Jon Atkinson - Wildlife And Travel Photographer

Florence City Guide

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River Arno Reflections, Florence
River Arno Reflections, Florence
River Arno Reflections, Florence
River Arno Reflections, Florence
River Arno Reflections, Florence
River Arno Reflections, Florence
Florence 1 - River Arno Reflections: The river originates on Mount Falterona in the Casentino area of the Apennines, and initially takes a southward curve. The river turns to the west near Arezzo passing through Florence, Empoli and Pisa, flowing into the Tyrrhenian Sea at Marina di Pisa.
Florence 2 - River Arno Reflections: With a length of 241 kilometres (150 mi), it is the largest river in the region. It has many tributaries: Sieve at 60 kilometres (37 mi) long, Bisenzio at 49 kilometres (30 mi), and the Era, Elsa, Pesa, and Pescia.
Florence 3 - River Arno Reflections: It crosses Florence, where it passes below the Ponte Vecchio and the Santa Trìnita bridge. The river flooded this city regularly in historical times, most recently in 1966 after rainfall of 190 millimetres (7.5 in) in Florence, in only 24 hours.
River Arno Reflections, Florence
Florence Cathedral
River Arno Reflections, Florence
Pyramid Khufu, Giza
River Arno Reflections, Florence
Pyramid, Khafre, Giza
Florence 4 -The Cathedral Of Santa Maria Del Fiore: The Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore in English "Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flowers") is the main church of Florence. Ordinarily called Il Duomo di Firenze, was begun in 1296 in the Gothic style with the design of Arnolfo di Cambio and completed structurally in 1436 with the dome engineered by Filippo Brunelleschi.
Florence 5 -The Cathedral Of Santa Maria Del Fiore: The exterior of the basilica is faced with polychrome marble panels in various shades of green and pink bordered by white and has an elaborate 19th-century Gothic Revival façade by Emilio De Fabris.
Florence 6 - The Cathedral Of Santa Maria Del Fiore: Santa Maria del Fiore was built on the site of an earlier cathedral dedicated to Saint Reparata. The new church was designed by Arnolfo di Cambio and approved by city council in 1294. The first stone was laid on September 9, 1296, by Cardinal Valeriana, the first papal legate ever sent to Florence. The building of this vast project was to last 140 years
Cross Outside The Cathedral Of Santa Maria Del Fiore, Florence
Giotto's Campanile
Giotto's Campanile
Statue of Santa Reparata Florence Cathedral
Statue of Santa Reparata Florence Cathedral
Florence 7 - Cross Outside The Cathedral Of Santa Maria Del Fiore: The dimensions of the building are enormous: building area 8,300 square meters, length 153 metres (502 ft), width 38 metres (124 ft), width at the crossing 90 metres (295 ft). The height of the arches in the aisles is 23 metres (75 ft). The height of the dome is 114.5 m.
Florence 8 - Giotto's Campanile: Giotto’s Campanile is a free-standing campanile that is part of the complex of buildings that make up Florence Cathedral on the Piazza del Duomo in Florence. This structure stands on a square plan with a side of 14.45 metres (47.41 ft). It attains a height of 84.7 metres (277.9 ft) sustained by four polygonal buttresses at the corners.
Florence 9 - Statue of Santa Reparata Florence Cathedral: Santa Reparata is the former cathedral of Florence. Its name refers to Saint Reparata, an early virgin martyr who is the co-patron saint of Florence. The Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore was constructed over it.
Pitti Palace Courtyard
Ponte Vecchio, Florence
Ponte Vecchio
Giotto's Campanile at Night, Florence
Giotto's Campanile at Night
Florence 10 - Pitti Palace Courtyard: The Palazzo Pitti, in English sometimes called the Pitti Palace, is a vast, mainly Renaissance, palace in Florence, Italy. It is situated on the south side of the River Arno, a short distance from the Ponte Vecchio. The core of the present palazzo dates from 1458 and was originally the town residence of Luca Pitti, an ambitious Florentine banker.
Florence 11 - Ponte Vecchio, Giza: The Ponte Vecchio is a Medieval stone closed-spandrel segmental arch bridge over the Arno River, in Florence, Italy, noted for still having shops built along it, as was once common. Butchers initially occupied the shops; the present tenants are jewelers, art dealers and souvenir sellers.
Florence 12 - Giotto's Campanile at Night: The first stone was laid on 19 July 1334. Construction came to a halt in 1348, year of the disastrous Black Death and the bell tower was completed in 1359. The origional spire designed by Giotto was not constructed lowering the designed height of 122 metres (400 ft) to 84.7 metres (277.9 ft). The top, with its breathtaking panorama of Florence and the surrounding hills, can be reached by climbing 414 steps
Palazzo Vecchio
Palazzo Vecchio Florence
Palazzo Vecchio Florence
Pitti Palace Ceilings
Pitti Palace Ceilings
Florence 13 - Palazzo Vecchio: In 1299, the commune and people of Florence decided to build a palace, worthy of the city's importance and giving greater security, in times of turbulence, to the magistrates. Arnolfo di Cambio, the architect of the Duomo and the Santa Croce church, began constructing it upon the ruins of Palazzo dei Fanti and Palazzo dell'Esecutore di Giustizia, once owned by the Uberti family
