Monday 19th June 2023

Medici Chapel : Santa Reparata Crypt : Cathedral di Santa Maria del Fiore : Palazzo Vecchio : Piazza Michelangelo

As we wake, the church bells ring out for daily mass at the nearby Carmine Church.

It is extremely hot in the apartment; Maria (the Air B & B host) informed us that we are not allowed to use the air conditioning in the city until 1st July.  She says this is due to the rule to keep energy levels as low as possible because of the Ukrainian War.

When we keep the windows open, the noise from the traffic on the uneven cobbled road below tends to keep me awake.

After our breakfast we set off for the first stop of the day which we had decided would be the Santa Reparata crypt at the Duomo Cathedral.  When we reached the square, we found that the queue was extremely long and the doors wouldn’t open for another half an hour.

So, we decided to go to the Medici Chapel. The mausoleum of the Medici Dynasty is also known as the Prince’s Chapel. Florence was ruled by the Medici Family for several centuries.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The chapel is an octagonal shaped room.  Its walls and floor are richly decorated with marble, granite and semi precious stones.  The stones include quartz, jasper, mother of pearl and lapis lazuli.  The expensive materials were sourced from all over the world.

 

Originally the inside of the dome was planned to be covered in lapis lazuli but due to the demise of the Medici Dynasty and its extravagant cost the work was not completed. In the 19th century the dome was covered in frescoes.

 

The floor was apparently finished in 1965 by the state.  Dave enquired about the empty niches, wondering if the statues were being repaired.  The guide informed him that the statues had never been made due to the cost.

One would think that due to the thousands of visitors at a cost of 10 Euros each that the statues could now be commissioned!

 

Back to the Duomo Square, where the queue was even longer, but the view of the cathedral and the campanile from the queue was spectacular.

The campanile is a free standing building.  It is an excellent example of Florentine Gothic Architecture from the 14th century.  The building is 85 metres tall. There is a long queue to climb its 414 steps.

 

 

We waited just 35 minutes to enter the cathedral where we descended the stone steps to the Santa Reparata Crypt.  Incidentally, this so called crypt was only excavated in the 20th century.  It was the original Basilica of Florence, Santa Reparata Church. The new cathedral was built above and around the original.

It has tombstones from the 5th and 6th century.  Its mosaics date back to the 4th century.

From the crypt we walked back up the steps and into the Duomo itself. The magnificence of the Duomo is the exterior.  The interior of the building is rather plain with the exception of the stained glass windows and the spectacular dome.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Duomo of Florence is also known as the Cathedral di Santa Maria del Fiore, (Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower).

The first stone for the city’s ‘new’ cathedral was laid in 1296.

 

Wandering through Florence’s interesting streets, we stopped to take a closer look at some statues.  I realised that the statues belonged to a church that was on our list.

Although the door was open and a member of staff was sat in the tiny ticket cubicle, the Orsanmichele Church was actually closed for major restoration work.

 

 

After a coffee stop and checking our list once more, we decided to head to the Piazza della Signoria.

The town hall which is situated in the square is also known as the Palazzo Vecchio; this is a much more fitting title in my opinion. This plain and stark stone cubic building is home to an array of masterpieces.

The palace’s courtyards have beautifully carved pillars and frescoed walls and ceilings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think everything in this city has an entrance fee, the palaces, the museums and the religious buildings.  After seeing the beauty of the courtyards, we did wonder if we needed to actually visit the interior, if it would be worth seeing…

I had a quick check on Google and decided that it would be interesting.

It is absolutely wonderful and a ‘must see’ when in Florence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Hall of the Five Hundred was created to hold the 500 members of the council.  The imposing hall has huge frescoes of battle scenes on its walls. Its ceiling has numerous paintings framed in gold panels.

A small windowless room was apparently used as a study. It has a decorated barrel vaulted ceiling.  The woodwork on the walls frame many paintings.

We noticed keyholes and door handles on some of the paintings.  The palace apparently has many secret doors and passages.

 

A tour of the hidden areas of the palace is apparently available.

Continuing to walk through the palace we saw grand halls which were home to masterpieces, fabulous frescoes, and stunning stucco work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From some of the grand halls and a small terrace, there were spectacular views of the city’s rooftops and churches.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our visit to the palace took over two hours; however we could easily have spent longer there. Dave and I both thoroughly enjoyed wandering through its intriguing halls and rooms.

It was 3.30pm when we arrived back at our accommodation after picking up some supplies for a late lunch.

Of course we had to stop on the way once or twice to photograph scenes of this beautiful city.

Unfortunately, the key broke in the outer gate lock to the building of our apartment.  Luckily, the gate had opened.

Dave prepared us some sandwiches, prosciutto of course, when in Italy… Meanwhile, I rang Maria to report the problem with the gate.

 

Maria arrived quickly with workmen to fix the gate lock and due to the unexpected heat wave, she agreed to turn the air conditioning on remotely at 10pm.

It was after 7pm when we set off to walk up to Piazza Michelangelo, which according to my research promised stunning views of Florence.

Once again, Google Maps showed us by far the longest route, and we eventually decided to retrace our steps to a square in the hope of getting a taxi. On arriving at the famous piazza, the female driver turned off her meter which clearly read 7 Euro and asked for 15 Euro.

When we refused to pay the inflated fee, she locked the doors refusing to let us out of the cab! I offered her a 10 Euro note and asked her to open the doors and she again refused.  It was only when we mentioned tourist police that she snatched the 10 Euro note and released the locked doors.  Surprisingly, she also gave us, our 3 Euro change.  It was not a pleasant experience!

The views were indeed stunning; the sun was slowly going down and illuminating the river and its bridges.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hundreds of folk were enjoying the views. Many groups of young people were gathered here and there. Picnics were being eaten and folk were celebrating.

A cheer went up and a chorus of Happy Birthday was sung.

Steps leading down to a lower terrace were full of people, a tiny gap had been left for people to wind their way through.

A huge cheer went up when a young couple appeared at the bottom of the steps.  The young man was wearing a suit and the beautiful young woman was dressed in a pretty black dress and she was holding a bouquet of roses.

The confident young man took his bride’s hand and announced loudly “Hello everyone, we are from South Korea and we have just got married!” More cheers and applause erupted from the crowds.

We followed the pathway down to the river and then walked along the side of the river.  This took us a fraction of the time than the route to the piazza.

Closer to our apartment we stopped at pizzeria and picked up a couple of pizzas to take back with us.

 

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