We had another couple of hours on the road but it was ok because the view was fanstastic...
Uhuh!
Before my sister and I went back to our hotel, we walked around the square, until we came across the oldest bridge in Florence - the Ponte Vecchio.
When the Medici moved from Palazzo Vecchio to Palazzo Pitti, they decided they needed a connecting route from the Uffizi to the Palazzo Pitti on the other side of the Arno that would enable them to keep out of contact with the people they ruled. The result was the Corridoio Vasariano, built in 1565 by Vasari and which runs above the little goldsmiths' shops on the Ponte Vecchio.
There have been stores on the Ponte Vecchio since the 13th century. Initially, there were all types of shops, including butchers and fishmongers and later tanners, whose industrial waste caused a pretty rank stench. In 1593, Ferdinand I decreed that only goldsmiths and jewellers be allowed to have their stores on the bridge. Cellini, a 16th century goldsmith, is honoured with a bust on the bridge. By night, the wooden shutters of the shops make them look like suitcases and wooden chests, making it a very suggestive route to take along an evening passeggiata, or stroll. SOURCE.
When you are in the middle of the square in Florence, you wouldn't miss the Medici Palace. It was very simple from the outside but my, it was definitely unforgettable when you see it inside. I'm glad we went inside for the quick tour.
Towards 1444 Cosimo the Eldest, the patriarch of the Medici family, commissioned to Michelozzo a palace to be built in via Larga (now via Cavour), close to the church of San Lorenzo: the palace is the first Renaissance building erected in Florence. SOURCE.
Characterised by clearly delineated and rusticated floors and a huge cornice crowning the roofline, the palace stands out for the arched windows arranged along its front and the partially closed loggia on the corner of the building. Two asymmetrical doors led to the typical fifheenth century courtyard, built following models of Brunelleschi and decorated with graffiti, originally opened on to a typically Renaissance garden. SOURCE.
By 1460 the palace was complete (it was also the residence of Lorenzo the Magnificent), although in 1517 the original building was altered by closing the loggia and adding the two "kneeling" windows according to Michelangelo's project. Originally designed as a sort of cube with ten windows for each ground and three big doors in the facade. SOURCE.
Perhaps the most important section of the palace is still today the Chapel frescoed in 1459 by Benozzo Gozzoli representing the Procession of the Magi. The frescoes explicitly referred to the train of the Concilium that met in Florence in 1439. As a matter of fact many of the personalities portrayed are wealthy protagonists of the time and members of the Medici family. SOURCE.
A beautiful song for a beautiful life and beautiful day too..
