June 1, 2012: Rome, Italy: Day One
	May 30, 2012: Florence, Italy: Day Two
	Return to the Index for Our Week in Florence and Rome

Today, we will see a few more sights in Florence, including Michaelangelo's "David". We will also take a half-day excursion to the mountain town of Fiesole to visit a monastery and take in the expansive views of Florence. When we return, we'll go to the other side of the Arno River and up to the Piazza Michaelangelo.

Accademia di Belle Arti

About nine-thirty, we left Casa Rovai to head over to the Accademia di Belle Arti- a museum and art gallery. It houses the famous Michaelangelo sculpture "David".

To get to the Accademia (actually, we will be going to the gallery that is part of the Accademia), we navigated through the narrow Florence streets heading northwest from Casa Rovai. We followed some of the same path that we'd traversed on our first day here, but we went a bit further northwest to find the gallery. You can see our approximate route on the aerial view at left.

The Accademia delle Arti del Disegno was initially named Accademia e Compagnia delle Arti del Disegno ("Arts of Drawing Academy and Company") because it was divided into two different operative branches. It was founded in 1563 by Cosimo I de' Medici under the influence of Giorgio Vasari. At first, the Academy met in the cloisters of the Basilica della Santissima Annunziata.

One branch- the Company- was a kind of corporation which every working artist in Tuscany would join; the other- the Academy- was made up of the most eminent artistic personalities of Cosimo’s court, and had the task of supervising the whole artistic production of the Medicean state.

The extraordinary contribution of academics, including Michelangelo Buonarroti, Benvenuto Cellini, and Giorgio Vasari, Ba increased the prestige of the institution. It was taken for granted at the outset that all the members of the Accademia were male; when the Accademia welcomed Artemisia Gentileschi to membership, it was a signal honor to a woman.

Pietro Leopoldo, Grand Duke of Tuscany, decreed in 1784 that all the schools of drawing in Florence be combined under one roof, the new founded Accademia di Belle Arti ("Academy of Fine Arts"), while the Academics College of the prestigious Medicean institution changed its name to Accademia delle Arti del Disegno, conserving the task of artistic formation and supervision of artistic production of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.

The Accademia di Belle Arti and the adjoining Gallery still occupy the premises that were assigned in Via Ricasoli, a former convent and hospice, while the headquarters of the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno nowadays is Palazzo dell'Arte dei Beccai. The Grand Duke also decided to include among the arts protected in this way, a conservatory of music (the Cherubini Conservatory) and, more extraordinarily, a school of art restoration (the Opificio delle Pietre Dure). You can see the scope of the complex in the aerial view at right.

This morning, our objective is to get in to see Michaelangelo's masterwork- the statue of David. Actually, we got to see two of them.

Sadly, but not unexpectedly, the Accademia does not allow photography in the galleries, and when we went through the security procedures on entry, many visitors checked their backpacks and cameras; this included Fred. I kept my small camers with me, fully intending to try to get at least one photograph of Michaelangelo's classic.

The Gallery of the Accademia di Belle Arti has housed the original "David" since 1873. The sculpture was allegedly brought to the Accademia for reasons of conservation, although other factors were involved in its move from its previous outdoor location on Piazza della Signoria. The original intention was to create a "Michelangelo museum", with original sculptures and drawings, to celebrate the fourth centenary of the artist's birth. Today, the gallery's small collection of Michelangelo's work includes his four unfinished "Prisoners", intended for the tomb of Pope Julius II, and a statue of Saint Matthew, also unfinished.

Getting to the statue from the entry was fairly quick; I suppose the gallery knows that most visitors want to see that work in advance of anything else (and sometimes to the exclusion of everything else), so it is in a round gallery of its own called The Tribuna. This round gallery has a large skylight above the work, simulating the natural light Michaelangelo had intended for his work.

The "David" in the Accademia is the original; a replica was placed in the Piazza della Signoria (which confuses many visitors who never realize they've only seen a copy).

There were perhaps thirty people gathered at the base of the classic work when we arrived; there were also two docents wandering through the crowd. Just as we walked up, someone took a flash picture, and the docent pounced. But other than remind the person that photography was not allowed, she didn't seem to do much. But I realized that I wouldn't be able to use my flash, or be very obvious in setting up a shot. So I took a position behind a column, just out of the line of sight of the docent, took out my little camera and quickly found the right aiming point.

Then, when the docent was out of sight and my own line of site to the statue was relatively clear, I snapped a series of pictures. The very best one is the inset picture at far left, but I did take a number of others. Although they are probably somewhat repetitive, I have put clickable thumbnails for two of the best of these at near left. Actually, from where I was standing, it wasn't all that difficult to take pictures, and I was even able to move about a bit for some slightly different angles.

Actually, the relative ease with which I was able to take pictures convinced me to throw caution to the winds and try a movie.

(Mouseover Image if Video Controls Not Visible)

Of course, I was not able to walk around and narrate; that would have been far too obvious. And since I was on the other side of a column from where I thought the docents were, I couldn't be sure that one of them hadn't walked over to my side of the display hall where she might overhear narration. That was OK, though, for no narration is necessary. You know what you are looking at, and I'm not about to discuss the history of the work in my movie.

But perhaps just so you can get a feel for the ambience of the hall and feel perhaps a bit more as if you were actually there, you might want to watch my movie with the player at right.

Being in the presence of this masterwork, something I'd seen pictures of throughout my lifetime, was quite inspiring. It gave me the same feeling that I got the first time I visited the Louvre, and saw the original "Mona Lisa". That was part of the attraction of this cruise/vacation; I got the opportunity to see so many sites, buildings and works of art that I'd only seen before in pictures or movies. And, trust me, there is nothing like seeing them live.

