AAA Traveler - Winter 2021 - 14

The Ponte Vecchio

Living History

Florence's city center - one of
Tuscany's seven UNESCO World
Heritage sites - is a monument to
history. Stroll the medieval maze of
streets and it's not hard to imagine
running into Galileo, da Vinci,
Michelangelo, Machiavelli or Dante, just
a few of the giants of art, science and
literature who called Florence home.
The birthplace of the Renaissance,
Florence was founded as a Roman
military colony in the first century B.C.
After surviving various invasions and the
fall of the Roman Empire, Florence
became a center of culture and
commerce during the 14th through
16th centuries. Museums, churches and
monuments were built - works of art
themselves, they soon housed more
works of art.
The most famous building is the
Duomo, which dominates the city
skyline: a vast Gothic structure built over
two centuries, filled with mosaics and
frescoes. You can climb 463 steps to the
top of its enormous red-tiled dome
- still the biggest brick and mortar

dome in the world. When construction
began late in the 13th century, no one
knew if it was possible to build a dome so
large. Continue your exploration of the
historical center from here; Dante's
House Museum is just around the corner,
as well as a labyrinth of classic, narrow
Florence streets, lined with small shops.
Make your way to Ponte Vecchio,
the oldest bridge in Florence's historic
center, and the only one not destroyed
by the Germans in World War ll. It's
the perfect place to head as the sun sets.
It's lined with fine jewelry shops - in
1593, the Grand Duke of Tuscany
proclaimed that only jewelers,
goldsmiths and silversmiths could have
shops on the bridge.

Art Everywhere

Florence is synonymous with art,
home to the best Renaissance art in
Europe. Medieval and Renaissance
painters and sculptors created countless
masterpieces in their time that now fill
churches, museums, galleries, fountains
and squares throughout the city.
One of the most famous attractions

for art lovers is just a few minutes' walk
from the Ponte Vecchio: the Uffizi
Gallery. It's among the world's oldest art
galleries, housing the world's finest
collection of Italian Renaissance
paintings, including early Leonardo da
Vinci paintings, Botticelli's " The Birth
of Venus " and Caravaggio's " Medusa. "
Another must is the Accademia
Gallery, where you can stand in awed
wonder and gaze up at Michelangelo's
" David, " glowing beneath a circular
skylight.
Michelangelo himself was an admirer
of the " Gates of Paradise, " panels
created by Lorenzo Ghiberti in the
mid-15th century. When Michelangelo
first saw the doors, he reportedly said
they were fit to adorn the gates of
heaven itself. Made from bronze,
standing over 16 feet tall, the 10 panels
each display a different scene from the
Bible. Today, replicas stand at the
Duomo Baptistery; the originals are in
the Museo dell' Opera del Duomo.
Not surprisingly, performing arts
thrive here, too. Crowds head to the
opera house - opera was born in
AAA Traveler - Winter 2021

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