Florence, Italy - About the City - Museums
According to statistics by UNESCO, 60% of the world's most important works of art are located in Italy, and approximately half of these are in Florence. Florence's museums, churches, galleries, and piazzas bear witness to the city's importance in the development of western civilization. The Resident Director can provide you with a current list of opening times and prices for museums, churches, and galleries.
Firenze Musei
Firenze Musei, the reservation service for state museums in Florence, has English-speaking operators that will reserve your tickets for museums. The operators will ask you to state the museum, date, number of people in your group, and the time you prefer for your visit. You will be given a reservation number that you present at the museum's reservation window fifteen minutes before your reserved entrance time. There is a fee for this booking service. The museum tickets are to be paid in Euros only.
Firenze Musei
955.29.48.83
Monday - Friday: 8:30 A.M. - 6:00 P.M.
Saturday: 9:00 A.M. - 12:00 P.M.
Closed Sunday
Museum Listings
Birth of Venus, at The Uffizi Gallery
La Galleria degli Uffizi - The Uffizi Gallery
Loggiato degli Uffizi, 6
A painting collection tracing the Italian pictorial tradition from the 13th to the 16th centuries. Works include Botticelli's Primavera and Birth of Venus, Michelangelo's Holy Family (also known as Doni Tondo), and Leonardo da Vinci's Adoration of the Magi and Annunciation.
La Galleria dell'Accademia - The Academy Gallery
Via Ricasoli, 60
Showcases Michelangelo's David and some of the unfinished Slaves for the tomb monument to Pope Julius II. The second floor includes a painting gallery with many religious works that date from the 14th century.
Palazzo Pitti - The Pitti Palace
Piazza dé Pitti
The former residence of the late Medici Grand Dukes today houses several museums as well as the entrance to the Boboli Gardens. La Galleria Palatina, the Palatine Gallery, exhibits the late Renaissance and Baroque holdings and apartments of the Medici family. The Museo degli Argenti features the precious objects owned by the Midici. Other museums of interest located at the Pitti complex: the Museum of Modern Art (paintings from the 19th century), the Costume Gallery, and the Carriage Gallery.
The Boboli Gardens
Late Renaissance gardens of the Medici Grand Dukes located behind the Palazzo Pitti.
Donatello's bronze David, at The Bargello Museum
The Bargello Museum
Via del Proconsolo, 4
A 13th century building which today houses the National Sculpture Museum. Includes Donatello's famous bronze David, and marble St. George; Michelangelo's Bacchus; and the original competition panels for the Baptistery doors submitted by both Lorenzo Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi.
The Museum and Cloister of San Marco
Piazza San Marco, 1
A 15th century Dominican cloister featuring frescoes painted by Fra Angelico for the monks' living quarters.
Medici Chapels
Piazza Madonna della Albobrandini (Behind the church of San Lorenzo)
A mausoleum featuring Michelangelo's sculptures of Night and Day, Dawn, and Dusk for the Medici tombs.
The Archaeological Museum
Via della Colonna, 38
A museum of Etruscan treasures. The museum's most prized work is the Chimera, a bronze sculpture of a monster with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail, dating from the fourth century B.C.
The Palazzo Vecchio
Piazza Signoria
The most important civic building in Florence, begun in 1298, attributed to the workshop of Arnolfo di Cambio. The museum today features amazing ceiling paintings by Giorgio Vasari, frescoes by Agnolo Bronzino, the original sculpture of Donatello's Judith and Holofernes and Michelangelo's Victoy.
Museo "Firenze Com'era" - "Florence as it was" Museum
Via dell'Oriuolo, 24
This museum, less frequented by tourists, traces the urban history of Florence from its Roman origins through to the present day.
Santa Maria del Fiore - The Cathedral of Florence (Duomo)
Piazza del Duomo
The Cathedral of Florence, begun in 1296 and topped by the grand cupola (dome) by Filippo Brunelleschi in 1436. Climb Brunelleschi's enormous dome for the best view of Florence.
The Duomo's Campanile di Giotto rises above central Florence.
Campanile di Giotto - The Belltower of the Cathedral
Piazza del Duomo
A belltower first designed and partially executed by Giotto, dating from the 14th century, offers a magnificent view of Florence and of the cupola (dome) from the top.
The Baptistery
Piazza San Giovanni
A Romanesque building, the oldest free-standing building in Florence, housing remarkable ceiling mosaics and featuring the famous bronze doors by Andrea Pisano and Lorenzo Ghiberti. (The east doors, known as the "Gates of Paradise," are replicas.
Museo dell'Opera del Duomo - Museum of the Works of the Cathedral
Piazza del Duomo, 9
Contains works that were once part of the Cathedral, Campanile (Belltower) and Baptistery, the restored original door panels of the Baptistery doors by Lorenzo Ghiberti, a late Pietà by Michelangelo, and numerous sculptures by Donatello.
The Church of Santa Croce
Piazza Santa Croce
The largest Franciscan church in the world, begun in 1294 in the Tuscan Gothic style. Features the tombs of Michelangelo, Ghiberti, Machiavelli, Rossini, and a large monument to Dante. Also contains frescoes by Giotto in the Bardi and Peruzzi Chapels, and Donatello's Annunciation for the Cavalcanti family.
The Church of Santa Maria Novella
The Church of Santa Maria Novella
Piazza Santa Maria Novella
A Dominican church begun in 1246 in a mix of the Romanesque and Tuscan Gothic styles. The upper portion of the façade dates from the Renaissance and was designed by Leon Battista Alberti. The church interior includes Masaccio's fresco of Trinity and the high altar chapel frescoes by Ghirlandaio. The Cloister Museum, located next to the church, features the green cloister frescoes of Paolo Uccello and the Spanish Chapel with a fresco cycle by Andrea Buonaiuto.
The Church of San Lorenzo
The first church interior of the Renaissance designed by Filippo Brunelleschi for the Medici family houses many examples of Renaissance masterpieces from Donatello, Filippo Lippi and Agnolo Bronzino.
The Church of Orsanmichele
Via dei Calzaiuoli
This massive 14th century building, which once acted as the grainery for medieval Florence, now is a church whose exterior is the showcase for Renaissance sculpture. The sculptures in the niches of the exterior is the showcase for Renaissance sculpture. The sculptures in the niches of the exterior (now mostly copies) represent the Florentine guild that once donated them. The original sculptures by Ghiberti, Donatello and Verrocchio are housed on the second floor of the building.
The interior of The Church of Santo Spirito
The Church of Santo Spirito
Piazza Santo Spirito
Situated in a beautiful and vivacious square characteristic of the Oltr'arno (other side of the Arno), Santo Spirito is a Renaissance church designed by Filippo Brunelleschi.
The Church of San Miniato al Monte
Viale Galileo
A Tuscan Romanesque church begun in the 11th century. Provides beautiful, peaceful surroundings and a marvelous view of Florence.
Brancacci Chapel
Church of Santa Maria del Carmine, Piazza del Carmine
A chapel showcasing the beautiful early Renaissance frescoes by the artists Masaccio and Masolino.
The Ponte Vecchio
The oldest and most famous bridge in Florence, lines with attractive gold and silver shops.
Forte di Belvedere
Via San Leonardo
Designed by Buontalenti and used for special exhibitions. Offers a spectacular view of the city.
Piazzale Michelangelo
A piazza overlooking the entire city, with bronze reproductions of Michelangelo's David and Medici tomb sculptures. Provides the most famous view of Florence.
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