The octagonal Baptistery of Saint John is clad in geometric panels of white Carrara and green Prato marble. It sits directly across from the Duomo, distinct for its squat, fortress-like proportions compared to the soaring cathedral. In…
Classic Renaissance Florence
This walk connects Florence's spiritual heart at the Duomo with its historic political center at Piazza della Signoria. You will see the epic architectural and sculptural masterpieces that defined the heights of the city's golden age.
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1. Baptistery of St. John
2. Giotto's Bell Tower
Giotto's Bell Tower stands covered in patterned slabs of green, white, and pink marble. It reaches over two hundred and seventy feet into the sky beside the Florence Cathedral. While Giotto di Bondone designed the structure and started…
3. Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore
The Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore dominates the Florence skyline with a massive, terracotta-tiled dome that stretches one hundred and forty-seven feet across. Filippo Brunelleschi engineered this structure in the early fifteen…
4. Church & Museum of Orsanmichele
The square stone building features massive, arched windows filled with intricate gothic tracery, each framed by marble tabernacles housing statues. Originally built as a grain market in the fourteen century, the structure served the city’s…
5. Piazza della Signoria
The Piazza della Signoria features a jagged, L-shaped footprint dominated by the crenelated tower of the Palazzo Vecchio. For centuries, this stone square served as the political nerve center of Florence, where the city's ruling councils…
6. Palazzo Vecchio
The Palazzo Vecchio features a jagged, asymmetrical tower that rises nearly three hundred feet above the Piazza della Signoria. Florence commissioned this fortress in twelve ninety-nine to house the city's highest magistrates, the Priors.…
7. Loggia dei Lanzi
The Loggia dei Lanzi features three wide, open arches topped by a crenelated roof that looms over the corner of the Piazza della Signoria. Cosimo the First de' Medici commissioned this structure to house his collection of ancient…