Italy trip 2011 - Day 6

Day 6 was also a Florence visit. Using Florence Card for the 2nd day. The core visiting place was Galleria degli Uffizi. This place would definitely take you a day if you are a fan of Renaissance.

We got up early because we planned to finish it in half day. Give some information of Galleria degli Uffizi (Uffizi Gallery). It was built by a very famous person Cosimo I de' Medici in 15th century. He was a member of Medici dynasty, which was very famous in Florence. He collected a lot of art masterpieces. This gallery displayed all the collections of paintings and sculptures. And his family, the Medici family built a lot of museums and churches all over Tuscany area. For details, you may find relevant information from wiki.

At the time we reached, a long queue was formed already. As we had Florence Card, we could skip the ticket buying process.

This gallery is surrounding by several museums. Outside is a large square with lots of sculptures. Those are magnificent masterpieces. You will find how amazing they were built.

The gallery is a 3 floor building which was in a "U" shape. The gallery is on 2nd floor. The path is definitely a "U" shape as you will pass along way from start to the end. But sorry that visitors cannot take photo inside the gallery. I could give you an idea of what are displaying inside.

As mentioned before, the gallery is related to Renaissance. To be more precise, the gallery is a journey to Renaissance. It displays a collection of art works and masterpieces which covered almost the whole period of Renaissance. Starting from paintings on wood of churches in 12 century. You can see the evolution progress. Paintings and art changes no matter from technical perspective to topics and purposes. In each period, there are representable art works. In 12th - 14th century, topics are mostly holy related stories as they are mainly for putting up on walls of churches. Later, artists wanted to present their own thoughts and feelings. Art works were more realistic which reflects real life images. This is really an interesting journey and you should not miss it when you are in Florence.

We finished the journey after 1:00 pm. We got something to eat to regain energy. We then walk back to the Cathedral of Florence. This big church is open for public. But the tower and baptistery, entrance fee is needed. And Florence Card could let you in. 

We got into the main building first, that is the cathedral. The walls and ceilings are well painted. Magnificent indeed. We walked around and headed to the tower afterward. We decided to pick the tower rather than the top of dome because the dome is a lot higher. With our experience in St. Paul's church in London, we should better take a shorter one. Though we picked the tower, it was exhausting to us. The interesting sign board that I could remember that says "No Lift". A really good warn for visitors. Still, it is worth to go up there. The view over there is so nice.

After that, we went to the baptistery which just several steps to go. The baptistery is really a nice place. The whole environment inside is peaceful. Painting on the ceiling is amazing. All are holy stories, but in a summary. Interesting.

Leaving the baptistery, we went to another small museum. In which, there is a masterpiece of Michelangelo. That is Pietà. There are 3 sculptures of Pietà by Michelangelo. Here you can find one.

Leaving this museum, we went back to the landmark bridge and hung around there. I really love that area. When it was getting dark, we walked to find a restaurant for dinner and back to our accommodation.