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FLORENCE,
ITALY TRAVEL INFO
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Introduction | Brief History | Monuments and Landmarks | Festivals and Events
Famous People | Cultural Institutions | Other Attractions
| Florence
(Firenze) Florence stands 50 m. above sea level on the banks of the Arno River, in a hollow surrounded by the first Chianti hills to the south and the Fiesole hills to the north; these hills are green and undulating dotted with small towns and isolated homesteads. A city of art and culture, Florence is the destination of a high proportion of international tourism. |
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Brief
History Originally a Roman centre (Florentia), it began to acquire a certain importance under the Carolingians but its fortunes date from the time (1115) of its constitution as a Republic. Torn in the 13th-beginning 14th centuries, by internal strife between the Guelphs and Ghibellines, and later between White Guelphs and Black Guelphs, this did not, however, prevent it, aided by increasing economic importance from undertaking a policy of expansion directed at the largest Tuscan towns. In 1406, once Pisa had fallen, only Siena and Lucca remained free of Florentine rule. Shortly after (1434), the Republic became a Signoria under the Medici family; in 1530 Charles V created the Dukes of Florence, a title which, in 1569, was changed to Grand Dukes of Tuscany as, in the meantime, also the strong Republic of Siena had fallen (1555). Under this Signoria the town gained great masterpieces by the foremost artists of the time (Brunelleschi, Donatello, Botticelli, Masaccio, etc.) becoming the most important European centre of Renaissance culture. When the Medici family died out, the Lorenas gained power in 1737 and, apart from the Napoleonic period (1800-1815), governed Florence and the region until 1859, the year in which Duke Leopold II was expelled and Tuscany became part of the Kingdom of Italy; it was even the capital city from 1865 to 1870. The city's urban structure has evolved from the historical cen tre characterized by roads of Roman origin, in successive concentric expansions demarcated by surrounding walls (12th and 14th centuries). Expansion beyond the walls started in the second half of last century, partly the result of building the railway stations, though it rose to considerable proportions in the 1950's owing to the increase in population and the city's economic importance. Today Florence stretches towards Prato to the northeast and Siena to the south. |
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Monuments
and Landmarks It is impossible to mention all the countless important monuments and works of artistic attraction, however, limiting the list to the really outstanding,
Other monuments include:
Churches include:
Further attractions are the stupendous Italian gardens at Boboli, created in the 16th and 17th centuries, and the inspiring Ponte Vecchio (14th century). |
Festivals
& Events
Folkloristic are:
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Famous
People
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Cultural
Institutions
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In
the Province
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