Ponte Vecchio, the oldest bridge in Florence and other Florence, Italy Things to Do Tips

Ponte Vecchio, the oldest of Florence's six bridges, is one of the city's best known images. Probably going back to Roman times with its stone pillars and wooden planks; it was built in stone but then newly destroyed by a flood in 1333. It was built again twelve years later, perhaps by Neri da Fioravante (or Taddeo Gaddi, according to Giorgio Vasari).

The five arches became three and the main part was widened. The shops, housed under the porticos, first belonged to the Commune which then rented them out. But later on, towards the 15th century, they were sold to private owners and began to change through subsequent additions, raised parts and external terraces, extending towards the river and altering the original architecture in an anarchical, suggestive way.

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The Uffizi Gallery, founded in Florence in 1581, by the De Medici family, is one of the oldest museums in the world. Many important works of Italian and other schools, dating from between the fourteenth and eighteenth centuries, are kept here, including the largest existing collection of Tuscan Renaissance paintings.

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Address: City Center
Directions: next to Palazzo Vecchio

The Fountain of Neptune is a fountain in Florence, Italy, situated on the Piazza della Signoria (Signoria square), in front of the Palazzo Vecchio.

This work by Bartolomeo Ammannati (1563–1565) and some assistants, such as Giambologna, was commissioned on the occasion of the wedding of Francesco I de' Medici with grand duchess Johanna of Austria in 1565. The assignment had first been given to Baccio Bandinelli, who designed the model but he died before he could start working on the block of Apuan marble.
The fountain has suffered a great deal of damage during the centuries. It was used as a washbasin for laundry at the end of the 16th century. It was vandalized on January 25 1580. A satyr was stolen during the carnival in 1830. It was damaged again by the Bourbon bombardments of 1848. Consequently, it has been the object of several restorations and substitutions. On August 4 2005, the statue was the target of three vandals who climbed it, damaging one of the hands and the trident of Neptune. The act was recorded by security cameras. The statue was restored by 2007

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Address: Throughout the city

The Loggia dei Lanzi, also called the Loggia della Signoria, is a building on a corner of the Piazza della Signoria in Florence, Italy, adjoining the Uffizi Gallery. It consists of wide arches open to the street, three bays wide and one bay deep. The arches rest on clustered pilasters with Corinthian capitals. The wide arches appealed so much to the Florentines, that Michelangelo even proposed that they should be continued all around the Piazza della Signoria.

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David, sculpted from 1501 to 1504, is a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture and one of Michelangelo's two greatest works of sculpture, along with the Pietà. It is the statue of the young Israelite king David alone that almost certainly is one of the most recognizable stone sculptures in the history of art. It has become regarded as a symbol both of strength and youthful human beauty. The 5.17 meter (17 ft)[1] marble statue portrays the Biblical King David in the nude, at the moment that he decides to battle with Goliath. It came to symbolize the defense of civic liberties embodied in the Florentine Republic, an independent city state threatened on all sides by more powerful rival states and by the hegemony of the Medici themselves. This interpretation was also encouraged by the original setting of the sculpture outside the Palazzo della Signoria, the seat of civic government in Florence. The completed sculpture was unveiled on 8 September 1504.

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Address: Throughout the city

The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore is the cathedral church (Duomo) of Florence, Italy. The basilica is notable for its dome designed by Filippo Brunelleschi, its exterior facing of polychrome marble panels in various shades of green and pink bordered by white.

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Santa Maria del Fiore (also known as the Duomo) is the cathedral of Florence, Italy, noted for its distinctive dome.

Its name ("Saint Mary of the Flower") refers to the lily, the symbol of Florence. The cathedral complex includes the Duomo, the baptistery and the campanile (bell tower).

It was designed by Arnolfo di Cambio in 1294 to be the largest Roman Catholic church in the world (although the design was later reduced in size), with the first stone being laid on September 8, 1296.

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The Basilica di Santa Croce (Basilica of the Holy Cross) is the principal Franciscan [church]] in Florence, Italy, and a minor basilica of the Roman Catholic Church. It is situated on the Piazza di Santa Croce, about 800 metres south east of the Duomo. The site, when first chosen, was in marshland outside the city walls. It is the burial place of some of the most illustrious Italians, such as Michelangelo, Donatello, Galileo, Machiavelli, Foscolo, Gentile, Rossini, Marconi and Fermi, thus it is known also as the Pantheon of the Italian Glories (Tempio dell'Itale Glorie or Pantheon dell'Itale Glorie.
This is one of the most splendid sites of Florence, where it is pleasant to stop and sit on the large and comfortable benches, to consult a guidebook, read the newspaper or simply observe the light of day as it plays on the facade of Santa Croce

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