Tag: Palazzo Pitti

The Retirees return to Florence – Palazzo Pitti and the other side of the Arno

We were exhausted again and retired after dinner. Not to be kept down we rose early to walk to the other side of the Arno to visit Palazzo Pitti. This is the giant home created by Cosimo I for his wife who wanted a garden and then he wanted safe passage to work at Palazzo Vecchio on the other side of the Arno. We weren’t that interested to see another palace but I was interested to see how the Duke’s walkway connected as it had to pass across the top of the Ponte Vecchio, over private homes and into Palazzo Pitti. A gateway at the side of the palace allowed us to see the passage into the palace.

From the Palace, we could see the steeple of the Basilica di Santo Spirito so we took to the lanes past a cobbler’s shop and a man walking his dog (if you can call something the size of a rat a dog) and voila we entered Piazza Santo Spirito. The Basilica di Santo Spirito (“Basilica of the Holy Spirit”) is usually referred to simply as Santo Spirito, it is located in the Oltrarno quarter, facing the square with the same name. The interior of the building is one of the preeminent examples of Renaissance architecture. In 1252, the Augustinians started the church and the convent incorporating an old church of San Romolo in the complex. The convent had two cloisters, called Cloister of the Dead and Grand Cloister. The first takes its name from the great number of tombstone decorating its walls, and was built around 1600. The latter was constructed in 1564-1569.

The former convent also contains the great refectory (Cenacolo di Santo Spirito) with a large fresco portraying the Crucifixion over a fragmentary Last Supper (1360–1365). It is one of the rare examples of Late Gothic Art which can still be seen in Florence. Michelangelo, when he was seventeen years old, was allowed to make anatomical studies on the corpses coming from the convent’s hospital; in exchange, he sculpted a wooden crucifix which was placed over the high altar. Today the crucifix is in the octagonal sacristy that can be reached from the convent.  The only remaining wooden sculpture by Michelangelo. No photography permitted.

VvThus, ended our stay in Florence. The next morning we caught a taxi to the train station and a wait for the “fast train” to Rome occupied most of our morning, then the train trip (the train achieved a mere 250 klm per hour compared to the 430 klm per hour in Shanghai) to Rome and a quick turn around through the tunnel (which I wish we had known about when going to Fumacino from Civitavecchia) to catch the much more sedate train to Terni and a warm welcome from Robert at the train station (I think not – MIA). So a taxi to Cesi and dragging the suitcases up the steepest of streets in the village to be welcomed by Robert from his kitchen landing. An offer to help with the suitcases to drag them up the stairs and at last we can stand still and rest.

The Retirees return to Florence – Palazzo Vecchio

Its Sunday and the city is hosting a half marathon and we are hoping to beat the crowds and get to the Palazzo Vecchio ahead of the crowds. The race is starting at Santa Croce which is on our way to Piazza Signoria and the Palazzo Vecchio. Kerry stops to consider competing but changes her mind. The pre – race queue for the toilets deters her.

We arrive at the Palazzo and as we planned there is no queue so we purchase tickets for the tour of the palace exploring the secret passages and the tower with a guide for the palace museum. We could have also visited the archaeological dig underneath the Palazzo but we have seen roman ruins.

The Palazzo Vecchio is the town hall of Florence, Italy. It overlooks the Piazza della Signoria with its copy of Michelangelo’s David statue as well as the gallery of statues in the adjacent Loggia dei Lanzi. Originally called the Palazzo della Signoria, after the Signoria of Florence, the ruling body of the Republic of Florence, it was also given several other names: Palazzo del Popolo, Palazzo dei Priori, and Palazzo Ducale, in accordance with the varying use of the palace during its long history. The building acquired its current name (meaning the old palace) when the Medici duke’s residence was moved across the Arno to the Palazzo Pitti.

The original ground floor courtyard is remarkable for its artwork on its walls its view of the tower and the statue of a nymph in the centre. The newer parts of the ground floor is decorated with large tubs of flowers.

Our guide Molloy turns up and is a 20 something US student studying Art History in Florence and doing the guided tour to fill in. The first stop is the room of the Five Hundred being the meeting hall for the city delegate until the Spanish installed Cosimo as the Grand Duke and he took over the reins of government. This is an enormous hall decorated by the Medicis with wall panels and ceiling panels to justify their importance and position. Passing from the hall we entered the palace proper. I have included my photos below. We visited the deck (altana to the Italians), saw the crest of the Medicis in the Dukes room and the joint crest in the rooms used by the Duchess. In the map room we were shown the secret door (through a map) which led to a veranda to which was later added a room for the mistress of one of the dukes who was interested in alchemy (prohibited at this period) and her presence was not welcome at court so the room included a secret panel (on the left) so she could view the goings on in the Room of the Five Hundred.

After visiting the apartments, we passed into another stairwell to access the tower. To my surprise, we had to go to the end of the queue for the tower despite having done the tour of the apartments. Fortunately, the queue was short but it soon grew as they limit numbers as the staircase is narrow and I am not that certain the tower is designed for thousands of tourists to be hanging off it. Once we were allowed to climb the 418 narrow stairs to the top of the tower we were given an extraordinary view of Florence. One of the views is the umbrellas on the Uffizi veranda and the Piazza Signoria below that.

The climb down was a little more harrowing but less fatiguing.