One of my children has spent a few days in Florence this spring. Me, I haven’t been back there for over a dozen years now.
My last visit took place right around the time that I rediscovered interest in photography. However, back then, my standard M.O. was to post minimal photographic selections in my own space while uploading larger portfolios to Flickr. Recent refactoring of Photo Map as the consolidated view of my World in Pictures output brought into focus for me all of the places of which I have vivid mental recollections but meager quantities of posted photographs. Florence has been among the most glaring examples. One of the cities that easily ranks among must-sees on my list had a relatively scant visual representation on this blog, with just a handful of shots from that last trip and another dozen or so from an even earlier visit.
Being in between traveling adventures with no fresh material to process offers me a window of opportunity to fill a known gap. So, let there be a “Highlights of Florence” essay, however belated.
We have to start with one of the most astounding architectural ensembles in all of Europe – the trinity of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, Giotto’s Tower, and the Baptistery of St. John on Piazza del Duomo.
Each of the three marble-clad edifices is as magnificent as they come, while the Brunelleschi Dome, seen in the background, remains the largest masonry vault ever constructed at nearly 600 years old.
Piazza della Signoria is another unmissable public space in the historic center.
It is a veritable museum of Renaissance sculpture, headlined by the Neptune Fountain, one of the copies of Michelangelo’s David, and the open-air gallery of Loggia dei Lanzi.
The copy of David barely appears in these photos; you can probably locate it towards the back of the above perspective beyond Neptune; in this art lover’s opinion, it most certainly pales in comparison with the original on display at the Galleria dell’Accademia, a few blocks from the most central historic part of town.
Cellini’s bronze Perseus, conversely, is the original that cannot escape the photographic lens.
The slender tower of Badia Fiorentina, a 10th-century working monastery in the heart of the city, is a sky-piercing eye-catcher.
In a city full of impressive places of worship, Basilica di Santa Croce is a standout, and the final resting place of such luminaries as Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli, and Rossini, among many.
The neo-Gothic façade of the church was completed only in the mid-19th century by the Jewish architect Niccolò Matas. His heritage is often cited as the reason why the Star of David appears so prominently on a Catholic church. (You can find the symbol that in the Christian tradition is called “Creator Star” in a number of churches throughout the world, but nowhere so conspicuously.)
The view of Piazza di Santa Croce from the steps of the church.
You can glimpse a fountain on the other side of the square, and you wouldn’t be wrong to guess that it is dry. Paucity of monumental water features – and especially those in operation – has always been my main complaint about Florence’s ambiance (probably because I unfairly compare it with the abundance of splendid fountains in Rome).
Relatively plain façades of Renaissance symmetry and proportions that are prevalent in the everyday architecture of the historic core may be another reason not everyone finds Florence hands-down enchanting. But walk around long enough, and you’ll find plenty of eye-catching details, from masonry to frescoes to brilliant perspectives of exquisite towers.
And, of course, more classical statuary everywhere.
Among other top attractions in town are Palazzo Pitti…
… or the church of Santa Maria Novella.
And possibly the most recognizable Florentine sight of them all, Ponte Vecchio.
A couple of views along the River Arno.
At the top of the hill in the middle of the last picture is the terrace of Piazzale Michelangiolo, the location of the most iconic perspective of Florence, likely familiar even to those who’ve never been.
I must say that if I wanted to come up with a vicarious way of traveling back to Florence, I could hardly come up with a better option than through my own past photography. Which is, basically, the entire reason I continue to put these photo-essays together.
Of course, one of these days, I have to prioritize experiencing Florence in the flesh again.