We did take the time to go through some of the other galleries that contained 15th and 16th century Florentine religious paintings by Uccello, Botticelli, and del Sarto. There was a sculpture hall that included Giambologna's original plaster model for the "Rape of the Sabine Women". Surreptitious photograpy was a lot harder elsewhere in the museum. There were few places where I could get away from a docent, and most galleries lacked enough light so that I could dispense with the flash. But I did get a few pictures, and you can have a look at them using the clickable thumbnails below:

Having seen the original "David", we wandered through the museum for a while, and then headed toward the exit and the inevitable gift shop. I glanced through the shop to a terrace outside and there was another "David". But this one was all pink and blond!

This sculpture turned out to be by Hans Peter Feldmann, part of a show that has come to Florence to the same museum that houses the Renaissance master's original white Carrara marble version.

“Arte torna arte” (Art returns to art) is the evocative title of an art exhibition which entertains “poverist” notions of originality, process, and mutation. The show features over forty works from 32 artists and sculptors, and is spread out through the Accademia in the Accademia complex– both in the spaces usually reserved for the Museum’s contemporary art exhibitions and in the spaces that house the permanent collection. This was the first piece from this traveling show that we had run across. According to the description posted near the sculpture, "The mingling of works new and old in the Accademia – a place traditionally devoted to the study of art and art history – cleverly speaks to art’s constant reinvention, its return to the origins, it’s obsession with models and archetypes – and ultimately to the relationship between past and present."

The works on display in this exhibition were by a virtual who’s who of the sacred cows of modernist art, including Feldman, Picasso, Fiona Tan and, of course, Andy Warhol. The exhibition ran until November.

While we were outside on the terrace, both Fred and I happened to notice that Feldman's "David" presented an ethereal reflection in the glass windows of the gift shop and both of us took pictures of that reflection. You can use the clickable thumbnails at left to see two of these- along with another picture of the sculpture with Greg and Fred posing in front of it.

Having seen what we came to see, we left the Accademia to head towards the main train station and from there to catch a local bus to the town of Fiesole.

Walking Through Florence

From the Accademia, we wanted to head over to the main train station to catch a bus to take us to Fiesole. That was the location where all the transit lines converged, and we assumed that it would be the place to go.

Our path to the train station was a relatively short one, but we did pass some locations of interest. You can follow our path on the aerial view above. The first picture-worthy stop was just as we entered the plaza surrounding the Basilica of San Lorenzo. It was a monument to Giovanni dalle Bande Nere.

No other outdoor monument in the historic center of Florence represents it neighborhood as much as the statue of Ludovico di Giovanni de' Medici, known as Giovanni dalle Bande Nere. In 1540, Grand Duke Cosimo I de' Medici commissioned sculptor Baccio Bandinelli to create this statue to honor his father, the last of the great mercenary military captains. Uncharacteristically, Bandinelli presented his subject seated on a throne-like chair. He doubtlessly thought this was appropriate, for the statue was to rest on a pedestal inside the Basilica of San Lorenzo. But Cosimo I changed his mind and was going to have the monument installed in Palazzo Vecchio.

Bandinelli decorated the massive marble pedestal on which the statue was to rest with a carved a relief celebrating Giovanni's clemency towards his prisoners. However, the pedestal proved too large when Cosimo changed his plans, so instead of going with the statue to Palazzo Vecchio, it was placed in plaza San Lorenzo, and soon became popularly known as the Base of San Lorenzo. In 1850, the statue itself was moved back here as well and installed on its pedestal, completing the statue you see at left.

When the statue arrived in the square, the locals were so bemused by the fact the fierce warrior was sitting in a chair rather than standing or on horseback that they made up a satirical verse about it: "Giovanni dalle Bande Nere, so bored and tired from his long ride, had to dismount and sit down to rest his backside." They were also puzzled about what he is holding in his right hand. In another Bandinelli statue of him, he is holding a baton of command, and in a statue by Temistocle Guerrazzi (under the portico of the Uffizi) he holds a sword. But this object is thicker than a baton or sword, is tapered at each end and has a groove running around it. Today, it is believed that he is grasping a broken lance, a symbol of his untimely death.

Giovanni died at 28- untimely even then. Born in 1498 to Caterina Sforza (the illegitimate daughter of the Duke of Milan) and her third husband, Giovanni di Pierfrancesco de' Medici; on her father's death, Caterina moved her family to Florence. Giovanni, the youngest of her many children, proved to be a handful even for this resolute and resourceful woman. On Caterina's death in 1509, Lucrezia de' Medici became the guardian of this dissolute youth who lived to gamble, womanise and pick fights. Bored with his schooling, he was so violent and rebellious that at the age of 12 he was banished from the city for murdering another 12-year-old. It was only with the return of the Medicis to power in 1512 that Giovanni, thanks to Lucrezia's influence, finally found his calling at the service of the Medici pope, Leo X, as the commander of a cavalry company of mercenaries during the battle of Urbino (1516-17). In 1517, he married Maria Salviati, and in 1519 she gave birth to their only child, Cosimo, whose future reign (in stark contrast to his father's life) brought wealth, power and enlightenment to Florence.

We were at the northeast corner of the square surrounding the Basilica of San Lorenzo, so we walked around for a bit to have a look at it.

The Basilica of San Lorenzo

The Basilica di San Lorenzo is one of the largest churches in Florence, situated here in the city’s main market district, and it is the burial place of all the principal members of the Medici family from Cosimo il Vecchio to Cosimo III. It is one of several churches that claim to be the oldest in Florence; when it was consecrated in 393 it stood outside the city walls. For three hundred years (prior to the completion of The Duomo) it was the city's cathedral and the parish church of the Medici family. The church is part of a larger monastic complex that contains other important architectural works such as the Old Sacristy by Brunelleschi, the Laurentian Library by Michelangelo, and the New Sacristy based on Michelangelo's designs.

