The churches
Cathedral Di Santa Maria Del Fiore
The magnificent cathedral Di Santa Maria Del Fiore - Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower in english, is located in Piazza del Duomo, overlooks Firenze in the historic center of the city and was build in bricks and marbles in 1296 and finished in 1436. During the 12th century, emerge the gothic style for the architecture and the cathedral Di Santa Maria keep this style. The size if very impressive, the length of the cathedral is 153 meters, 90 meters for the width and the height is 114 meters.
The facade is adorned with statues around it and it's very imposing and I like the contrast of the color, very ligh of the facade and the color brown of the dome.
Basilica of Santa Maria Novella
Basilica Santa Maria Novella is located in the Piazza Santa Maria Novella in Firenze and it was founded in 13th century by the Dominican. The architecture of this basilica is an gothic style. Differents masterpieces, from Michelangelo or Vasari are exposed in this basilica and they did some artworks.
Near the Piazza Santa Maria Novella, you have the Officina Profumo - Farmaceutisa di Santa Maria Novella, it's the oldest pharmacy in the Western world and was founded by the Dominican in 1612. The Dominican grow with the herbs and they created medicaments, perfumes.
Catherine Di Medicis, Queen of France, used a fragrance, Acqua della Regina, and she imported in France in 1533 and was introduced in French court by her.
You can visit this Officina and try some products there and why not to buy some of them. I recommend it to go there.
Basilica of Santa Croce
The Basilica of Santa Croce, basilica of the Holy Cross, located on the Piazza di Santa Croce is a church and the construction begin in 1294 and the architecture style is gothic and it's the biggest Franciscan church in the world.
The church's facade is designed by Niccolò Matas and finished in 1863 and was made in green and white marble. In front of the facade of this church, you have a big statue of Dante Alighieri. Also, you can discover some masterpieces from Michelangelo, Donatello or Vasari.
Places
Piazzale Michelangelo
Piazzale Michelangelo, a popular spot in Firenze for enjoying an absolutely beautiful scenery of the city. In this spot, you have a big statue of David form Michelangelo, but the true statue is located in Galleria dell'Accademia. From this piazzale, you can see some monuments of Firenze, the significant and well-known Cathedrale of Santa Maria del Fiore, also, you can see the Basilica of Santa Croce.
For going there, yu can take your car, you have a parking up there, or, you can walking to there, but that can be hard, because it's very high.
Piazza Della Signoria
In this place, or piazza, you have a lot of statues, and museums, like Uffizi and Palazzo Vecchio. This place is my favorite, and when I was there, I feel a little small with these statues.
Ponte Vecchio
The Ponte Vecchio, Old bridge in English, is a bridge over the Arno river. On this bridge, you have differents shops, jewelers, art dealers and gift shops. Along the quay from the Ponte Vecchio, you have the Vasari Corridor which connect to the Piazzale degli Uffizi, just across the arch and you can visit the Uffizi museum. In this place, you have differents statues, and, one of my favorite is the status of Galileo. In the first picture above (took from the Uffizi museum), you can see the corridor and in the second one, you have the Piazzale degli Uffizi.
Through the Piazzale delgi Uffizi, you have the somptuous place, Piazza Della Signoria.
Eating at Firenze
In Italy, you have different types of restaurant and you can be lost with these differents meaning: osteria, trattoria and ristorante. The ristorante, is a full service, so, you have a sommelier, and the kitchen is prepared by a professional staff and the price can be expensive.
A Trattoria, these are lead by a familly business and they served several dishes and local food. This kind of spot is very casual.
An Osteria, the menu is cheap, it's similar to a simple bar, they can serve a simple menu but you can find these spots a little charm.
So, I hope you can find the kind of spot where to eat when you will go to visit Firenze, and you can choose one for a specific events, for a date ? Eating with friends ? Or just to discover the local food. Up's to you.
I ate in differents spots when I visited Firenze, and some of them are my favorite and the meal are tipicaly italian food, you can eat a carciofo, pasta al tartufo, you have the choice :). If you haven't tasted a Cantucci e Vin Santo do it, it's a sweet dessert paired with biscotti. You have differents flavors in this wine, like hazelnut or caramel, and it's perfect for finishing a wonderful meal.
I ate in differents Osteria, so, I could recommand some of them:
- First, my favorite, Osteria Di Giovani, located at the Via del Moro.
- The second, Osteria Belle Donne, located at the Via delle Belle Donne.
- The third, Casa Ciabattini, located at the via il prato
In Firenze, you have a local speciality, the bistecca alla fiorentina, unfortunately, I haven't ate when I visited the city, but, I know it's a food very famous and delicious. You can also eat a foccacia, it's an Italian bread, I like it :).
Sleeping at Firenze
When you will choose your hostel, or AirBnB, I recommand to check with you have a parking included or close to your accommodation, because, you can't go in the historic center with your car. Otherwise, you can find an accommodation around the city center and walking there, it's not too far. When we travaled to Firenze, we took a hostel and we walk just 15 minutes to go to the center.