Top 10 Florence and Tuscany (Eyewitness Top 10 Travel Guides)

162 Pages·2011·7.38 MB·English

by  Reid Bramblett

EYEWITNESS TRAVEL
TOP10
FLORENCE
& TUSCANY
RÌNITA
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DEP’ IGAIZUZDAI C I 10 Best hotels for every budget
10 Best things to buy & take home
10 Great beaches & resorts
10 Most gorgeous villas & gardens
10 Superb wines & local delicacies
10 Insider tips for every visitor
YOUR GUIDE TO THE 10 BEST OF EVERYTHING
VIA DI NINNA V I A V E
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V. D. LEON
CASTELLANI
TOP10
FLORENCE
& TUSCANY
REID BRAMBLETT
EYEWITNESS TRAVEL
Left Ponte Vecchio, Florence Right San Gimignano
Contents
Florence & Tuscany’s
Top 10
The Uffizi, Florence 8
Produced by Blue Island Publishing, London
Reproduced by Colourscan, Singapore The Duomo Group,
Printed and bound in China by Leo Paper Products Ltd
First American Edition, 202 Florence 12
11 12 13 14 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Published in the United States by DK Publishing, Pitti Palace, Florence 14
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014
Reprinted with revisions 2003, 2005, 2007, San Gimignano 18
2009, 2011
Copyright 200
L2im, 2it0e1d1, ©Lo Dnodroling Kindersley Campo dei Miracoli, Pisa 22
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under
copyright reserved above, no part of this publication Siena’s Duomo 26
may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by Siena’s Campo &
any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise), without the prior written Palazzo Pubblico 30
permission of both the copyright owner and the
above publisher of this book.
Published in Great Britain by Dorling Kindersley Chianti 34
Limited.
A catalog record for this book is available from the Cortona 38
Library of Congress.
ISSN: 1479-344X Lucca 42
ISBN: 978-07566-6943-0
Within each Top 10 list in this book, no hierarchy of Churches in Florence 44
quality or popularity is implied. All 10 are, in the
editor’s opinion, of roughly equal merit.
Floors are referred to throughout in accordance Churches outside
with Italian usage; ie the “first floor” is the floor
above ground level. Florence 46
Museums 48
Tuscan Artists 50
Tuscan Masterpieces 52
Medici Rulers 54
The information in this DK Eyewitness Top 10 Travel Guide is checked regularly.
Every effort has been made to ensure that this book is as up-to-date as possible at the time of
going to press. Some details, however, such as telephone numbers, opening hours, prices,
gallery hanging arrangements and travel information are liable to change. The publishers
cannot accept responsibility for any consequences arising from the use of this book, nor for
any material on third party websites, and cannot guarantee that any website address in this
book will be a suitable source of travel information. We value the views and suggestions of
our readers very highly. Please write to: Publisher, DK Eyewitness Travel Guides, Dorling
Kindersley, 80 Strand, London, Great Britain WC2R 0RL, or email:
Left Portoferraio, Elba Centre Tuscan shopkeeper Right Main piazza, Greve in Chianti
Hill Towns 56 The Southern Coast
and Maremma 124
Villas and Gardens 60
Wine Houses 62
Streetsmart
Culinary Highlights 64
General Information 132
Festivals 66
Arriving in Tuscany 133
Spas and Resorts 68
Getting Around 134
Tuscany for Children 70
Specialist Tours 135
Restaurants 72
Shopping Tips 136
Around Tuscany Tuscany on a Budget 137
Florence 76 Dining in Tuscany 138
Siena 86 Accommodation Tips 139
Beyond Florence 92 Banking and
Northeastern Tuscany 100 Communications 140
Northwestern Tuscany 106 Security and Health 141
Western Hill Towns 112 Places to Stay 142
Southern Tuscany 118 General Index 150
Left Michelangelo’s David Right The hamlet of Montefioralle
Following pages Farmhouse near Pienza 3
Contents
FLORENCE &
TUSCANY’S
TOP 10
Florence & Tuscany’s
Highlights
6–7
The Uffizi, Florence
8–11
The Duomo Group,
Florence
12–13
Pitti Palace, Florence
14–17
San Gimignano
18–21
Campo dei Miracoli, Pisa
22–25
Siena’s Duomo
26–29
Siena’s Campo &
Palazzo Pubblico
30–33
Chianti
34–37
Cortona
38–41
Lucca
42–43
Top 10 of Everything
44–73
FLORENCE & TUSCANY’S TOP 10
Florence & Tuscany’s
Highlights
Limiting the choice of prime sights to 10 is not an
easy task in a land as rich and varied as Tuscany.
Its storybook landscape is home to medieval hill
towns, fabled wines and an unrivalled collection of
Renaissance artistic masterpieces. Here are the best
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of the best.
The Uffizi,
! Florence &DUUDUD
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the greatest Renaissance