But the most celebrated and grandest part of San Lorenzo are the Medici Chapels in the apse. The Medici were still paying for it when the last member of the family died in 1743. Almost fifty lesser members of the family are buried in the crypt. The final design (1603–1604) was by Bernardo Buontalenti, based on models of Alessandro Pieroni and Matteo Nigetti. Above this crypt is the Cappella dei Principi (Chapel of the Princes), a great but awkwardly domed octagonal hall where the grand dukes themselves are buried. The style shows Mannerist eccentricities in its unusual shape, broken cornices, and asymmetrically sized windows.

The Basilica has a bell tower of course and we spent a bit of time wandering around the square at the east end of the basilica before heading off towards the train station.

(Mouseover Image if Video Controls Not Visible) In the Florence Market

The market district of Florence occupies an area east of the main train station, pretty much centered just north of the Basilica of San Lorenzo. It is a combination of temporary stalls that line the wider streets and a large market building, similar to those we saw in Barcelona. Unlike Barcelona, though, the market stalls and buildings weren't just oriented towards food, but also towards other smaller items.

I made the movie at left as we walked down one of the streets north of the Basilica and then entered one of the market buildings, so it will give you a good idea of what both part of the market district are like. We also took a number of pictures along the street and inside the building, and there are clickable thumbnails for these pictures below:

Coming out of the market building, we went another block west to the street beside the train station, there to look for a bus that would take us to Fiesole.

An Excursion to Fiesole

It's quite warm in Florence, but it should be a bit cooler up the side of the mountains to the north in the town of Fiesole. It has been a getaway for Florentines for centuries, and we are looking forward to prowling around it for the afternoon.

Getting to Fiesole

Fiesole is only about 5 miles (as the crow flies) northeast of the Duomo in Florence, but it is famous for its cooler weather and panoramic views of Florence- since it is about a thousand feet higher.

You can see the relationship of Fiesole to Florence on the aerial view at left.

To get to Fiesole, we assumed we'd have to catch a bus from the main train station, so that is where we headed after leaving the Accademia.

What we found out when we got to the main train station and consulted the map and schedules, we would first have to take a bus to Piazza San Marco (not quite sure where that was) and there get a bus directly to Fiesole. So we bought our ticket for the bus, headed across the street to where to where the buses were waiting found the right one, boarded and headed off.

It turned out to be just a short ride on the bus until we found ourselves stepping off it at the south side of Piazza San Marco- St. Marks Square. No sooner than I had stepped off the bus that I happened to notice one of the signs that point to destinations and places of interest. This one was pointing towards the Accademia- not far away down some avenue but right across the street! Sure enough, when I went to the corner and looked, there it was. As it turned out, the bus to Fiesole stops only a hundred feet or so from the Accademia we'd come out of an hour ago. You can see what I mean on the aerial view at right.

Well, no amount of time walking around Florence is really wasted; there is always something interesting to see wherever you are.

Greg and I consulted the posted bus schedule and thought we had it figured out- which bus to take, and all. But he went ahead and struck up a conversation with someone- more to practice his Italian than anything else- and we got confirmation of where the bus we wanted was to stop. Meanwhile I wandered out into the middle of the square to photograph the statue of General Manfredo Fanti. Fanti was a hero of the Italian Resurgence and the man who reorganised the armed forces in the newly founded Kingdom of Italy. Not long after unification, the city of Florence commissioned realist sculptor Pio Fedi (1816-1892) to create a bronze monument to him. Once completed in 1873, it was erected where it stands today, facing what was then the headquarters of the Royal Military Command.

The inscription (in Italian) on the front of a narrow marble plinth reads, "Manfredo Fanti born in Carpi on 25 February 1806, for the love of liberty, exiled in 1831. Learned the art of war in Spain and in the Italian Wars of Independence. Hastened with valour and intelligence the independence and unification of his homeland. Died in Florence on 15 April 1865." Symbolic figures on the sides of the plinth represent politics, strategy, tactics and fortifications. A bas-relief depicts a scene from the decisive 1859 Battle of San Martino.

As I said, we found the right bus, and pretty soon we started off. On the way I made two movies, one as we moved through Florence and a second as we started up the hill on the road to Fiesole. You can watch these with the players below:

(Mouseover Image if Video Controls Not Visible) On Via del Mille

(Mouseover Image if Video Controls Not Visible) On Via Allesandro Volta and Up the Mountain

We also took some still pictures, of course, as our bus followed the signs to Fiesole.

Below are clickable thumbnails for some of the pictures we took along the way:

After fifteen minutes or so, the road leveled off, and the bus pulled into the main square at Fiesole.

Piazza Mino da Fiesole

We arrived in Fiesole right about noon, when the bus stopped in Piazza Mino- the center of this mountain resort town. After the bumpy bus ride, we thought we'd plan what we'd do here in town, so Greg and I sat under a tree to peruse the guidebook he'd brought.

As I have done before with walks we have taken, I'd like to provide you with the opportunity to follow us along by using an aerial view of Fiesole. I've put one together, and on it have marked our approximate route and some of the stops we made. If you will click on the image at left, that view will open in a separate window so you can both follow us along and read these album pages. When we leave Fiesole to return to Florence, I'll remind you so you can close the window. When you open the window, scroll down to the bottom middle of the view and you will find the route of our bus coming up from the south and dropping us off in the Piazza.

