Florence Vacation

Museums in the center of Florence

The museums of Florence are a constellation. Some are like large stars that shine of their own light (the Uffizi Gallery the Academy, the Palatine Gallery, The Medici Chapels, the Garden of Boboli), though there are also smaller planets that few know and are visited even less . Considered as a whole, the museums of Florence form a vast and varied reality, with the diversities typical of a continent. They display everything you can think of: art and history, ethnography and folk traditions, scientific relics and excellent examples of craftsmanship, religious images and ancient classic myths, the oldest examples of antiquities and the most modern examples of modernity. Every year the museums of Florence are visited by almost six million visitors. Twelve million feet that weigh, stamp and consume. Twelve million hands that can touch and often do, because it is difficult to resist the temptation of caressing something we like and we want to transmit our admiration to. This means that the museums of Florence are also a problem ....from Museums and Galleries of Florence and surroundings ( Apt - Florence )

Florence therefore boasts a richest artistic patrimony, for having a modernized directory of the timetables :

Florence Museums

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Bargello Museum - The National Museum has its setting in one of the oldest buildings in Florence that dates back to 1255. Initially the headquarters of the Capitano del Popolo (Captain of the People) and later of the Podesta, the palace became, in the sixteenth century, the residence of the Bargello that is of the head of the police (from which the palace takes its name) and was used as prison during the whole 18th century. Its walls witnessed important episodes of civic history. It was the meeting place .. Bargello Museum

Uffizi Gallery - The building that is now seat of the Gallery was built in the mid-sixteenth century by the architect Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574) in a period when Cosimo I de` Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, was bureaucratically consolidating this recently acquired position. The building was meant in fact to house the offices of the magistrates (Uffici=offices). From the .... Uffizi Gallery

Accademia Gallery - The most enlightened prince of the Lorraine family that ruled over Tuscany for over a century, the Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo, united in 1784 all the Florentine drawing schools into one Academy. He also founded a gallery to exhibit earlier paintings with the aim of facilitating the study of the Academy`s pupils. The seat chosen is the present location of the Museum, a building that originally housed the Hospital of St. Matthew, enlarged in time through the addition of several adjoining spaces. The consistency and .. Accademia Gallery

Palazzo Pitti - The palace, which houses several important museums, was built in the second half of the 15th century probably on a project of Filippo Brunclleschi for Luca Pitti, but was unfinished at his death in 1472. The original building, formed by two floors and the ground floors, with only live windows on each floor, was purchased in 1550 by ... Palazzo Pitti

Museum Medici Chapels - The Medici Chapels form part of a monumental complex developed over almost two centuries in close connection with the adjoining church of S. Lorenzo, considered the "official" church of the Medici, who chose it at the time they lived in the neighbouring palace ol Via Larga (now Medici-Riccardi Palace). The decision to build their mausoleum in this church dates back to the 14th century .... Museum Medici Chapels

Alinari Museum - The Museo di storia della fotografia Fratelli Alinari (Fratelli Alinari Museum of History of Photography) was inaugurated in 1985. unique in its kind in Italy and one of the fourteen musuems in the whole world, today this collection is the only national institution devoted exclusively to photographic exhibitions. It preserves about 350,000 old positives – “vintage prints” – printed on ... Alinari Museum

Casa Buonarroti - Museum and monument. A place to remember and celebrate the greatness of Michelangelo and at the same time a pompous and Baroque exhibition of the art collections of the family. Casa Buonarroti is one of the most extraordinary Florentine museums. It offers in the first place the possibility of admiring the two famous marble relief pieces, sculptured by Michelangelo in his early years: the “Madonna della Scala”, which clearly shows the passion of this artist for Donatello, and the “Battle of the ... Casa Buonarroti

Dante`s House - The core of medieval Florence and more specifically the area between the church of S. Martino and Piazza dei Donati, was the 13th century location of the houses of the Alighieri family, as reported in many documents. At the beginning of the 20th century, after several studies and researches, the Municipal Administration ordered the building of a house to celebrate ... Dante`s House

Brancacci Chapel - Built prior to 1386 at the end of the right wing of the church, the Brancacci Chapel owes its -well-deserved fame to its cycle of frescoes painted on the three walls at various stages by Masolino, Masaccio and Filippino Lippi. Though it was initially commissioned to Masolino around 1425 by Felice Brancacci, the Florentine Ambassador in Egypt, the work also benefited from the collaboration of the young Masaccio, who carried on his own for a long period. The frescoes were not completed, perhaps because of Masaccio`s departure for Rome (where he would die in 1428), ... Brancacci Chapel

