Brunelleschi’s ‘Old’ Sacristy of San Lorenzo, Florence

COVER PHOTO: Statue of Giovanni delle Bande Nere in front of the Basilica di San Lorenzo, Florence An inscription on the back of the supporting plinth beneath the marble statue of Giovanni delle Bande Nere by Italian Renaissance sculptor, by Baccio Bandinelli, (literal translation by Google Translate) reads: “A part of this monument, intended by Cosimo Primo**

From Bellagio to Skipton

COVER PHOTO: A view across Lake Como from the tip of the promontory that is Bellagio. By Daderot – Self-photographed, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15153875 From Bellagio … … to Skipton, a charming market town in the Craven District of North Yorkshire, England … … where the occasional cobbled streets and alleyways have a beguiling charm …

Casa Buonarotti, Florence (Part 2)

COVER PHOTO: Casa Buonarotti, Via Ghibellina 70, 50122 Firenze (43°46′11.32″N 11°15′48.93″E) Part 1 of our Casa Buonarotti posts gives a brief history of the Casa and has a look around the ground floor. In Part 2 here we ascend the stairs to visit rooms on the first floor. At the top of the first flight of

Casa Buonarotti, Florence (Part 1)

COVER PHOTO: Casa Buonarotti, Via Ghibellina 70, 50122 Firenze (43°46′11.32″N 11°15′48.93″E) Part 1 here investigates some of the history of the Casa Buonarotti and what can be seen on the ground floor. Part 2 moves upstairs to see some of the exhibits on the first floor. Contained within what for Florence is an assuming house on

Neptune and Two Fountains

COVER PHOTO: Fountain of Neptune (aka il Biancone – the White Giant) in the Piazza della Signoria, in front of the Palazzo Vecchio. Neptune, the Roman god of the sea, was one of the twelve major gods of Roman mythology and was brother to Jupiter (king of the gods and god of sky and thunder) and Pluto (god of

San Lorenzo Market, Florence

COVER PHOTO: Nerbone Lampredotto stall in the Mercato Centrale Self-catering, hotel or B&B? At some point or other in your visit to Florence, you’ll need to find places to eat or places to buy food. Now Florence has its fair share of restaurants, cafes, small supermarkets and food shops, but for those who are self-catering,

Santa Croce – Chapels and Tombs, Part 2

COVER PHOTO: Galileo’s Tomb in Santa Croce NOTE: This post is a continuation of our post, Santa Croce – Chapels and Tombs, Part 1 which uses the plan of the basilica … Galileo Galilei‘s tomb (16 on the floorplan) has an equally interesting story. The movement of his remains in Santa Croce is a story

Santa Croce – Chapels and Tombs, Part 1

COVER PHOTO: Castellani Chapel (aka Chapel of the Sacrament),  painted crucifix (Niccolò Gerini) Legend has it that Francis of Assisi (1182-1226) visited Florence around 1212 and founded the original church on this site. That church was superseded by one larger from about 1260, but even that proved too small to house the expanding congregation. So between

The Basilica of Santa Croce and the 1966 Flood

COVER PHOTO: Façade of the Franciscan Church, Santa Croce, Florence with, left, the Monument to Dante by Enrico Pazzi (1865) The Basilica di Santa Croce is a minor basilica of the Roman Catholic Church and the principal Franciscan church in the world. The construction of this the current building, a masterpiece of Gothic architecture, on a marshy area near the Arno river was begun in

Piazzale Michelangelo, Florence

© Mapbox © OpenStreetMap Improve this map Markers on this live map indicate places of interest mentioned in this post. In this post we cross the Ponte Vecchio to the south side of the Arno River, to the Oltrarno, walking a short distance east along the river bank and then south, either up the Via Giuseppe Poggi or the