Top Florence Attractions

The beautiful Italian city of Florence is world-renowned as the top venue for renaissance art lovers and is an archetypal Tuscan delight. Although commercial sightseeing tours abound, they can be quite rigid in their approach and make you feel part of a herd. However, Florence easily permits the wandering traveler to independently discover its wonderful attractions.

The place to start for a tour of Florence is the historic centre or centro storico, a vast area crammed with beautiful buildings, statues, landscaped gardens and art just waiting to be discovered. You’ll get more out of sightseeing tours if you actually stay there and do short walks to specific venues. Alternatively if your visit to Florence is short, there’s plenty to see in the centro storico.

A top attraction in Florence renaissance art is the the impressive medieval fortress Palazzo Vecchio, which serves as town hall. From there you’ll get wonderful panoramic views of the whole Florence, in addition to the amazing Florence renaissance art housed within its exquisite chambers. Right in front of Palazzo Vecchio is the Piazza della Signoria, an al fresco museum containing the Fountain of Neptune overlooked by the statues of Cosimo and David.

Piazza del Duomo is one of the most popular portions of Florence renaissance art sightseeing tours with excellent reasons. St. John’s baptistry, the Opera del Duomo Museum, Loggia del Bigallo and Giotto’s Campanile are all unmissable examples of Florence renaissance art.

In Florence the Ponte Vecchio, an amazing historic bridge over the river Arno, is only a short walk away. This most unusual structure carries tiny but most impressive shops in Florence, most selling gold jewelery in amazing styles. Crossing the Arno takes you to the edge of the centro storico and to the slightly less-well frequented part of Florence known as Oltrarno.

For more Florence renaissance art look out for the Palazzo Pitti and the Boboli Gardens. Piazzale Michelangelo, the highest point in Florence, offers for some great views. For the more adventurous, through the gate known as Porta Romana, try finding Poggio Reale, Arcetri, which is Galileo’s area of residence, and Bellosguardo.

Click here for more information on Florence Sightseeing Tours, or visit our European Vacation advice website.

Guide To Italy: The Arch Of Constantine

The Arco di Constantino, or Arch of Constantine, was famously build by Emperor Constantine to commemorate a victory at the Battle of Milvian Bridge, fought in 315 CE. This is the most recent of the Roman triumphal arches still standing, and it has a few unique characteristics you won’t see anywhere else.

This arch is impressively sized at over twenty meters high, twenty-five meters wide, and seven meters deep, with three distinctive arches built into it. The center one is more than eleven meters high and six meters high, and is the largest, with smaller arches on either side.

The arch’s design is very similar to that of the Arch of Septimus Severus, which is located on the Roman Forum. Both arches have a main section sporting detached columns and an upper portion, which is referred to as an attic and which sports an inscription.

A visit to the Arch of Constantine is an easy thing to do while in Rome, since the arch itself spans the Via Triumphalis – the road used by victorious emperors on their way back to Rome. Constantine’s choice of this area to locate his arch tells us a lot about the message he wanted to send to rivals.

The arch is near to the Colossum, and can be easily visited by taking the Metro. It’s easy to add the Arch of Constantine into a tour of the ancient ruins of Rome, too, since there are many in this part of the city.

Depending on the light when you view the arch, you may notice a few things about it. First, not all parts of it seem to be made from the same stone, and some are even a slightly different color.

That’s because other monuments were used in the construction of the Arch of Constantine, including pieces used almost in their entirety of the lower part of the arch. The finished piece was made up of other architecture.

The lower part is made from marble blocks, but the attic is made of bricks, covered in marble. There’s a staircase in the thickness of the arch, but it’s some distance from the ground, suggesting that the original monument may have been situated differently.

Some have theorized that this borrowing from other monuments was done to speed up construction. Others have said that it was done because the builders lacked the skill to build the entire arch on its own. It’s hard to say exactly why the arch is made of “recycled architecture”, but it’s one more interesting detail for visitors to see.

The arch itself was incorporated into a Medieval family stronghold, becoming part of another structure. It wasn’t until the eighteenth century that excavation and restoration started, and it was kept up until the late 1990s.

If you’re on a trip to Rome, you’ll probably take the time to see the ancient monuments of this fascinating city. Don’t forget to take a little time out to see the Arch of Constantine while you’re there.