Cenacolo Florence - The first Renaissance refectory in Florence is the one belonging to the Benedictine nuns of Sant`Apollonia created around 1445 in one of the most florid periods the convent. The end wall of the refectory (9.75x9.10 m) was decorated with frescoes, although these were never discovered due to the nuns` strict enclosure. The suppression of the convent in 1860 .... Cenacolo Florence

Santa Reparata - The remains of Santa Reparata provide important information about the art, history and topography of the town. This was the old cathedral of Florence until 1412, the year in which it was replaced -with the building of Santa Maria del Fiore. Its oldest remains probably the same level as the Roman city, that is.at the same level of the Baptistery. The excavations inside the cathedral .... Santa Reparata

Museum of San Marco - The building that houses the Museum (that `was opened to the public in 1869) is the old convent of Dominican order, restored and enlarged to its present size for Cosimo the Elder de` Medici by the architect Michelozzo (1396-1472). Consecrated in 1443, this building was the scene of fervent religious activity and played host to personalities like S. Antonino Pierozzi .... Museum of San Marco

Museum Bardini - The museum is situated in a fine building refurbished by Stefano Bardini at the end of the 18th century and donated by its owner to the Municipal Administration of Florence in 1922. Bardim was a famous art dealer who collected objects of different periods and of high quality. Even the building itself is remarkable for its use of doors .... Museum Bardini

Garden of Castello - Today the garden of Castello is formed only by the section opened to the public that is part of the homony-mous Medici villa, now seat of the Accademia della Crusca. The large park can be rightly enough considered a prototype of a 16th century Italian-style garden. It was begun in 1537 by Cosimo I del Medici and was part of the general plan that aimed at embellishing the villa of Castello, inherited by his mother Maria Salviati. The general project was assigned to ... Garden of Castello

Archaeological Museum - Like many other Florentine museums, the Archaeological Museum stems from the collections of the Medici and Lorraine families that were initally exhibited along with other treasures in the Uffizi Gallery and moved to the Palazzo della Crocetta, the present day seat of the Museum, in 1888 (the building was erected in 1620 by Giulio Parigi) .... Archaeological Museum

Museum of Orsanmichele - The fourteenth century building of Orsanmichele, built on the spot where the oratory of San Michele in Orto once stood as wheat warehouse, soon became a representative and religious building thanks to the generosity of the Guilds, which decorated it between the 14th and 16th century -with extraordinary sculptures and paintings. Today, the whole building is a museum on its own. The two rooms above the church, on the first and second floors, were reopened to the public in 1996 with the aim of exhibiting .... Museum of Orsanmichele

Palazzo Medici Riccardi - Towards 1444 Cosimo the Eldest, the patriarch of the Medici family, commissioned to Michelozzo a palace to be built in via Larga (now via Cavour), close to the church of San Lorenzo: the palace is the first Renaissance building erected m Florence Characterised by clearly delineated and rusticated floors and a huge cornice crowning the roofline, the palace stands out for the arched windows arranged along its front and the partially closed loggia on the corner of the building. Two asymmetrical doors led to the .. Palazzo Medici Riccardi

Medici Villa of Petraia - The Medici villa of Petraia forms, together with the Italian style garden and the romantic park that surrounds it, a very interesting museum complex both in terms of architectural decoration and because of the furniture it still preserves in its interior. The current layout was arranged during the reign of the Savoy. The old castle ... Medici Villa of Petraia

Palazzo Davanzati - The Palace, built by the Davizzi family around mid-14th century, was purchased in 1578 by the Davanzati family (their coat of arms is still visible on the facade) and remained in their possession until 1838, when it was divided into several flats and suffered severe damage. In 1904 it was purchased and restored by the antique dealer Elia Volpi, who entirely furnished it and opened it to the public in 1910 as Museum of the Old Florentine House. After alternate events, which comprised .... Palazzo Davanzati

Topographical Museum - The museum, located since 1956 in the former convent of the Oblate Sisters, exhibits plans, paintings, etchings or prints that document the history and the appearance of Florence from its origins down to the period in which the town became capital of Italy. One of the most important and extraordinary documents is the so-called "della Catena" .... Topographical Museum

La Specola Museum - Several generations of the Medicis had collected with passion great artistic treasures, but also a wide range of natural treasures like fossils, animals, minerals and exotic plants. This material and the new addition, which includes also a very large collection of books from all over Europe, was used by the enlightened Pietro Leopoldo di Lorena, with the aid of the abbot Felice Fontana (1730-1805) to create a Museum of Natural History opened to the public. For this reason, the prince purchased in .... La Specola Museum

