Florence

By the River Arno:

 

The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, is particularly famous for its dome, which until modern times was the largest in existence, and an architectural marvel. To be honest... we didn't care a whole ton for the outside of the building, it was kind of pink... but we really liked the inside.

Positioned next to the cathedral is the Baptistery. These bronze doors on the East Side of the building (the originals are in a museum) took 27 years to complete and depict scenes from the Old Testament. Their perspective and depth were revolutionary for the time. Many of the figures are almost free standing, it was impressive.

The inside of the cathedral:

The inside of the dome:

You can actually climb to the top of the dome, and the view of Florence from the top is supposed to be spectacular. Frankly though, after two weeks of running all over Italy, no view was promise enough for us to cart Benjamin and stroller up that many stairs unnecessarily. Maybe that would have been different if we had started in Florence. ;-)

This is the Palazzo Vecchio, in front of which Michelangelo's David stood for hundreds of years. Currently there is a replica in the square, which you can just barely see in the bottom right of the picture.

We were able to see the origional statue in the Galleria dell Accademia. The museum was small, but it was worth going to just to see the David. The hallway leading to the David houses some unfinished statues by Michelangelo, they were also really amazing. They say the statues appear to be breaking free from the marble, and you can see what they mean by that description. I feel like I am using the word "amazing" a lot, but you really do just find yourself in awe as you look at some of these pieces.

This is the Fountain of Neptune in the Piazza del Signoria:

Additional statues in the Piazza del Signoria:

The Piazza del Signoria is very close to the Galleria degli Uffizi, which is one of the oldest and most famous art museums in the Western world. We were able to go there as well, but they also do not allow pictures inside.

This is the Basilica of Santa Croce, which is the burial site for many famous Florentines were buried, including Machiavelli, Michelangelo and Galileo. I have pictures of their funeral monuments... but it seems a little strange to post them.

In Florence we also went to the Museo Galileo, which houses scientific instruments through time. It was really interesting and somewhat different from the other museums we went to, which was also nice.