Fiesole, located eight hundred feet higher than Florence proper in the hills northeast of the ity, was probably founded in the 9th-8th century BC, as it was an important member of the Etruscan confederacy, as may be seen from the remains of its ancient walls.

In Fiesole's Piazza Mino

The first recorded mention on the town dates to 283 BC, when the town, then known as Faesulae, was conquered by the Romans. In pagan antiquity it was the seat of a famous school of augurs, and every year twelve young men were sent there from Rome to study the art of divination. Sulla colonized it with veterans, who afterwards, under the leadership of Gaius Mallius, supported the cause of Catilina. During the period of Roman control, a number of buildings- including a large Roman theatre- were built, and the ruins of these structures are within an archaeological park just north of the piazza where we arrived.

Fiesole was the scene of Stilicho's great victory over the Germanic hordes of the Vandals and Suevi under Radagaisus in 406. During the Gothic War (536-53) the town was besieged several times. In 539 Justinus, the Byzantine general, captured it and razed its fortifications.

It was an independent town for several centuries in the early Middle Ages, no less powerful than Florence in the valley below, and many wars arose between them; in 1010 and 1025 Fiesole was sacked by the Florentines, before it was finally conquered by Florence in 1125, and its leading families obliged to take up their residence in Florence. Dante reflects this rivalry in his Divine Comedy by referring to "the beasts of Fiesole."

By the 14th century, rich Florentines had countryside villas in Fiesole, and one of them is the setting of the frame narrative of the Decameron. Boccaccio's poem "Il Ninfale Fiesolano" is a mythological account of the origins of the community. And Robert Browning mentions “sober pleasant Fiesole” several times in his poem "Andrea Del Sarto".

We found Fiesole to be very charming- mostly because it was a bit cooler and much, much smaller than Florence. Most buildings, save for the cathedral, were only a couple of stories high at most, so one never had the closed-in feeling one gets in the narrow streets of the large city down below. And the views were pretty amazing, too.

(Mouseover Image if Video Controls Not Visible) The Piazza Mino in Fiesole

To begin our walk around Fiesole, let's start right here in Piazza Mino- and you might want to use the player at right to watch my movie of the plaza. It might be surprising at first to see such a big piazza at the heart of a small town like Fiesole, but remembere that Fiesole is much older than Florence and that it once was as big and powerful as the capital of Tuscany. Piazza Mino (named after the Italian sculptor Mino da Fiesole) now stands where the Roman forum used to be. At its centre there is a nice bronze statue of Victor Emmanuel II and Giuseppe Garibaldi called "Incontro di Teano" (or "The Handshake of Teano"), which commemorates the famous meeting of the two men in October 1860, when Garibaldi greeted his new king and thus contributed to the restitution of the monarchy in Italy.

There were two other interesting sculptures in the plaza, and I have tried without success to identify them. (It seems that other tourists have photographed them, and put their images on Flickr or other photo-sharing sites, but none have been anal-retentive enough to actually put a description as well.) So if you want to have a look at them, just click here or here.

On the narrower northwest side of the plaza are to buildings of interest- the Seminario, dating from 1697, and the Bishop's Palace, which has an 11th century foundation. Fred got a good picture of the carved medallions and insignia over the entrance, and you can have a look at them here.

Near where the bus stopped, there was an overlook where we got a great view of Florence (you can see the Duomo in the haze right in the center of the picture). On the southeast side of the square are two interesting buildings, the Palazzo Pretorio (14th and 15th centuries), which is decorated with coats of arms, and the medieval Oratorio Santa Maria Primerana, with a 16th century portico. Up under this portico you can see what's left of some decorative frescoes (and you can see them particularly well in Fred's closeup here). We paused at the easternmost corner of the square before heading back down to see the Duomo.

(Mouseover Image if Video Controls Not Visible) Standing Beside the Fiesole Cathedral

On the north side of the plaza, just southeast of the Bishop's Palace, stands the Duomo, the cathedral begun in 1028, extended in the 13th and 14th centuries and considerably altered in the 19th. The Duomo San Romolo has been an episcopal church since the 11th century; its predecessor stood nearby. The battlemented campanile, 140 ft. high, dates from the 12th century.

The interior is notable for its frescoes and pictures, especially in the Cappella Salutati where the monument of Bishop Leonardo Salutati was the work of Mino da Fiesole around 1465 (the same artist for whom the plaza outside was named).

I took a few pictures in the dim interior of the cathedral, and you can use the clickable thumbnails at left to have a look at some of them.

To the north of the cathedral is the Museo Bandini, containing a collection of religious works of art, including many pictures of saints which Canon Angiolo Maria Bandini, librarian of the Biblioteca Mediceo-Laurenziana and scientist, had been assembling since 1795. After his death the collection passed to the Cathedral Chapter of Fiesole and is now in this museum.

We Walk Around the Archaeological Park

We took the street behind the Duomo north just a block to the entrance to the Archaeological Park; we thought we would get tickets and walk around inside it for a while. Just through the archway, we found the ticket office and the park, but when we learned how expensive the tickets were ($20 per person, if I recall correctly), we decided that with all the ruins we'd seen in Cartagena, Lisbon, Ephesus, Athens and that we would shortly see in Rome, there was no particular need to pay that much to see another Roman theatre and some other ruins.

The Roman Theatre

While we were inside the park entrance, I just took a couple of views looking out across the park, and you can use the clickable thumbnails below to have a look at them.

Then we left back through the park entrance and headed around to our right to go along the street that ran along the west border of the park. This street descended slowly right along the park fence- as you can see if you are following us along on the aerial view.

Although we had chosen not to go through the park, walking down the street allowed us to look through the fence into the park, and we got a number of good views looking across the archaeological park as we walked along down to the northwestern corner of the park.

