No matter how much time you take to visit Florence, it will always be scarce. There are more than 80 museums in Florence alone. Millions of tourists visit the city every year, and it is impossible to avoid crowds during the season. At the same time, every minute lost in the queue for another attraction increases the account of missed opportunities. And if you ended up in Florence, say, in June, then there will be a lot of such missed opportunities.
The Italians took this fact into account, and developed a system that allows you to buy tickets atMuseums in Florence online. In this article we will talk about the most interesting museums in the city where you can buy tickets online.
Uffizi Gallery
Founded in the second half of the 16th century, the Florentine Uffizi Gallery is considered one of the most significant art museums in Europe. The basis of the museum was a collection of paintings donated to the Gallery by the Medici family, who ruled Florence for many years.
Among its exhibits are works by Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Titian, Michelangelo, Caravaggio and others. Along with Italian masters, the Uffizi Gallery presents the best canvases by famous French, Spanish, German, Dutch and other artists, as well as samples of art from the Antique era.
The Uffizi Gallery has self-portraits of Russian artists
A peculiar highlightUffizi Galleries considered a unique collection of self-portraits of famous artists. It is noteworthy that the idea of collecting self-portraits of the masters of the brush belongs to Cardinal Leopold Medici, the illustrious offspring of the Medici family, who lived in the 17th century.
Among the most famous paintings presented in the Gallery’s rich collection are Titian's Venus of Urbina, Botticelli's Spring and the Birth of Venus, Michelangelo’s Holy Family, Giotto’s Madonna of All Saints, Leonardo da’s Adoration of the Magi and Annunciation Vinci et al. By the way, BlogoItaliano even dedicated a separate article to this Florence museum: Uffizi Gallery: Italy's most visited museum
| Check ticket availability and prices ››› |
Bargello Museum
Built in the 13th century, the current Bargello Museum (MuseodelBargello) was originally a fortified castle and served as a town hall. During the reign of the Medici family, Bargello Castle became a prison, and prisoners sentenced to death were executed in his yard.
Later, the building housed the city police. And only in 1865 the castle was turned into National Bargello Museum, whose exhibits were the work of Italian Renaissance sculptors (XIV-XVII centuries).
In the famous sculptural collection of the Museum, Michelangelo's first masterpiece is the statue of the god of wine Bacchus and the marble bust of Brutus, who killed the Roman emperor Caesar. The bronze statue of the Etruscan god Amur-Atis and David, who defeated the mighty Goliath, is the work of Donatello, Mercury - the Florentine sculptor-mannerist Jambolony and others.
For some time the city police housed the Bargello Museum
The Bargello National Museum also has other equally interesting exhibits. Among them - a collection of ancient weapons, armor, Arabian carpets, jewelry, majolica, ivory and medals from the collection of the Medici family.
Chapel del podestalocated in the Bargello Museum also deserves special attention. This is the place where the last hours of those sentenced to death took place. Its walls are painted with paintings depicting Paradise, Hell and scenes from the lives of the Saints, made by masters of the Italian school of painting, founded by Giotto di Bondone in the early XIV century.
| Check ticket availability and prices ››› |
Academy Gallery
Founded in the 16th century with the support of the Tuscan Duke Cosimo I - the successor of the Medici clan, - Academy of Fine Arts in Florence became the first painting academy in Europe.
The Art Gallery (Galleriadell'Accademia), created at the Academy in 1784, initially served as a visual aid for students of art schools reporting to the Academy. Here, aspiring artists learned the secrets of painting, examining the works of great masters of the past.
In the Academy Gallery you can see the original statue of David by Michelangelo
Today, the Academy Gallery contains the largest collection of paintings and sculptures of the XV-XVI centuries in Florence. Among its exhibits, the world-famous works of Michelangelo - "David" and "Prisoners", "The Abduction of the Sabine Women" by Dzhambolony and others. The pearl of the collections is rightfully a painting by Sandro Botticelli - "Madonna by the Sea".
Also, the Academy Gallery presents a unique collection of tapestries and tabernacles - richly decorated structures designed to store objects of religious worship.
| Check ticket availability and prices ››› |
Palazzo pitti
Palazzo Pitti - The Royal Palace of the XVI century, which served as the residence of the Medici family, and then the dynasty of the Lorraine dukes and Italian kings. Today, the Palazzo is one of the largest museum complexes and the most significant sights of Florence.
Palazzo pitti includes the Palatine Gallery, the Royal Apartments, the Gallery of Modern Art, the Silver Museum, the Porcelain Museum, the Jewelry Museum, the Carriage Museum and the Costume Gallery - Italy’s largest collection of fashion history.
Palazzo Pitti was the residence of the royal families of Florence
Palatine Gallery, decorated in the Baroque style, is a unique collection of art. Among its exhibits are 11 paintings by Raphael, the famous canvases by Botticelli, Titian, the masterpieces of Caravaggio, Van Dyck, Rubens, etc.
Museums of the Palazzo Pitti - a kind of treasury of gold and silver products, precious stones, ivory, etc. It also contains a unique collection of ancient Roman amphora and vases from Byzantium and Venice.
| Check ticket availability and prices ››› |
Palazzo Vecchio
One of the most famous buildings in Florence is Palazzo Vecchio (PalazzoVecchio), built in the 13th century for administrative purposes. At first, priors sat here, later - Signors, and after them - Florentine dukes.
Today, the Palace also performs administrative functions - serves as a town hall. Florentines, like many centuries ago, continue to check the time by the clock of the Palazzo Vecchio, installed on a 94-meter tower by a Bavarian craftsman in 1665.
The excursion program in the Palazzo begins with a courtyard, made in the style of the early Renaissance.
The Palazzo Vecchio's halls are decorated with a golden ceiling and frescoes.
The five hundred salon, once intended for meetings, is decorated with allegorical frescoes by Vasari and sculptural compositions by Michelangelo and Giambolonia.
Among the halls demonstrating the glory of Florence, you should definitely visit the Hall of Leo X with its famous fresco "Siege of Milan" by Vasari, the Audienz Hall and the Lily Hall with a marble door, a golden coffered ceiling and frescoes on the walls. It is also worth seeing the magnificent collection of musical instruments, the pride of which are the famous violins of Amati and Stradivarius.
In more detail about the palace complex, its history and significance BlogoItaliano wrote in a separate article: Palazzo Vecchio: where the Renaissance oligarchs lived.
| Check ticket availability and prices ››› |
Continuation of the article: 10 attractions of Florence, where you can buy tickets online. Part II
