It was around 25 kms to Florence from where we stayed. After the lousy lunch we proceeded to Florence and were taken atop a hill which has a view of the whole city it is called the Michael Angelo Square.
On the hill, the Michael Angelo square.
View of the Cathedral (Duomo) from the Hill
There is a Bronze replica of his famous 'David' in the centre of the square.
I understood, the original by Michael Angelo which was in Florence in front of the Palace of Medici family, was moved to a Museum and there is a marble replica in that place.
As we did not have time to do the Museum I felt very disappointed that I will be be seeing any 'Michael Angelo' in spite of being in his City.
We proceeded to the City center of Florence. A guide was waiting for us.
Florence is a lovely city with a lot of by lanes and , very small paved roads with lots of ancient buildings and monuments and sculptures and what not.
A small lane in the city.
This reminded me very much of Trichi (Trichinopoly) fort area, where we have our ancestral house. It has similar small lanes and by lanes with a free standing hill in the centre known as Rock fort Hill (with a Ganesha temple). . If you do not know the way you will be lost in no time .
But the comparison ends here, as back home it is so dirty with open drainage, ugly shops built in modern style , stupid structures with gaudy frontage the fort city Trichi has lost its beauty.
Here in Florence they have maintained its beauty. The paved ways are clean , with proper underground drainage. All big branded shops like Gucci, Prada, and even Zara which is not an Italian Brand are housed in the old buildings without changing the facade.
Branded shops in the paved roads.
These people know to respect history and maintain the heritage. No wonder the city was full of tourists in groups behind some guide, or moving on their own. This was supposed to be off season and not the real tourist season!
Santa Croce Basilica in the Santa Croce Piazza
We were taken to a big square where there is a church of Holy cross. It is Basilica of Santa Croce in Piazza Santa Croce.
There is a statue of Dante outside the Church. He is a famous Italian Literary figure of middle ages, who is considered as the one who wrote classic works in modern Italian Language. He is known as father of Italian language. Italians are very proud of him.
Nice way to go around the city.
We saw the big Cathedral one of the biggest in Europe, next to (Vatican's ) St. Peters Cathedral. This is called Santa Maria Dei Fiore. It is also known as Duomo.
Duomo
Lovely is a word which is inadequate to refer to this architectural marvel of a building. Oh what lovely structures they have made of marble. I wonder why it is not referred to as a world wonder. I had seen, St. Paul's Cathedral in London, Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, St. Peters in Rome, and now this. I consider this as the best.
The following are few pictures of the Duomo and the intricate work in the Cathedral.
Intricate marble work.
Some Figures in the side of the Duomo.
The lovely work on the wall of the Entrance.
We saw a small church where Dante used to meet his girl friend (both married to different people).
Here in Florence also I could see a Doors of Paradise.
There were many museums. Separate Museum for Sculptures.(Many sculptors are from Florence!) and also a separate museum for paintings (including Leonardo Da vinci's work). Leonardo Da vinci is from a nearby town by name Vinci. Since we did not have time it was not in our program. Felt very bad that I could not see the museums.
There was a market in a square place with lot of pillars, which reminded me of the pillared hall in Meenakshi temple in Madurai .(Ayiram Kaal Mandapam).
Outside the pillared shopping place there was this Wild Boar and it is considered lucky charm to touch its nose. Haha.
There were many bridges on the river Arno. We walked on one main bridge which is a stone bridge which stands there from 15th Century and even during the II World War it was not bombed. There are lot of gold shops , which used to cater to the royalty of nearby palaces of the great Medici family.
There are corridors on top of the Bridge which was constructed to connect the Medici Family's palace
from both side of the River.
Gold Shops
We were brought to another square with lot of statues and given one and half hours to be on our own and meet up there with the guide.
Many statues we saw in the city.
The famous Medici who encouraged many artists and artwork in the medieval period who was the first Patron of Michael Angelo.
Some more free standing statues
At last a Marble David, Alas this is a replica and not the original.
There are lot of designer shops and souvenir shops. We both walked back to the lovely Duomo and luckily there was not much rush and they let us in without any ticket. ( I don't know if there it ticket to just go inside the church) It was huge , may not be as splendid as St.Peters but very nice. We were happy that we did not miss it.
Duomo again.....
Inside the Cathedral (Duomo)
The Dome from inside. Lovely paintings.
A decorated Pillar we saw elsewhere. not inside the Church.
Waiting on the steps of the open hall for other members to join us.
I wanted to go to sculpture museum but not confident enough to find it and come back within the given time.
We had Ice cream of course Gelato and Coffee (it is Italian Espresso Coffee which we had every where) and sat in the square relaxing watching the crowd. It was such a nice feeling. We had Italian dinner in one of the big lanes. Food was nice. We had vegetable pasta .
We had to walk a long way to the place where the Bus was parked. It took about an hour's drive back to our hotel in Pisa.