Fred got a number of interesting pictures of the inside of the park by sticking his camera lens through the fence. In a couple of them, he photographed some of the park personnel excavating one small area, and turning up a number of artifacts. If you would like to see some Fred's pictures, just use the clickable thumbnails below:

Walking down that road, we could see some of the hillside houses on the north side of Fiesole. When we got to the bottom of the road, we went down some stone stairs to a street that ran east just behind the archaeological park. On the south side of that street was the wall of the archaeological park (which provided us a shady place to walk), and on the other side of the street we could out across the valley north of Fiesole. There was an odd little building on the other side that you can see in that last picture. When I crossed the street to have a look, I found that it seemed to be some kind of small shrine, but I didn't see an inscription that would explain it. Anyway, we continued eastward, passing some nice nice little cottages, until the street started to slope back up towards the main part of Fiesole. At that point, we found a long roadside stairway- presumably to keep people from walking in the roadway. We took those stairs, curving back around to the south, and finally came up to one of Fiesole's main street (one that led back to the piazza).

Across Fiesole to an Overlook

When we came back up into Fiesole proper, we headed generally south through the city streets to see if we could find a street on the south side of the small town from which we could see Florence.

It was a pleasant walk through the narrow residential streets of Fiesole. Usually, there was a view out across the valley to the north- at least until we crossed the ridge of the hill and headed down to the southern side of town. We passed one picturesque Italian house after another, most of which had lovely little balcony gardens.

Use the clickable thumbnails below to have a look at some of Fred's pictures of the neighborhoods of Fiesole:

Eventually, we found a street named Giuseppe Verdi that seemed to slope down to an open are from which we could get some pictures looking back towards Florence.

From the Overlook on Via Giuseppe Verdi

After a few blocks of walking east along Giuseppe Verdi, we did, in fact, come to an open overlook where we had wonderful views looking south towards Florence. The view was impressive, and Fred began by taking a few pictures that I was able to later stitch together into one large panoramic view; have a look at it below:

None of my pictures could really add to the panorama above, but perhaps a movie will.

(Mouseover Image if Video Controls Not Visible) Florence from Fiesole

If you will start the movie player at right, you'll see the movie I made panning across the vista laid out before us.

Fred also took a few additional pictures using his zoom (one of which clearly shows the Florence Cathedral). You can use the clickable thumbnails below to have a look at a few of these:

When we were done at the overlook, we headed back to Piazza Mino to have a bit of lunch. From the overlook, we came back along Via Giuseppe Verdi and came back out into Piazza Mino. Fred was a bit behind, and he ended up getting a picture of Greg and I entering the plaza.

In that previous picture, you can see some trees on the far side of the plaza from us, and the little cafe where we had some lunch was underneath those trees. As we were waiting for our pizza, I got up to get a picture of Greg and Fred at the cafe.

Visiting the Basilica di Sant' Alessandro

After lunch, we decided to walk northwest up the steep hill to the Basilica of Saint Alexander. The street we took went between the Bishop's Palace and the Seminario; just past the Seminario, it turned left and began to climb steeply up the hill past some villas and two small churches, coming out onto a tree-shaded terrace with a magnificent view out over Florence.

The little park contains a monument to the Fallen of World War II, and also a memorial to three Carabinieri killed by the National Socialists in 1944. Of course, we also took pictures of the impressive views, and you can use the clickable thumbnails below to have a look at some of them:

From this terrace, we headed up a long set of stairs to the Church of Saint Alexander and the San Francesco Monastery.

The Church of Saint Alexander and the San Francesco Monastery

The Church of Saint Alexander was probably founded as early as the third century. Originally called "San Pietro in Gerusalemme," it was rededicated to Bishop Alexander of Fiesole. It occupies the site of an old Etruscan temple which was later replaced by a Roman temple to Bacchus. At the beginning of the sixth century it was converted into a Christian church- probably by Theodoric the Great. Since then, of course, the church has been renovated and updated a number of times. (This information was discovered as I read the guidebook outside the chapel.) If you are wondering where we were sitting in that last picture, it was at the base of an interesting cross.

Use the clickable thumbnails below to see some other pictures taken outside the Basilica:

The inside of the church was pleasing but plain. There was a stained glass rose window at the front and another stained glass window over the altar. There are clickable thumbnails below for some other pictures of the interior of the Church of Saint Alexander:

(Mouseover Image if Video Controls Not Visible) Inside the Church of Saint Alexander

I made a movie inside the chapel, and you can use the player at left to have a look at it.

Attached to Saint Alexander church there was a two-story building; climbing the stairs brought us to a plain, dark hall with doors along the sides, each leading to a monastic cell. Back downstairs, and offsetting the extreme simplicity of the monastic cells, there was a very pleasant courtyard garden adjacent to the chapel. We took a number of pictures there, and you can use the clickable thumbnails below to have a look at some of them:

The monastic Church of San Francesco and San Francesco Monastery are located diagonally opposite the church of Saint Alexander. These two buildings were constructed in the 14th century and given over to the Franciscans in 1407. In 1905 the church was extensively restored. The interior has valuable art treasures, and there is a mission museum and idyllic cloisters.

After spending some time here, we headed back down the hill to return to the Piazza Mino. There, we relaxed for a while as we waited for the bus that took us back to Florence, after a really nice walk around picturesque Fiesole.

The Church of San Miniato al Monte

On returning to Florence, we thought that since we would end up at the bus terminus, we would find one that would take us across the Arno and up to the Piazza Michaelangelo, where there is a replica of the "David" sculpture, and the Church of San Miniato al Monte, which also overlooks Florence.

