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

162 Pages·2011·7.38 MB·English
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EYEWITNESS TRAVEL TOP10 FLORENCE & TUSCANY RÌNITA VePcocnhtioe PE.S DC.E ErUboffrisztie rPiaIAS IZGZNAO DREIVPLALea Aclac zhzioF IRENZE P 10 BMGeruosesta t-r stemeeseata gRmuiercuanasnael tisuhs msiilanl s nt oe&cawe cg nahas rltaliesrrtesiea s 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 BUSIERI A N SJ A C O P O V I A D E L L E T E R M E B O R G O S A N T I A P O S T O L I L U N G A R N O D . A C C I A I U O L I LUNGARNO . ARCHI A r n o V I A D A D V E VI I V I A P I A Z Z A L E D E G L I U F F I Z I VIA DE’ VIA POR S .MAR IA 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 3RQWU«PROL of the best. The Uffizi, ! Florence &DUUDUD A veritable who’s who of 0DVVD the greatest Renaissance masters installed in the 9LDUHJJLR /XFFD former offices (uffizi) of the ruling Medici family (see pp8–11). 3LVD /LYRUQR The Duomo Group, @ Florence Brunelleschi’s noble dome, Giotto’s slender belltower, Ghiberti’s robust gates, Michelangelo’s tortured 6DQ9LQFHQ]R Pietà and two panoramic terraces, all wrapped in red, white and green marble 3LRPELQR (see pp12–13). VROD 3XQWD G (OED $OD 20 miles 0 km 20 .BSF -JHVSF VRODGL 0RQWHFULVWR 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 M M J O F P Q M " J " $ D Q R Q V B U F L S H O D J H R 7 R V F O F -V O J HJBOB $ Florence & Tuscany’s Top 10 "SOP 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). )LHVROH )ORUHQFH 3RSSL " MQF EF M M B -VOB 6DQ *LPLJQDQR &KLDQWL $UH]]R 9ROWHUUD 6LHQD &RUWRQD . F U Siena’s Campo & Palazzo Pubblico 6DQ %XRQFRQYHQWR This sloping brick scalop shel is Siena’s & *DOJDQR living room, its public palace a museum cele- 0DUVLVWDWLPD &KLXVL brating maestros of Gothic art (see pp30–33). Chianti *URVVHWR * The ultimate 6DWXUQLD Tuscan idyll, a landscape of hills 3LWLJOLDQR clad in grape 3RUWR6DQWR vines, topped by VROD 6W«IDQR castles, and dot- *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). Sign up for DK’s email newsletter on traveldk.com 7 .V H F M M P U J O B J I $ $ B FT P O JU O BO U HF E F M P . O P N P U B S 1 Florence & Tuscany’s Top 10 N 0 C S P O F S F B M M J G F 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

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