Firenze (Florence)

This will surely be an on going column on the city we live in, as there is so much to share that we still are not aware of ourselves. In early October we found a guide that is now our official “Key to the City”! Her name is Alex and she is a graduate of art history from the local university. Additionally, her father is the chief of police in Florence! Each week Anna and I meet her for three hours at a pastry shop near the Duomo and venture off down various streets to take in the secrets of this great city. I will be reporting on our excursions from here on out and due to the tremendous detail of the fascinating facts of Florence will try to summarize in bullet point format rather than continuing this novel that I have started :>)

Our first week entailed us simply walking the city center to get acquainted with the overall history to Firenze. For those of you that are unaware, Florence gave birth to the Renaissance. If you reflect back to my writings on Venice from last month (And your history classes from decades ago in many cases :>) you will remember that Europe suffered from hundreds of years of plague, economic depression, oppression from the catholic church and foreign intrusion and rule during what is known as the “Dark Ages” in world history (Roughly 700 AD to 1400 AD). Beginning in the late 1400’s (1492 to be exact) with the discovery of America by Columbus (And shortly after Amerigo Vespucci) and into the early 1500’s with the great art, poetry and philosophy of Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Dante and Machiavelli Europe experienced a “Rebirth” or what is known as the Renaissance. Florence was the epicenter of this rebirth and became the “Hot Spot” on the planet. There was no place on earth at that time that people admired and flocked to more than Firenze! On a separate note, many don’t realize that Columbus was in fact Italian! He may have been commissioned to sail on behalf of the Spain Fleet, but was actually born in Genoa Italy!

Following are some facts and a bit of history:

The Medici family rose to power in Florence in the mid 1400’s when Cosimo Vecchio (Cosimo the Elder) came to power and they ruled Firenze for nearly 400 years! The Medici, established their dominance of this great city by first establishing their fortunes in the textile business (Florence was the worlds leading producer of textiles at this time). Through the development of textiles, the Medici quickly established a system for accounting for accounts payable. This lead to them forming the worlds first bank! When you are a banker, you have the key to the city as they say and the rest was history at this point!
Here is an interesting footnote for you! Remember last month when I explained that Pope Leo X stayed for a few days when ill in the very palace that we live in? Well, when we visited the Palazzo Vecchio (See below) we were shocked to see two paintings of Pope Leo X in the Palace (See photos)! It turns out that Leo was a Medici (Previously known as Giovani Medici) and was a bit of a rock star here in Florence. The legend of the palace continues to grow!
The Palazzo Vecchio (The Old Palace) was built by Arnolfo Di Cambio in the late 1300’s to serve as the location for the Republic (The government) of Florence. The Medici (Cosimo I) later turned it into his Palace and completely redone in 1556 (It took 20 years to complete).
The Church of Santa Croce, may not be the most famous landmark in Firenze, but it is certainly one of its most important! Not only does this church (Built in the 12th Century by Cambio) house the tomb of Galileo, it also is the home of the body of Michelangelo (See photos)! For those that are a little foggy on their history, Galileo was one of the worlds great astronomers who was the first to establish that it was “The Earth” that rotated around the sun and not the inverse. This of course got him into a pile of shit with the Catholic Church, which is why his tomb sat outside for over 100 years before being brought into Santa Croce in the 17th Century. The penance you pay for being a heretic I guess! Michelangelo’s corpse, on the other hand had a much different fate. He died in Rome in 1574. The Florentine’s would have no part in their favorite son (He is still to this day a GOD in this town) being down South in Roma, so they kidnapped his body the day after he died and returned it to where it resides today in Santa Croce.
The Uffizi Gallery in Florence was the worlds first museum (Established in 1580) and houses one of the greatest art collections in the world.
Perhaps the most famous piece of art on the planet (Along with Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa) is “The David” which was carved by Michelangelo here in Florence beginning in 1501 and completed in 1504. It used to reside outside in the Piazza Signora until it was moved to the Galaria Acedamia in 1873. We have not visited the Galaria Acedamia yet on this trip to Florence, so there will be more detail in a future posting. The David is the same David from the Biblical Story of David and Goliath and was sculpted by Michelangelo to represent the “People” in their struggle against the Medici family.
Speaking of Leonardo and Michelangelo, it is particularly interesting to note that these two men lived into their 80’s and 90’s respectively, quite a feet considering that the average life expectancy in the 1500’s was only 52! Perhaps an active and creative mind can prolong life much longer?
“The Duomo” One of the worlds most recognized landmarks and Firenze’s greatest symbol is actually the third largest church in the world (Behind St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome and Saint Paul’s church in London. It resides in Piazza Santa Maria Di Fiori (Saint Maria of Flowers) and was designed and built by Florence’s greatest architect Arnolfo Di Cambio. “The Cupola” (The dome itself) was designed and built by Filipo Brunelleschi after earning the right by winning a contest that took place in 1418. It is the largest Dome in the world still to this day.
There are many significant historical landmarks in Firenze, and one that constantly draws my attention every time I walk past it is Piazza Republica. This grand square is one of the largest in the city and actually one of the newest (It was built last Century when Mussolini was in power) but still has something magic about it. I have been to this piazza more than twenty five times now and it still has me enamored. The Column that sits in the center entrance of the square is actually much older than the square itself for it was erected by the Romans when they conquered Florence in about 400 AD. This column represents the exact geographic “Center” of the city itself! (See Photo)
The Bapestry (Which is located adjacent to the Duomo) was built in the 5th Century. Its most famous landmark is the “Bronze Door” (See photo) which was created by Lorenzo Giberherti who spent his entire life working on the project from 1452 to 1525!
For five years, beginning in 1865, Florence was the capital of Italy.