San Miniato is immediately south of Piazza Michaelangelo, so we just consulted the schedules (and asked at least one English-speaking Florentine) and found a bus that would take us from the main train station up to the piazza.

(Mouseover Image if Video Controls Not Visible) On the Bus to Piazza Michaelangelo

The bus went from the train station over to the park we were at yesterday, and for a while we thought it was going in the wrong direction. But it crossed the river (near the station where Fred and I had gotten on the train yesterday), and then headed back east east along the Arno towards the piazza.

Along the way, Fred took some interesting pictures of street scenes, monuments and fountains, and you can use the clickable thumbnails below to have a look at some of these:

Eventually, the bus brought us right around above the piazza where we got off. We did three things here- visited the statue, visited the Church of San Miniato and walked through the piazza garden- and we did them in that order. As usual, I'd like for you to be able to follow us along on aerial views, but if I organize this album strictly in time sequence, you'll be opening and closing one aerial view, opening and closing another, and then opening and closing the first one again. So to make things a bit easier, we'll just put the walk through the grounds of the Church of San Miniato first. When we got off the bus, which was headed east, the church was to our right (south) and up a hill.

As I have done before with walks we have taken, I'd like to provide you with the opportunity to follow us along on our walk through the San Miniato Basilica complex and the huge graveyard that almost surrounds it. So that you can do so, I've created a large aerial view of the area and marked our route on it. If you will click on the button at left, that view will open in a separate window so you can both follow us along as you read these album pages. When we leave the basilica complex to head over to the Michaelangelo plaza, I'll remind you so you can close the window. When the window opens, you will find the beginning of our route at the top of the aerial view, and we will begin by heading south.

We began by walking south a short ways and then up a broad flight of steps to a parish chapel. We did not go in, instead going around to our right and a bit more south to the begining of the winding road to the Basilica San Miniato. There is a street that goes from the Piazza Michaelangelo to the very front of the Basilica, but we didn't know that, and instead followed this cuving road towards the basilica complex. The road came around alongside one of the old fortress walls. From the air (as you can see in the aerial view) the Basilica San Miniato is situated in a fortress that resembles Fort Ticonderoga or perhaps a Spanish fort in San Juan. There are long pointed walls sticking out in four or five directions around the back of the complex, although if you enter via the street in front of the church (where we will actually exit a bit later), no walls confront you.

Coming up this way, we came around by the campanile (bell tower). The original collapsed in 1499; the replacement was never finished- which is why it is relatively short. During the siege of Florence in 1530 it was used as an artillery post by the defenders and Michelangelo had it wrapped in mattresses to protect it from enemy fire. We crossed a small parking area, and took a narrow set of stairs up to the level of the church and its surrounding buildings. We went through a small enclosed area, turned left, went through an archway that led through one of the wings of the church complex, and came out into the first of the many areas that comprise the Porte Sante, the large cemetery laid out in 1854.

San Miniato al Monte (St. Minias on the Mountain) stands atop one of the highest points in Florence. It has been described as one of the finest Romanesque structures in Tuscany and one of the most beautiful churches in Italy. There is an adjoining Olivetan monastery, on the south side of the basilica. Minias was an Armenian prince serving in the Roman army under Emperor Decius, but was later denounced as a Christian and literally fed to the lions (legend says it was a huge panther, but who's quibbling?). The panther, again according to legend, refused to devour him. Beheaded in the presence of the Emperor, he (yet again according to legend) picked up his head, crossed the Arno and walked up the hill to his home. (Of course, a shrine was later erected there.)

We spent most of our time in the incredible cemetery that almost completely surrounds the church; you can see from the aerial view that only the front of the church is "grave-free," although even at the front there are a few small plots. The cemetery, cloister, chapel and bishop's palace, built between 1300 and 1450, are all part of the complex within the defensive walls (originally built hastily by Michelangelo during the siege and in 1553 expanded into a true fortress by Cosimo I de' Medici).

We took a great many pictures here; the cemetery was incredible. I've chosen four pictures that are representative of what we saw here- niche crypts, moderately-sized plots, large crypts and really large mausoleums. These pictures are below:

The walls now enclose this large cemetery, the Porte Sante, laid out in 1854. Buried here are personages as varied as the creator of Pinocchio, politicians, painters, poets and authors, film producers, sculptors, fine artists, singers and at least one physicist (Bruno Benedetto Rossi).

Click on the Image Above to View the Slideshow

Of course, we didn't take the time to look for these personages, or even try to read many of the inscriptions. But we did wander around, marveling at the intricacy of some of the memorials and taking pictures of just about anything interesting.

Many of the crypts or memorials were free-standing buildings; I am sure you have seen them before in real life or in movies or TV shows. But the variety and ornamentation of the ones here was amazing. I have selected a good many of the pictures that we took for inclusion here in this photo album, and so I have chosen a slideshow to make it easy for you to look at them.

To view the slideshow, just click on the image at left and I will open the slideshow in a new window. In the slideshow, you can use the little arrows in the lower corners of each image to move from one to the next, and the index numbers in the upper left of each image will tell you where you are in the series. When you are finished looking at the pictures, just close the popup window.

As I said, wandering around the cemetery was interesting, so much so that I thought a movie would be a good idea.

(Mouseover Image if Video Controls Not Visible)

Around the backside of the basilica, I turned my movie camera on and just held it out in front of me as I walked along for a minute or so; you can watch that movie with the player at left.

There was also a fair amount interesting statuary- much of it on the individual markers, but in a couple of places out in the middle of the aisles through the cemetery. One of them was a stylized interpretation of the Crucifixion. You can use the clickable thumbnails below to see some of the other examples:

Our walk through the cemetery brought us around to the south side of the basilica, and we wanted to go around to the west side and the main entrance so we could look inside. To get there from where we were, we had to go underground.

