. The height of the columns is the same as the width of the intercolumniation and the width of the arcade, making each bay a cube.
Riccardi Medici Palace at Via Camillo Cavour, 3
The Palazzo Medici, also called the Palazzo Medici Riccardi after the later family that acquired and expanded it, is a Renaissance palace located in Florence, Italy. It is the seat of the Metropolitan City of Florence and a museum.
Medici Chapels at Piazza di Madonna degli Aldobrandini, 6
The Medici Chapels form part of the monumental complex of San Lorenzo. The church of San Lorenzo was the official church of the Medici from their period as private residents in their palace in Via Larga (now via Cavour), becoming their mausoleum which houses most of the family.
Laurentian Medici Library at Piazza San Lorenzo, 9
The library is renowned for its architecture, designed by Michelangelo, and is an example of Mannerism.
Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore on Piazza del Duomo
The basilica is one of Italy's largest churches, and until the 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.

Florence center north

Giotto's Bell Tower on Piazza del Duomo
Clad in white, red and green marble like the cathedral adjacent to it, the majestic square bell tower, considered to be the most beautiful campanile in Italy and probably designed more for decorative than for functional purposes, was begun by Giotto in 1334.
Loggia del Bigallo at Piazza di San Giovanni, 1
The Compagnia di Santa Maria del Bigallo or simply del Bigallo, was founded in 1244 by Saint Peter of Verona, Saint Peter Martyr, and was formerly housed near Orsanmichele. This group focused on the housing of the indigent, and also cared for pilgrims and travellers at their Ospedale di Santa Maria alle Fonti, nicknamed "del Bigallo", at Fonteviva.
The Baptistery of St. John on Piazza di San Giovanni
The Baptistry is one of the oldest buildings in the city, constructed between 1059 and 1128 in the Florentine Romanesque style.
Basilica of St Lawrence at Piazza di San Lorenzo, 9
The Basilica di San Lorenzo (Basilica of St Lawrence) is one of the largest churches of Florence, Italy, situated at the centre of the city's main market district, and the burial place of all the principal members of the Medici family from Cosimo il Vecchio to Cosimo III. It is one of several churches that claim to be the oldest in Florence; when it was consecrated in 393.
Basilica of Santa Maria Novella at Piazza di Santa Maria Novella, 18
The church, the adjoining cloister, and chapter house contain a multiplicity of art treasures and funerary monuments. Especially famous are frescoes by masters of Gothic and early Renaissance.

Florence center west

Church and Museum of Orsanmichele on Via dell'Arte della Lana
Located on the Via Calzaiuoli in Florence, the church was originally built as a grain market in 1337 by Francesco Talenti, Neri di Fioravante, and Benci di Cione. Between 1380 and 1404, it was converted into a church used as the chapel of Florence's powerful craft and trade guilds.
Loggia of the New Market at Via Calimala, 6
Initially, it was intended for the sale of silk and luxury goods and then for the famous straw hats, but today mainly leather goods and souvenirs are sold.
Spini Feroni Palace at Piazza di Santa Trinita, 5
The palace was commissioned in 1289 by the rich cloth merchant and banker Geri Spini, on plots that he had bought after the 1288 flood of the Arno, from the monks of Santa Trinita.
Strozzi Palace on Piazza degli Strozzi
The construction of the palace was begun in 1489 by Benedetto da Maiano, for Filippo Strozzi the Elder, a rival of the Medici who had returned to the city in November 1466 and desired the most magnificent palace to assert his family's continued prominence and, perhaps more important, a political statement of his own status.
Rucellai Palace at Via della Vigna Nuova, 18
Its splendid facade was one of the first to proclaim the new ideas of Renaissance architecture based on the use of pilasters and entablatures in proportional relationship to each other. The Rucellai Palace demonstrates the impact of the antique revival but does so in a manner which is full of Renaissance originality.

Florence center east

Pazzi Chapel at Piazza S. Croce, 16
Commonly credited to Filippo Brunelleschi, it is considered to be one of the masterpieces of Renaissance architecture.
Basilica of the Holy Cross at Piazza di Santa Croce, 16
It is the burial place of some of the most illustrious Italians, such as Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli, the poet Foscolo, the philosopher Gentile and the composer Rossini, thus it is known also as the Temple of the Italian Glories (Tempio dell'Itale Glorie).
Gondi Palace at Via de Gondi, 2
It was built in 1490 under design by Giuliano da Sangallo, who was inspired by other major works of stately buildings in the city, such as Palazzo Medici and Palazzo Strozzi. Among the elements borrowed from these earlier works are the cube-shape set around a central courtyard, the ashlar sloping on each of three floors, and the arched windows.
Old Palace on Piazza della Signoria
The building is crowned with projecting crenellated battlement, supported by small arches and corbels. Under the arches are a repeated series of nine painted coats of arms of the Florentine republic. Some of these arches can be used as embrasures (spiombati) for dropping heated liquids or rocks on invaders.
Loggia dei Lanzi on Piazza della Signoria 6
The Loggia dei Lanzi, also called the Loggia della Signoria, is a building on a corner of the Piazza della Signoria in Florence, Italy, adjoining the Uffizi Gallery. It consists of wide arches open to the street. The arches rest on clustered pilasters with Corinthian capitals.
Uffizi Gallery at Piazzale degli Uffizi, 6
One of the most important Italian museums, and the most visited, it is also one of the largest and best known in the world, and holds a collection of priceless works, particularly from the period of the Italian Renaissance.

Florence south

Old Bridge at Ponte Vecchio
The bridge spans the Arno at its narrowest point where it is believed that a bridge was first built in Roman times, when the via Cassia crossed the river at this point. The Roman piers were of stone, the superstructure of wood.
St Trinity Bridge at Ponte Santa Trinita
The Ponte Santa Trinita is the oldest elliptic arch bridge in the world, characterised by three flattened ellipses.
Basilica of the Holy Spirit at Piazza Santo Spirito, 30
The interior of the building - internal length 97 meters - is one of the preeminent examples of Renaissance architecture.
Pitti Palace at Piazza de' Pitti, 1
The core of the present palazzo dates from 1458 and was originally the town residence of Luca Pitti, an ambitious Florentine banker. The palace was bought by the Medici family in 1549 and became the chief residence of the ruling families of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. It grew as a great treasure house as later generations amassed paintings, plates, jewelry and luxurious possessions.
The Boboli Gardens at Piazza de' Pitti, 1
The park hosts centuries-old oak trees, sculptures, fountains and offers peaceful shelter from the warm Florentine sun in summer, the beautiful colors of the changing foliage in the fall and smells of blooming flowers in the spring. The Boboli gardens are a spectacular example of "green architecture" decorated with sculptures and the prototype which inspired many European Royal gardens, in particular, Versailles.
Belvedere Fort at Via di S. Leonardo, 1
Fort Belvedere was conceived as proof of the Medici‘s power, as is suggested by the villa built on top of the bastions: this small building is clearly visible from the city, and its shape is unmistakable in the panorama of the hills on the southern side of Florence.
Michelangelo Square on Piazzale Michelangelo
Piazzale Michelangelo (Michelangelo Square) is a square with a panoramic view of Florence, Italy, located in the Oltrarno district of the city.
Abbey of San Miniato al Monte at Via delle Porte Sante, 34
It has been described as one of the finest Romanesque structures in Tuscany and one of the most scenic churches in Italy. There is an adjoining Olivetan monastery, seen to the right of the basilica when ascending the stairs.