Visiting Florence in the Fall

Driving through Tuscany is always a visual feast for the eyes, but it is especially beautiful in the fall. The rolling hills are green with rows of vineyards cascading down the hill spilling out from an ancient stone villa perched on top. A row of tall cypress trees marks the beginning of one property and the end of another. They stand in their dark green uniforms like a row of soldiers watching over their territory.

The road we are driving on is lined with tall aspen trees that have turned golden yellow in the crisp autumn air. The leaves flicker in the gentle breeze like little glimmering gold coins. The bright yellow color in the leaves holds the faded memory of the sunny days of summer. Each cypress lined hill that we pass opens up a new vista that is absolutely breath taking, a castle with its enclosed city sits on this hill as vineyards cover that hill. A gentle mist lies in the valley below and you can just imagine a prince riding towards his maiden trapped in the medieval tower on the hill.

This particular journey has us heading to the city of Florence. It’s been over five years since we have visited Florence so we booked an Airbnb and packed up our day luggage for a little adventure into history. Florence is the hub for Renaissance history and art with so many famous people who greatly influenced language, art, religion and even America itself! Let me catch you up on a little art history….

Views near Ponte Vecchio in Florence — Statue near Ponte Vecchio in Florence

I have to start out with Greece, because I found it confusing that the great artists of the Florentine Renaissance of 1500’s were imitating and improving on statues carved by Greek artists 1000 years earlier! So I traced this beautiful art form back to Greece, when it was a world power until Rome conquered it in 146 BC. They were creating beautiful statues and works of art for hundreds of years during the Grecian height of glory. As the Romans began conquering the world they too created beautiful works of art in imitation of Greek art until their collapse in 476 CE. This ushered in the dark ages when the church dominated the scene and gothic medieval style became “art” for the next 1000 years.

Florence Duomo peeking out from behind the Gothic Style Medieval Cathedral

That’s where we pick up, in the Florentine Renaissance that began in 1300 when most of Europe was still groping around in the dark ages. Florence was beginning the Renaissance, or “rebirth”. The Dome of Florence’s Cathedral was constructed in the 1400’s by Filippo Brunelleschi. Brunelleschi studied the Pantheon in Rome to design the Dome using mathematics. The Pantheon was commissioned during the reign of Augustus (27 BC-14 AD) and dedicated in 126 AD. It was designed as a pagan Roman “temple to the gods” and later became a church.

Ponte Santa Trinita as seen from the Ponte Vecchio in Florence

I mention all of this history because I find it all very confusing. Ancient Rome sounds very old to us Americans but much art and history actually started with the Greeks, then it morphed into Rome and then fell deep into the church-inflicted “dark ages”. It blows my mind a little that an architect designing the Duomo in Florence (1400 CE) studied the design of the “ancient” Greek Pantheon in Rome (27 BC) to get inspiration. I guess there is “old” and then there is “very old”.

Brunelleschis Dome in Florence was complete in 14 years and was a wonder of design for its age. It later became the model Michelangelo used when he set out to build the St Peters Dome in Rome and later, the inspiration for the capital in Washington DC. Talk about a far reaching design!

As the Renaissance influenced art, it changed from “one dimensional” style to “three dimensional”. The Renaissance influenced architecture as it changed from pointed and straight gothic style with tall towers and pointed arches to round domes and round archways. The Renaissance meant a rebirth in religious ideas as it gave birth the the Protestant reformation with groups like the Walden’s risking life for religious truth.

The Renaissance also gave birth to new ideas in science with people like Galileo boldly stating that the earth was not the center of the universe but rather rotated around the sun. This caused him to fall out of favor with the Catholic Church and spend the rest of his life on house arrest in Florence. Lastly, it affected literature. Dante’s Inferno was a description of the afterlife as it was taught by the medieval church. Dante wrote this description in his Devine Comedy while living in Florence. His book was written in the Tuscan dialect which became the basis for the Italian language as we know it today. It was the adopted dialect during the unification of Italy in 1870 when Florence was the capital for a brief moment in time before it was moved to Rome.

The Oltarno as seen from the Ponte Vecchio in Florence

Near the Duomo is the Uffici museum. At the Uffici courtyard, you will see a collection of statues that reads like a “who’s who” list for the Renaissance. You will see statues of Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Dante, Galileo and Amerigo Vespucci. Who is Amerigo Vespucci? You may ask. Well, Amerigo was an explorer and map maker. He demonstrated in 1502 that the new land that Columbus explored was not a part of Asia but rather a new land formerly unknown to the world. They named that new continent the “Americas” after the Latin version of Amerigos name. (!) Wow, how did I miss that little factoid in school? Our country is named after an Italian! His statue stands tribute here next to Michelangelo, Dante and DaVinci in the Uffici courtyard along with other famous Florentines that shaped our world and culture all the way back to America.

While all of this history is jumbling around in my head I stroll down the same cobblestone streets walked by these Renaissance men. My stroll takes me to the Ponte Vecchio which means “old bridge” it was built in 1345 to replace a wooden bridge that was washed away in a flood. It was built with the shops lining the bridge that still exist until today and is one of the most photographed sites in Florence right after the Duomo and David. The first shops to line the Ponte Vecchio were meat and butcher shops. This would have been a dirty and stinky business back in Medieval times because the waste would be dumped conveniently into the Arno river.

The Medici’s were the ruling family in Florence and were avid art lovers. Soon they banished the meat vendors and butchers and only allowed the gold merchants to line the Ponte Vecchio. The Medici’s had much interest in the Ponte Vecchio because it also held their secret corridor on the top floor of the bridge called the Vasari Corridor. This corridor was their private walkway from their residence, Pitti Palace, on the other side of the Arno river to the Uffici. They had a vested interest in keeping it pretty. It remained a beautiful bridge and focal point for centuries. In fact, during Nazi occupation when the commanders were told to destroy all of the bridges in Florence the commander could not bring himself to destroy the Ponte Vecchio, so it stands until this day.

This little stroll of ours takes us right across the Arno river to the “other side” of the river known as the Oltrarno. Here you will find quiet streets and interesting restaurants and bars. There are several vintage clothing shops and new designers that still can be seen sewing their designs on a sewing machine in their store front. Also on this side of the river is Pitti Palace where the rich and influential Medici family lived during the Renaissance. The gardens that surround this palace are the Boboli Gardens, famous for their beauty in Italy. Walking a little further you come to a Piazzale Michelangelo which is our choice for sunset tonight.

A replica of Michelangelo’s “David” looking out over Florence from the Piazzale Michelangelo

From this vantage point on the hill we stand next to a replica of the statue of Michelangelo’s “David”. The sun is setting behind us as we follow David’s gaze over the bustling city of Florence. We can see the famous red tile Duomo as it glows a blaze of red in the setting sun. The Arno river is reflecting the fading blue color of the sky as the sun loses its nightly struggle with the rising moon. The Ponte Vecchio Bridge is casting its arched reflection on the river as the city starts to flick on their lights that shine on the water and brighten the banks of the river. Another day ends and evening begins, but don’t mourn too long because it’s time for dinner and the Florentine menu never disappoints. We stroll down the cabblestones and down the narrow back streets in search of dinner and our next big adventure in Tuscany.