(Mouseover Image if Video Controls Not Visible)

We had to descend a long straight staircase to what we thought would be a tunnel passageway taking us north to the front of the basilica. When we got downstairs, we did find the tunnel, but as it turned out it took us through a very large underground room that was full of small niches where, presumably, the ashes of persons cremated were placed. These niches all had inscribed facing stones, most of which had flowers as well. I made a movie here in the underground room (which also had an open atrium that you can see on the aerial view), and you can watch it with the player at right.

I found the little niches very interesting, and it would have been nice to have the time to read more of them. You can use the clickable thumbnails below to see three of the pictures that I took here:

Construction of the present church was begun in 1013 and it was endowed by Emperor Henry II. The adjoining monastery began as a Benedictine community, then passed to the Cluniacs and then in 1373 to the Olivetans, who still run it. (Perhaps the Olivetans were just more business-savvy, for they make famous liqueurs, honey and tisanes, which they sell from a shop next to the church.)

We were late getting to the church, and we only had time to stick our heads in the back of the nave, but what we could see was impressive. The interior has changed little since it was first built. The patterned pavement dates from 1207, and the nave is dominated by a freestanding "Chapel of the Crucifix," designed in 1448. A mosaic of Christ between the Virgin and St. Minias was made in 1260; you can see a zoom picture of the mosaic below:

The crypt is the oldest part of the church and supposedly contains the bones of St Minias himself (although there is evidence that these were removed to Metz before the church was even built). The raised choir and presbytery contain a magnificent Romanesque pulpit and screen made in 1207. The apse is dominated by a great mosaic dating from 1297, which depicts the same subject as that on the façade and is probably by the same unknown artist. The crucifix above the high altar is attributed to Luca della Robbia. The sacristy is decorated with a great fresco cycle on the Life of St. Benedict. The chapel was a collaboration between many of the outstanding artists of Florence. The geometrically patterned marble façade was probably begun in about 1090, although the upper parts date from the 12th century or later; these were financed by the cloth merchants’ guild, who were responsible for the church’s upkeep from 1288. The eagle which crowns the façade was their symbol.

From the top of the steps that lead up to the church, there is an impressive view of Florence and, as you can see, some additional gravesites. Near the top of the steps and off to one side is a memorial to Silvia Marini; other than her birth and death dates, there was nothing to tell me who she was, and Internet searches have been fruitless. We completed our tour of the basilica by descending the broad steps to the street below, and then walking back north to the Piazza Michaelangelo. (Reminder, if you have it open, you can close the aerial view of our walk through the basilica grounds.)

The Piazza Michaelangelo and Garden

For today's last stop, we'll spend some time in the Piazza Michaelangelo, and then return to Casa Rovai by going through the garden adjacent to the piazza, working our way down to the Arno, and then walking back to the bed and breakfast.

Again, I have put together an aerial view of the part of Florence that contains Piazza Michaelangelo, the adjacent garden, and the path we took down the hill to the Arno and back to Casa Rovai. I've marked the David statue, gardens and our path on it; if you will click on the button at left, that view will open in a separate window. You'll find the beginning of our route at the bottom middle of the window. When we are back beside the Arno and on our way home, I'll remind you so you can close the window.

From the Basilica, we walked back towards the Arno, crossed the street, and came through a parking area to the broad, open Piazza Michaelangelo. Of course, the plaza takes its name from the monument to Michaelangelo and the life-size replica of the artist's "David" that stands on top of it.

As we came through the parking area, we first approached the monument from the back and then came around the front of it were we took a number of pictures- such as the one at left. There are two other pictures of the monument worth including here because they contain Fred and myself.

The monument was designed and built in 1869 architect Giuseppe Poggi on this hill. At that time, Florence was the capital of Italy and the whole city was involved in an urban renewal, the so-called "Risanamento" or the "Rebirth" of the city's middle class, at which wimt the riverside walkways were built. Across the Arno from here, the fourteenth-century walls were removed and turned into the Viali di Circonvallazione- a French-inspired boulevard, six lanes wide and lined with trees. On this bank, the Via dei Colli- a tree-lined street over 5 miles long- was built winding up the hill of San Miniato and ending at the Piazzale Michelangelo. That plaza was built as a terrace with a panoramic view of the city.

The square, dedicated to Michelangelo, has copies of some of his works found elsewhere in Florence: the David and the four allegories of the Medici Chapel of San Lorenzo. These copies are made of bronze, while the originals are all in white marble. The monument was brought up by nine pairs of oxen on 25 June 1873. Poggi also designed and built the loggia; a museum was intended but never built.

Below are clickable thumbnails for some of the pictures Fred took of Florence from here:

The famous view from this observation point overlooking the city has been reproduced on countless postcards and snapshots over the years. The panorama embraces the heart of Florence from Forte Belvedere to Santa Croce, across the riverside walkways and the bridges crossing the Arno, including the Ponte Vecchio, the Duomo, Palazzo Vecchio, the Bargello and the octagonal bell tower of the Badia Fiorentina. Beyond the view of the city itself are the hills of Settignano and Fiesole.

(Mouseover Image if Video Controls Not Visible)

Sometimes, movies do better than pictures, and so I made a movie from the balcony of the loggia, panning across the vista that was spread out below us. You can watch that movie with the player at left.

