We are concluding this long series of posts on Florence with more photos of the public squares or plaza … Part 1 is here. If you are just joining us, you can see some highlights here: il Duomo, David by Michelangelo, Birth of Venus by Botticelli, Ponte Vecchio.
If you like to join us on this epic road trip from the beginning in Switzerland, click here for the first post of the series.
Piazza Santa Trinita
This is a triangular plaza which sits at one end of Florence’s haute couture shopping street – Via de’Tornabuoni.
We went to see the “Seta/Silk” exhibition held at Museo Salvatore Ferragamo which is housed in Palazzo Spini Feroni built in the 14th century and bought by Ferragamo in the 1930’s (see photo on left).
Near the center of this plaza is the Column of Justice (Colonna della Giustizia), a gift by the pope to Cosimo I de’Medici, which was transported laboriously from Rome by land and sea to Florence and erected in 1565. We assume all these surrounding buildings (except the Basilica) were constructed after the column arrived.
Basilica di Santa Trinita
Across the piazza from Palazzo Spini Feroni is this church which was constructed in 1258–1280 at the site of a pre-existing 11th-century church. Multiple reconstructions occurred over the centuries.
Piazza della Stazione
On the western edge of the centro storico is the Firenze Santa Maria Novella train station and the church of Santa Maria Novella. Public spaces associated with these buildings are similarly named. The train station was built in 1930’s embracing a low-profile, modernist design.
Piazza di Santa Maria Novella
This church which was consecrated in 1420 lent its name to the train station and the piazza. The construction were financed by prominent Florentine families, who ensured themselves funerary chapels on consecrated ground.
Basilica di Santa Maria Novella as seen from the side and the pedestrian passageway that connects Piazza di S. Maria Novella and Piazza dell’Unità Italiana.
Piazza dell’Unità Italiana
Opposite the train station is a square that was named in 1882 to celebrate the achieved political unity of the peninsula (Risorgimento), which took place in the 1870’s. On that occasion the obelisk in the center dedicated to the fallen in the three wars of Independence (1848, 1859 and 1866) was inaugurated.
Piazza Santa Croce
This square is on the east side of the centro storico in front of the Basilica di Santa Croce. The most notable features of the basilica are its sixteen chapels, many of them decorated with frescoes by Giotto. It is the burial place of many illustrious Italians, such as Michelangelo, Machiavelli, and Galileo.
Piazza Santa Croce
Many of the buildings surrounding the square were erected after World War II. The ground level are shops, large and small, mostly specializing in leather goods. Due to its size and rectangular shape, it has been a popular place to hold large scale concerts and events, like public squares in other big cities.
This is our last post on Florence. Our next and last stop on this road trip would be Tuscany. If you like to follow us on this epic Italian road trip, click here for the next post.
