The best tour of Florence: art, architecture and a sweet pause

Built between 1296 and 1436, the main cathedral in town was, at its completion, the largest ever built. Nowadays it is considered the third in the world, after St. Peter in Rome and St.Paul in London. Indeed, the dome by Filippo Brunelleschi is still the largest brick dome ever built and - at the inner side - the widest frescoed surface worldwide (3600 sqm). The architectural style, influenced by the pristine design by Arnolfo di Cambio and later modified by Francesco Talent and Filippo Brunelleschi, marks the turning from a mature Gothic manner to the first Reinassance.

Standing between Piazza San Giovanni and Piazza Duomo, this Romanesque building was completed around 1059. The exteriors are characterized by the alternation of white marble from Carrara and green "serpentine" from Prato, with three majestic bronze portals designed by Andrea Pisano and Lorenzo Ghiberti.

Seat of the city government since the beginning of the 14th century, this building was originally named Palazzo dei Priori. Through the centuries it has been enlarged several times, also changing its denomination: from Palazzo della Signoria, to emphasize the role of the main authority of the Republic, to Palazzo Vecchio, when in 1565 the court of Duke Cosimo de'Medici moved to the "new" Palazzo Pitti.
Between 1865 and 1871 it was seat of the Italian parliament, being nowadays house of the city council. A private guide will lead you in the inner court, designed in the 15th century by Michelozzo

Built between 1376 and 1382, the building was initially conceived to host popular assemblies during the Republican age in Florence. Its round arches anticipate the Renaissance style later expressed in the arcade of Ospedale degl'Innocenti, by Filippo Brunelleschi.
During the domination of the Medici, the space was gradually transformed into a place for art exhibitions: several marble and bronze statues of the Mannerism and Classicism are still on display here.

One of the symbols of Florence, well known all around the world, it was initially built in 1345, after the collapse of a previous bridge on the same site. Since 1442, the city authority ordered the local butchers to gather on the stores of Ponte Vecchio, for hygienic reasons. This, together with the construction of the "Vasarian Corridor" in 1565 - to connect safely Palazzo Vecchio and Palazzo Pitti, gave to Ponte Vecchio its characteristic and unique look of a "inhabited bridge".

One of the most prestigious and best known art galleries in the world lies in the heart of Florence.
The Uffizi are hosted in a large and articulated building whose construction started in 1560, under the direction of Giorgio Vasari; the main core of the building is a U-shaped structure, facing Palazzo Vecchio on one of the short sides and river Arno on the other. The building, initially meant for public offices of the city authority under the Medici's government, is connected to Palazzo Pitti, on the other side of the river, by an elevated path called "Corridoio Vasariano".