Florence 14 - Palazzo Vecchio Florence: The solid cubicle shaped building is enhanced by the simple tower with its clock. The large, one-handed clock was originally constructed in 1353 by the Florentine Nicolò Bernardo, but was replaced in 1667 by a replica made by Georg Lederle from the German town of Augsburg and installed by Vincenzo Viviani.
Florence 15 - Pitti Palace Ceilings: To this this period the ceilings in the Pitti palace are decorated with ornate stucco and frescos representing neo-classical subjects.
Artistic City View Giotto's Campanile
Florence Motorcycles
Florence Motorcycles
City View Giotto's Campanile, Florence
City View Giotto's Campanile, Florence
Florence 16 - Artistic City View, Giotto's Campanile: Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 382,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1,520,000 in the metropolitan area.
Florence 17 - Motorcycles: Although non-residencts can not ride scooters and motorbikes into the historic zone they are perfect for visiting the areas outside the city center and the surrounding hills in Florence and are one of the most common forms of tranport for city dwellers.
Florence 18 - City View, Giotto's Campanile: Florence is famous for its history: a centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of the time, it is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance, and has been called "the Athens of the Middle Ages". From 1865 to 1871 the city was the capital of the recently established Kingdom of Italy.
The Rapture of the Sabina statue, Florence
Uffizi Gallery
Uffizi Gallery
An Ornate Water Fountain On Via Maggio In Oltrarno Florence
An Ornate Water Fountain On Via Maggio In Oltrarno Florence
Florence 19 - The Rapture of the Sabina statue, Florence: The Rape of the Sabine Women is an episode in the legendary history of Rome, traditionally dated to 750 BC, in which the first generation of Roman men acquired wives for themselves from the neighboring Sabine families. The sculpture by Giambologna (1579–1583) that was reinterpreted as expressing this theme depicts three figures (a man lifting a woman into the air while a second man crouches) and was carved from a single block of marble.
Florence 20 - Uffizi Gallery: The building of Uffizi complex was begun by Giorgio Vasari in 1560 for Cosimo I de' Medici so as to accommodate the offices of the Florentine magistrates, hence the name uffizi, "offices". The construction was later continued by Alfonso Parigi and Bernardo Buontalenti and completed in 1581. Today it is an art gallery and one of the most popular tourist destinations in Florence.
Florence 21 - An Ornate Water Fountain On Via Maggio In Oltrarno Florence: This masterpiece by Buontalenti (end of 16th Century) with a striking grotesque mask, is probably the most famous fountain of Oltrarno; it was made after the fountain by Chiarissimo Fancelli located at the corner of the old Corn Market, in Via de' Neri, near Piazza della Signoria.
Artistic City View Giotto's Campanile
Buontalenti Grotto
Buontalenti Grotto
Bargello
Bargello
Florence 22 - Florence Baptistery: The Florence Baptistery (Italian: Battistero di San Giovanni), also known as the Baptistery of Saint John, is a religious building in Florence, Italy, and has the status of a minor basilica. The Baptistery is one of the oldest buildings in the city, constructed between 1059 and 1128 in the Florentine Romanesque style.
Florence 23 - Buontalenti Grotto: One of the most interesting buildings in the Boboli Park is the Buontalenti Grotto (Grotta del Buontalenti), built between 1583 and 1593. The cave is a masterpiece of architecture and sculpture and a fine example of mannerism. It was begun by Vasari and completed by Buontalenti by Francesco I de ‘Medici.
Florence 24 - Bargello: The Bargello, also known as the Palazzo del Bargello, Museo Nazionale del Bargello, or Palazzo del Popolo (Palace of the People) is a former barracks and prison, now an art museum, in Florence. Construction began in 1255. The palace was built to house first the Capitano del Popolo and later, in 1261, the 'podestà', the highest magistrate of the Florence City Council.
Florence City Wall
The Rapture of the Sabina statue, Florence
Florence City View
Boboli Gardens
Boboli Gardens
Florence 25 - Florence City Wall: The centre of the city is contained in medieval walls that were built in the 14th century to defend the city. At the heart of the city, in Piazza della Signoria, is Bartolomeo Ammanati's Fountain of Neptune (1563–1565), which is a masterpiece of marble sculpture at the terminus of a still functioning Roman aqueduct..
Florence 26 - Florence City View: Florence was established by Lucius Cornelius Sulla in 80 BC as a settlement for his veteran soldiers and was named originally Fluentia, owing to the fact that it was built between two rivers, which was later corrupted to Florentia. It was built in the style of an army camp with the main streets intersecting at the present Piazza della Repubblica. Situated at the Via Cassia, the main route between Rome and the north, and within the fertile valley of the Arno, the settlement quickly became an important commercial centre.
Florence 27 - Boboli Gardens: The Boboli Gardens were laid out for Eleonora di Toledo, the wife of Cosimo I de' Medici. The name is a curruption of "Bogoli", a family from whom land had been bought to construct the garden. The first stage was scarcely begun by Niccolò Tribolo before he died in 1550, then was continued by Bartolomeo Ammanati, with contributions in planning from Giorgio Vasari, who laid out the grottos, and in sculpture by Bernardo Buontalenti.

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