masters installed in the 9LDUHJJLR /XFFD
former offices (uffizi) of
the ruling Medici
family (see pp8–11). 3LVD
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The Duomo Group,
@ Florence
Brunelleschi’s noble dome,
Giotto’s slender belltower,
Ghiberti’s robust gates,
Michelangelo’s tortured
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Pietà and two panoramic
terraces, all wrapped in red,
white and green marble
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(see pp12–13).
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Pitti Palace,
£ Florence
Massive Medici palace with
a painting collection to
rival the Uffizi, museums San Gimignano
of porcelain, carriages, and $ A medieval fairy-tale town with stone towers and
modern art, and formal churches swathed in frescoes, surrounded by patch-
gardens (see pp14–17). work fields and terraced vineyards (see pp18–21).
6
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Florence & Tuscany’s Top 10
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Campo dei
% Miracoli, Pisa
A grassy “Field of
Miracles”. The
Campo is studded
with masterpieces
of Romanesque
architecture: a
Baptistry and
Cathedral contain-
ing Gothic pulpits
by Pisano and, of
course, that ridicu-
lously leaning,
famous belltower
(see pp22–5). Siena’s Duomo
^ A striped giant of a cathedral
stuffed with carvings, frescoes,
3LVWRLD Michelangelo’s sculptures and
3UDWR Bernini’s chapel (see pp26–9).
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*DOJDQR living room, its public palace a museum cele-
0DUVLVWDWLPD &KLXVL brating maestros of Gothic art (see pp30–33).
Chianti
*URVVHWR * The ultimate
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landscape of hills
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clad in grape
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*GLJHOOLR $U0JHRQQWWDHULR ted with country-
side trattorie
serving Italy’s
most famous wine
(see pp34–7).
Lucca
An elegant )
city of opera and
arcaded Roman-
esque façades.
Cortona The medieval
( Tuscany in miniature: towers and 16th-
medieval atmosphere, first- century ramparts
class art, sweeping views, are now domesti-
handcrafted ceramics and cated as small
fine wines (see pp38–41). parks (see pp42–3).
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The Uffizi, Florence
This museum is the ultimate primer on the Renaissance, starting
with Giotto and running through Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci,
Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian, Caravaggio and beyond. This
historic progression is only fitting, as the building, originally the
uffizi (“offices”) of the ruling Medici family, was designed by Entrance
Giorgio Vasari, who wrote the world’s first art history text. Some
1,700 works are on display, with another 1,400 in
storage. Though small, these galleries shelter an Café
embarrassing number of masterpieces that
Toilets
demand at least three or four hours.
Top 10 Paintings
1 Birth of Venus (Botticelli)
2 The Annunciation
(Leonardo da Vinci) 5
3 Holy Family (Michelangelo)
4 Maestà (Giotto)
5 Bacchus (Caravaggio)
Arno façade of the Uffizi 6 Primavera (Botticelli)
7 Frederico di Montefeltro
The outdoor café is at and Battista Sforza (Piero
the end of the west dela Francesca) The Annunciation
wing galleries, above 8 Venus of Urbino (Titian) @ One of the earliest
the Loggia de Lanzi. 9 Madonna of the works (1475) of that
Long Neck (Parmigianino) versatile master Leonardo
The queue to enter 0 Battle of San Romano da Vinci. We can already see
can last hours. (Uccelo) his attention to detail in the
Booking ahead is drapery and flower-bedecked
worth the small fee. lawn. Leonardo’s patented
sfumato landscape creates
the illusion of great distance
The Uffizi is under-
by introducing a hazy
going major expan-
atmosphere.
sion invol ving
layout changes until
2012–13. Pick up a
gallery guide for the
latest information.
• Piazzale degli
Uffizi 6 (off Piazza
della Signoria) • Map
M–N4 • Ticket
reservation 055 Birth of Venus
294 883 • www. ! Botticelli’s Venus on
uffizi.firenze.it a half shell, painted in
• 8:15am–6:50pm 1486, is the ultimate
Tue–Sun (last entry Renaissance beauty. The Holy Family
45 min before closing) pose is a classical Venus, £ A rare panel painting
Closed 1 Jan, while the face is said to (1504) by Michelangelo, the
1 May, 25 Dec be modelled on Simonetta Holy Family owes much to
• Admission charge Vespucci, the girlfriend of Signorelli, but its twisting
Piero de’ Medici, and figures, exotic saturated
cousin to explorer colours and lounging nudes
Amerigo Vespucci. predict Mannerism.
8 For more museums in Tuscany See pp48–9
Florence & Tuscany’s Top 10