I also took my own pictures looking across the river, and they present a variety of views. Use the clickable thumbnails below to have a look at some of them:

With such a panoramic view spread out before us, I could not resist yet another very wide composite shot; this one was stitched together from five separate pictures, and you can have a look at it using the scrollable window below:

It was tough to leave such an impressive spot, but we had to head home. To our left, from the balcony, we could see some of some of the old city walls, and just below the balcony, down some stairs and across the street, was an entrance to the Giardino della Rose- Florence's public rose garden.

Part of the Rose Garden

The Giardino della Rose was not very large, but it featured a number of sculptures (quite a wide variety of them, including one that seemed to be a valise with a ship inside), a goldfish pond some interesting fountains, lots of interesting plants and trees, wandering paths and, of course, roses. Some of them Fred had not seen before. The garden was not nearly so spectacular as, say, the Tyler Rose Garden, but it provided us a pleasant way to walk down the hill to an exit at the bottom of the garden. That exit took us, we could see from above, to a street that would take us down in front of Piazza Michaelangelo to the Arno.

The garden was very pleasant, and we took quite a few pictures as we walked down the hill through it. There are clickable thumbnails below so you can look at some of them:

We had used the garden as a pleasant way of getting down the hill below Piazza Michaelangelo to the Arno. But while we were up above at the level of the monument, we could have decended directly to the north down some ramps and stairs to the Piazza Giuseppe Poggi; you can see this possible route in the aerial view. (The ramps are known as the "Poggi Ramps" in the district of San Niccolò.) By going through the garden, we bypassed the ramps, however.

When we got out of the garden and onto the street, we followed it around and down below the loggia. There was got a good view of Porta San Niccolò. What appears today to be a free-standing tower was originally part of the walls of the city. As I mentioned earlier, some of the city walls were removed 150 years ago to make way for the construction of the roadways and walkways that now line the Arno on either side. Today, the massive structure is isolated and tower-like; Florentines often call it "Torre San Niccolo."

from this overlook, we found symmetrical stairs leading down on either side of us. These took us down maybe 25 feet to another level, where we found vine‑covered grottoes, which we later learned were part of the loggia that had been built during the reconstruction. Another pair of stairways led us down finally to the level of Piazza Giuseppe Poggi.

Until 1911, this plaza was called Piazza delle Mulina; nearby (outside the walls) had been mills powered by water the river. The square is today dedicated to Giuseppe Poggi, the architect of Piazzale Michelangelo and boulevards Florentines; the complex we have just left was his most daring creation as an architect and artist. As we left the Piazza to head back west along the Arno to a bridge where we could cross, we got another great view of the ancient Porta San Niccolò.

From this point, we just headed to the first bridge across the river, which turned out to be the same bridge we had crossed on our first afternoon walk after arriving in the city. All we had to do was follow the street across the bridge and for ten or twelve blocks through Florence to come out in the small square near Casa Rovai. That brought our walk through Piazza Michaelangelo to and end and, if you have the aerial view open, you can close the window that contains it.

Dinner at Mediterranean Kabob

Tonight, we are going to do something unusual. Here we are, in Italy, and we are planning on eating Turkish kabobs. A day or two earlier, while Fred and I were walking to the park by the river, Greg had gone out looking for a snack, and just a short block away from Casa Rovai, he found a small restaurant called "Mediterranean Kabob." Before we left Casa Rovai, Greg had filled us in on his "find," and once we got there, it was pretty obvious why Greg had become fond of it.

(Mouseover Image if Video Controls Not Visible)

When Greg said "kabob," I immediately pictured "shish kabob," which you all know as pieces of meat and vegetables grilled on a skewer. But that's not what a "Turkish" kabob turned out to be. It was much more like a large burrito, and indeed the fillings, which were varied, are wrapped in what appeared to be large flour tortillas. They weren't, exactly, but they tasted pretty much the same.

Although the kabobs looked like burritos, they tasted definitely Middle-Eastern, but whether that was because of the spices or the kinds of vegetables used I couldn't tell. What I could tell was that they were quite good and very filling (and not very expensive, either). But I don't think the food is what Greg brought us back for; no, I think it was the family that ran it. There were four people- father, mother and two sons. All of them, particularly the son who actually layered the fillings on the kabob, were friendly and talkative- exactly the kind of people Greg (and everyone else) likes. You'll see what I mean when you watch the movie at left, or use the clickable thumbnails below to see some still shots I took:

There was a little seating area in the back of the small establishment, and that's where we ate. We were served a special, sweet dessert (on the house, as it turned out), and Greg conversed with everyone in some English and some Italian. The sons are of the age to be all about Facebook and the Internet, and both had plans to visit the US as soon as they could. I assume Greg will stay connected, so maybe we'll see one of them again sometime.

We stayed quite a while; it was a nice finish to our last full day in Florence. Tomorrow we head back to Rome. But before we do, we need to add to our collection of doors and doorknobs.

The Doors and Doorknobs of Florence

You are aleady familiar with our ongoing collection of pictures from our vacation of Europe's doors and doorknobs, so let's just add to that growing collection with those we found here in Florence.

Click on the Image Above to View the Slideshow

In case you want to specialize in one or the other, I've taken the pictures of doors and put them in their own slideshow, and that show is at left. Fred, for his part, concentrated on the doorknobs, and I have put his pictures (a great many of them) in their own slideshow, and that show is below.

To view either slideshow, just click on its starting image and I will open the slideshow in a new window. In the slideshow, you can use the little arrows in the lower corners of each image to move from one to the next, and the index numbers in the upper left of each image will tell you where you are in the series. When you are finished looking at the pictures, just close the popup window.

Click on the Image Above to View the Slideshow

You can use the links below to continue to another photo album page.

	June 1, 2012: Rome, Italy: Day One
	May 30, 2012: Florence, Italy: Day Two
	Return to the Index for Our Week in Florence and Rome