We were to visit Venice the next day. In India they say one should see Kashmir in one's life time and similarly in the West, they consider it as the best place one has to visit in one's life time.
View of the Cathedral (Duomo) from the Hill
The Bronze Replica of 'The David'
The Bridges on the river Arno. The first one we see is the oldest stone Bridge which has buildings on top of the Bridge.
I understood, the original by Michael Angelo which was in Florence in front of the Palace of Medici family, was moved to a Museum and there is a marble replica in that place.
As we did not have time to do the Museum I felt very disappointed that I will be be seeing any 'Michael Angelo' in spite of being in his City.
We proceeded to the City center of Florence. A guide was waiting for us.
Florence is a lovely city with a lot of by lanes and , very small paved roads with lots of ancient buildings and monuments and sculptures and what not.
A small lane in the city.
This reminded me very much of Trichi (Trichinopoly) fort area, where we have our ancestral house. It has similar small lanes and by lanes with a free standing hill in the centre known as Rock fort Hill (with a Ganesha temple). . If you do not know the way you will be lost in no time .
But the comparison ends here, as back home it is so dirty with open drainage, ugly shops built in modern style , stupid structures with gaudy frontage the fort city Trichi has lost its beauty.
Here in Florence they have maintained its beauty. The paved ways are clean , with proper underground drainage. All big branded shops like Gucci, Prada, and even Zara which is not an Italian Brand are housed in the old buildings without changing the facade.
Branded shops in the paved roads.
These people know to respect history and maintain the heritage. No wonder the city was full of tourists in groups behind some guide, or moving on their own. This was supposed to be off season and not the real tourist season!
Santa Croce Basilica in the Santa Croce Piazza
Statue of Dante in front of the Basilica
We were taken to a big square where there is a church of Holy cross. It is Basilica of Santa Croce in Piazza Santa Croce.
There is a statue of Dante outside the Church. He is a famous Italian Literary figure of middle ages, who is considered as the one who wrote classic works in modern Italian Language. He is known as father of Italian language. Italians are very proud of him.
Nice way to go around the city.
We saw the big Cathedral one of the biggest in Europe, next to (Vatican's ) St. Peters Cathedral. This is called Santa Maria Dei Fiore. It is also known as Duomo.
Lovely is a word which is inadequate to refer to this architectural marvel of a building. Oh what lovely structures they have made of marble. I wonder why it is not referred to as a world wonder. I had seen, St. Paul's Cathedral in London, Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, St. Peters in Rome, and now this. I consider this as the best.
The following are few pictures of the Duomo and the intricate work in the Cathedral.
Bell Tower
The Dome of the Cathedral.
Intricate marble work.
We saw a small church where Dante used to meet his girl friend (both married to different people).
There were many museums. Separate Museum for Sculptures.(Many sculptors are from Florence!) and also a separate museum for paintings (including Leonardo Da vinci's work). Leonardo Da vinci is from a nearby town by name Vinci. Since we did not have time it was not in our program. Felt very bad that I could not see the museums.
There was a market in a square place with lot of pillars, which reminded me of the pillared hall in Meenakshi temple in Madurai .(Ayiram Kaal Mandapam).
There were many bridges on the river Arno. We walked on one main bridge which is a stone bridge which stands there from 15th Century and even during the II World War it was not bombed. There are lot of gold shops , which used to cater to the royalty of nearby palaces of the great Medici family.
There are corridors on top of the Bridge which was constructed to connect the Medici Family's palace
from both side of the River.
Gold Shops
The Bridges on the river Arno. The first one we see is the oldest stone Bridge which has buildings on top of the Bridge.
Many statues we saw in the city.
The famous Medici who encouraged many artists and artwork in the medieval period who was the first Patron of Michael Angelo.
Some more free standing statues
There are lot of designer shops and souvenir shops. We both walked back to the lovely Duomo and luckily there was not much rush and they let us in without any ticket. ( I don't know if there it ticket to just go inside the church) It was huge , may not be as splendid as St.Peters but very nice. We were happy that we did not miss it.
Duomo again.....
Stained Glass Window inside.
The Dome from inside. Lovely paintings.
A decorated Pillar we saw elsewhere. not inside the Church.
A raised open hall which contained lot of Sculptures.
I wanted to go to sculpture museum but not confident enough to find it and come back within the given time.
We had Ice cream of course Gelato and Coffee (it is Italian Espresso Coffee which we had every where) and sat in the square relaxing watching the crowd. It was such a nice feeling. We had Italian dinner in one of the big lanes. Food was nice. We had vegetable pasta .
We had to walk a long way to the place where the Bus was parked. It took about an hour's drive back to our hotel in Pisa.
We were to visit Venice the next day. In India they say one should see Kashmir in one's life time and similarly in the West, they consider it as the best place one has to visit in one's life time.
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