The Loggia del Mercato Nuovo hosts a bicolored marble piece of work that reproduces one of the wheels of Carroccio, which was the symbol of the Florentine Republic. In the past, this spot was called “pietra dell’acculata”, meaning “the stone of the bum punishment”. It was the place where defrauders read more
The Loggia dei Lanzi houses a famous bronze statue depicting Perseus while holding Medusa’s head in one hand, and a sword in the other. What is interesting about the statue is that on the back of it, we can see that there is a face carved where the helmet should read more
The XV century’s mathematician and cartographer Paolo Toscanelli made a 4-centimeter-wide hole on the cupola of the Cathedral, through which he could observe the sun. The small hole channeled the beams of the sun that entered from the ceiling and formed a sort of sundial on the floor. However, this read more
“If you know where to look, Florence is paradise” cit. Itinerary: PORTA ROMANA (Roman Gate) GIARDINO DI BOBOLI (Boboli Gardens) CORRIDOIO VASARIANO (Vasari Corridor) PALAZZO VECCHIO PIAZZA SIGNORIA CASA DI DANTE (Dante’s House) BATTISTERO (Batptistry)
On the façade of Palazzo Vecchio, left of the entrance, behind the statues of Hercules and Cacus, there is a face carved in stone. It is not easy to spot. It is thought to be a work by one of the greatest Tuscan artists of all times, Michelangelo Bonarroti. We read more
The head of a bull is embedded in the side of the Cathedral overlooking Via Ricasoli. Behind the mystery, hide two stories, one more likely to be true, the other more legendary and “spicy”. Let us begin with the most plausible one. According to this story, the workers who built read more
Rub the Nose of the “Porcellino” in the Loggia del Mercato Nuovo The “Porcellino” is one of Florence’s icons; it’s both amulet and tradition. You can find copies of “Il Porcellino” in Aix-en-Provence, France, in the park of Enghien Castle in Belgium and two copies in Munich. The “Porcellino” statue read more
Embedded in the wall of Santa Maria Maggiore Church, overlooking Via Dei Cerretani, there is a petrified head that is thought to belong to Berta, a Florentine woman who lived in the city in 1300s. Two legends try to explain the reason why the head is there. According to the read more
A cemetery dating to the late Roman Age (V-VI century AD) resurfaced below the Uffizi Gallery, during the excavation work (2014) under the Magliabechiana Library. Workers found nearly sixty skeletons of people who died during a major plague epidemic.
The painting “Madonna of the Roses”, by Titian, is so delicate that it had to be put in horizontal position to prevent it from being damaged. This is the reason why this painting is less known among Titian’s works of art. The “Madonna of the Roses” was put on a read more