ITINERARY 3
Take Via del Proconsolo (off Piazza del Duomo, north side of the cathedral apse). On the left you pass Buontalenti's Palazzo Nonfinito (16th century) and Giuliano da Maiano'2 Palazzo Pazzi (15th century), while on the right are two major monuments: the Bargello (National Museum) on the left and the Badia on the right. Via Proconsolo comes out in Piazza San Firenze: the Baroque facade of the Courthouse is on the left and Sangallo's Palazzo Gondi (1494) is on the right . Turn left into Borgo dei Greci, a narrow street that leads into Piazza Santa Croce . Nearby is the Biblioteca Nazionale one of the most important libraries in Italy.
DANTE'S HOUSEActually a group of much restored medieval buildings that originally belonged to the Alighieri, Dante's family, the Casa di Dante is now a museum. The collection comprises mementos of the great poet's life (1265-1321) and works, eg . various editions of the Divine Comedy.
BADIA FIORENTINAFounded in 978 the church was remodeled in 1282 and then restructed in the 17th century. Alongside is a 14th century bell tower. Among the highlights are a painting by Filippo Lippi , the Virgin Appearing to St Bernard to the left side of the crossing is the famous 15th century wall tomb carved by Mino da Fiesole for Count Ufo Marquis of Tuscany around the year 1000.
BARGELLOThe forbidding castle was built in 1225 as headquarters for the Capitano del Popolo a kind of governor. Thereafter the residence of the Podestà and then police headquarters (starting from the 16th century) it also served as a dungeon and the scene of public executions. The bell in its crenellated tower is only rung on occasions of extraordinary importance. A museum since 1859, it vaunts one of the foremost collections in the world of 15th 16th century Tuscan sculpture, Della Robbia ceramics, arms and armor, as well as minor arts. The National Museum starts in a courtyard of particular note for its play of arches, outside staircase and emblems of various podestà (mayor) who governed the city. The Sala del Trecento off the courtyard sculpture among which an extraordinary Virgin and Child by Tino Camino. In the facing Salone del Cinquecento are famous 16th century masterpieces: Michelangielo's Tondo Pitti, bust of Brutus, Frunken Bacchus and Apollo David , as well as scuplture by Cellini , Sansovino, Ammannati and Giambologna. Upstairs is another collection of sculpture masterpieces including Donatello's St George and his two celebrated Davids (one in bronze and the other in marble) as well as the reliefs of the Sacrifice of Isaac submittet by Ghiberti and Brunelleschi for the north door of the Baptistery(1402). On the third floor is a unique collection of Della Robbia glazed terracottas(chiefly religious subject on sky blue grounds). The Sala del Verrocchio contains several of the late 15th century Florentine master's most famous works, including his David and a bust of a Lady with a Bouquet.
SANTA CROCEThis magnificent Franciscan Gothic church was begun around the mid-1200s although it was not consecrated until 1443. Italy's Westminster Abbey, it vaunts Giotto's remarkable frescoes, as well as the tombs of famous Italians. The facade is a 19th century imitation of Gothic. In keeping with the Franciscan tradition, the interior is simple and stately. The nave walls, once covered with Giotto frescoes, are lined with tombs and monuments inluding Vasari's Tomb ofMichelangelo, Canova's Monument to Alfieri, a Monument to Macchiavelli, as well as the Tombs of the composer Rossini, the poet Ugo Foscolo (right aisle), Galileo and Ghiberti (left aisle). The church is a veritable comprendium of 15th century sculture: Benedetto da Maiano's Pulpit, Donatello's Annunciation ecc. Most of the chaples in the righ-hand transept and side were frescoed in the 14th century (cappella Castellani and cappella Baroncelli by Gaddi, cappella Rinucini by Giovanni da Milano ). Giotto 's famous frescous adorn two chapels of the east end, Cappella Peruzzi and cappella Bardi(1317) with scenes from the life of St Francis. In the central cappella Maggiore frescoed by Agnolo Gaddi is a wooden crucifix. The last chapel on the left the cappella Bardi di Vernio was frescoed by Maso di Bianco. Nearby is a crucifix by Donatello . In the pleasant cloister is the Tomb of Florence Nightingale. At the far end is Brunelleschi's Pazzi Chapel, one of the masterpieces of Early Renaissance architecture. Off the adjoining Brunelleschi style cloister is the Santa Croce Museum in which among other works relating to the church is Cimanbue great Crucifix.
