Florence :
City of art and culture par excellence, the Tuscan capital is the depositary of a long and prestigious past, where it was in turn a center of trade and banking in the medieval period, then became the great crossroads of the arts that known when the city-state came under the cut of the Medici family and coined his trademark: the Renaissance. Under the rule of multi-disciplinary genius (Leonardo, Michelangelo …), painters and sculptors (Donatello, Botticelli …), architectural visionary (Brunelleschi, Giotto Florence …), s’ is
enriched during three centuries of the finest works of his contemporaries, who still Vallent all the honors. The city is full of museums, churches, palaces, residences, …
so much so that it is difficult to make a list, let alone a hierarchy. Among the most emblematic include the gigantic Duomo cathedral and its bell tower, the Basilica of San Lorenzo and the Medici Chapel adjaçante (housing the tombs of the family), the Uffizi Gallery – formerly princely seat of the administration – is Today the museum more renowned Florentine, which contains the major pictorial works of the Renaissance, the Accademia Gallery, where stands the famous sculptures by Michelangelo, the Palazzo Vecchio – a residence time of the Medici – who is facing the Piazza della Signora, whose visit trade shows in decor and the tower for sweeping views of the city;
Palazzo Pitti is one other public building as a museum, which also houses other treasures of the boom, adjacent to the Palace, the Boboli Gardens is a beautiful green area with fountains and statues. Crossed by the Arno River, you have to take the only bridge that the Allies did not destroy: the Ponte Vecchio, a relic of the Middle Ages, topped by a gallery and inlaid side inhabited building.
Venice
One might think naively that everything has already been said about Venice, that all the cliches of the lagoon city in place of the stay in place. It is not so, Venice is unique and inimitable, and fully justifies its status as a favorite tourist destination in the world, we will come to browse through the canals in a gondola on the occasion of his honeymoon, or soak up some culture of the Maritime Republic to 1000 years of independence. Prior to the city of lovers, Venice was home to a city-state, a true maritime and commercial power whose influence extended across the Adriatic, over much of the eastern Mediterranean and the northernmost provinces of Italy. Pushed into a corner by the Ottoman Empire, it still retained its luster and Venician devoted their time and fortune to the beautification of the city, construction of palaces and organizing parties in a spirit of libertinism. This period of luxury and debauchery ended with the Napoleonic siege of 1797.
Once political and religious center of the Republic, the famous Piazza San Marco is now the rallying point for tourists, providing access to historical monuments of the city. Lined with colonnades housing some famous cafes – the oldest in Italy – the place is home to the oldest library in the country, the name of Marciana. It faces the Palazzo Ducale, imposing Gothic building which was the seat of the Serenissima Republic. Also on the site (and linked to the palace) is the Basilica San Marco, Byzantine architecture, which is the largest church in the city and was the place of worship of the Doges before becoming the cathedral of Venice. Finally the tower of St. Mark’s bell tower – a height of 100 meters – offers a panoramic view of the city and surrounding islands. Based on the Doge’s Palace to reach the railway station at the other end of the island, the Grand Canal is the major axis of Venice and also his most prestigious thoroughfare, lined with hundreds of palaces as emblematic of all the city. The Vaporetto – municipal boat – and incidentally the gondolas are the safest means of travel and allow the same time to contemplate these architectural masterpieces, passing under the famous bridges that cross the Venetian Grand Canal (Rialto Bridge, Bridge Academy …). But other channels, closer, also of interest, are crossed by picturesque bridges other relaying between two rows of colorful houses.