Palazzo Arte della Lana - The "Palazzo dell`Arte della Lana" (guildhall of the Florentine Wool Guild) stands besides Orsanmichele, with whom it communicates through a corridor. It was the guildhall of the richest of Florence greater "Arti" (Guilds)). At present, this building in the typical shape of a tower-house is the seat of the Società Dantesca Italiana (Italian Dante Society) ... Palazzo dell`Arte della Lana

Museum Opera Duomo - The present museum was founded in 1891 and has continued to receive all the works that "were removed and continue to be removed (to grant their preservation) from S. Maria del Fiore and from the Baptistery. The collection is therefore the best guide to the several changes that have occurred in Florentine official sculpture originating with the building of the cathedral and extending over the centuries. The vast majority of sculptures preserved in the Museum are those that Arnolfo had chosen for the facade, which was only partially completed -while the architect .... Museum Opera Duomo

Museum of Santa Croce - This museum is located next to the church of Santa Croce one of the most extraordinary examples of Italian Gothic architecture with 14th century paintings, at a short distance of the famous Cappella dei Pazzi (around 1430) built by Brunelleschi. The museum has been recently reopened after the very serious damage suffered during the flood of 1966. The museum exhibits several important Florentine works moved to this location from .... Museum of Santa Croce

Boboli Garden Florence - The Garden that extends from the hill behind the. Pitti Palace as far as Porta Romana reached its current extension and appearance, becoming one of the largest and most elegant Italian style gardens, through several stages of enlargement and restructuring work carried out at different times. The first works initially affected .... Boboli Garden Florence

Museo del Bigallo - The Loggia del Bigallo, built in the mid 14th century for the “Compagnia della Misericordia” together with the neighbouring oratory, became in 1425 the seat of the “Compagnia del Bigallo”, named after the hospital it directed at Santa Maria a Fonteviva, that was known as Hospital of Bigallo. The works directly purchased by the Brotherhood or donated to it, dispersed due to several vicissitudes, were reunited in this museum in 1904. The collection, reorganised in 1976, comprises .... Museo del Bigallo

Museum of Science - Since 1930 the seat of the museum is in the old palace, restored several times over the centuries, that takes its name from its last owners, the Castellanis. The museum displays a very accurate and important collection of scientific instruments, the proof that interest of Florence in science from the thirteenth century .... Museum of Science

Horne Museum - The Horne Museum takes its name from the English collector Herbert P. Horne (1864-1916) who donated his palace and collections of a lifetime to the Italian State, together with the palace where he had collected them. This building had belonged to the Alberti and later to the Corsi family, who gave it its present day appearance at the end of the 15th century, when it was probably restructured by Simone del Pollaiuolo, known as Il Cronaca, who created the elegant external layout and the internal yet balanced courtyard ... Horne Museum

Marini Museum - The Marino Marini Museum in the heart of the historical centre of Florence between via della Vigna Nuova and piazza Santa Maria Novella is housed in the ancient church of S. Pancrazio, founded before 1000, deconsacrated in 1809 and used for several activities for over one century. The museum was inaugurated in 1988 after the extensive restoration work directed by ... Marini Museum

Opificio delle Pietre Dure - Art and nature" could be the motto of this extraordinary museum dedicated to semi-precious stone inlays, where artistic talent competes only with the splendour ot the materials employed. It was the passion of the Medici for this precious form of art that led Grand Duke Ferdinando I de` Medici to establish in 1588 a court laboratory specialised in semi-precious mosaics and inlays. This grand ducal institution, which remained active lor over three centuries, was the core of ... Opificio delle Pietre Dure

Botanical Gardens - The Botanical Gardens of Florence were founded on December 1st 1545, when Grand Duke Cosimo I dei Medici purchased the land from the Dominican sisters. The Orchard that was known with the name of Giardino dei Semplici, because of the fact that it was used to cultivate and raise medicinal plants, is the third oldest botanical garden after those of Padua and Pisa. The original layout was designed by Niccolò called "il Triboio" who had already planned several other grand ducal gardens, like the one of the Medici villa ... Botanical Gardens

Spedale degli Innocenti - The Gallery is arranged in one of the most famous and important architectural complexes of the early Florentine 15th century, that was commissioned and financed by the Wool Guild and built by Filippo Brunelleschi. The "Hospital" was originally meant to raise abandoned children and teach them some useful trade to enable them to make ... Spedale degli Innocenti

Museum of S.Maria Novella - The monumental complex of the cloister, considered an extraordinary example of Italian Gothic architecture, was begun around 1340 by Fra` Sisto and Fra` Ristoro. The first cloister on the right of the doorway is the so-called Chiostro Verde (Green cloister) with strong yet harmonious proportions. It takes its name from the .... Museum of S.Maria Novella