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W E L C O M E T O
T O R T I L L A B A Y . C O M
T
H E W E B S I T E O F
A L B E R T O
V A Z Q U E Z A N D C R A I G
A Y L I F F E
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Statue of David,
Florence |
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C E N T R A L
I T A L Y B L O G
F L O R E N C E
Vicki and Mom
have made a great choice in hotels in Florence.
It's modern, elegant (complimentary slippers and
robes), and bright with beautiful views. It's
close to the center of town. "It has CNN!",
says Mom. For all my blathering on about little
affiti cameres, pensiones and apartments,
we are relieved to be in a posh hotel room.
And I have an internet connection. Everyone is
rested and relaxed. Mom seems to be in good
shape.
We spent our days wallowing in gorgeous
shopping, Art, beautiful sightseeing, a side
trip to Pisa, Gorgonzola cheese with marmalade
and walnuts, Salad Caprese, and a romantic,
delicious dinner at the foot of the Ponte
Vecchio, where the sweet, drunken chef came over
to meet us at our table and kissed my Mom right
on the lips.
This is a beautiful city. This is the city that
lead the rest of Europe out of the Dark Ages
with the Renaissance. This is the home of Michelangelo's
David, of the Medici Family, of Dante,
Boccaccio, Galileo and Donatello.
A center of
medieval European trade and finance, the city is
often considered the birthplace of the Italian
Renaissance and was long ruled by the Medici
family. Florence is also famous for its fine art
and architecture. It is said that, of the 1,000
most important European artists of the second
millennium, 350 lived or worked in Florence. In
fact, the city has also been called the Athens
of the Middle Ages.
As soon as we
settled in the hotel we took off for the main
plaza to see the Basilica.
THE PIAZZA DEL
DUOMO and
THE BASILICA DI
SANTA MARIA DEL FIORE
At the center of Florence lies the
Piazza del Duomo and the Duomo, called the
Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore (Saint Mary of
the Flower) in white, green and pink carrara
marble.
The cathedral complex includes the church
proper, the Battistero di San Giovanni (The
Baptistery of Saint John) and Santa Maria
Novella.
Designed by Arnolfo di Cambio
in 1296 to be the largest Roman Catholic church
in the world. The first stone was laid in 1296 The
building of this vast project was to last 170
years, the collective efforts of several
generations.
THE
BAPTISTERY OF ST. JOHN
The Battistero of San
Giovanni stands in the
Piazza del Duomo, just to the west of the Duomo.
Until the end of the 19th century all Florentines
were baptized in this church. It has the status
of a minor basilica. It is believed that the
Baptistery was originally a Roman temple
dedicated to Mars, the god of the old Fiorentina.
It
is believed to be the oldest building in
Florence. It is particularly famed for its three
sets of magnificent and artistically important
bronze doors.
The Battistero was probably built above the debris
of an Roman building. The first octagonal baptistery was erected here in
the late 4th or early 5th century. It was
replaced in the 6th century to Theodelinda, queen of the
Lombards (570-628) to seal the conversion of her
husband, king Authari.
The baptistery has eight equal sides with a
rectangular addition on the west side. This
octagonal shape symbolizes the "eighth day".
This was
considered a symbol for the eternal life given
through baptism, when one passes from life in
sin to a new life in Christ.
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Detail of
Baptistery Door, Story of St. Joseph |
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Basilica di Santa Maria
del Fiore of Florence 2006 |
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The
octagonal Baptistery of St. John (famous
gold doors at the right)
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Baptistery Doors
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Basilica di Santa Maria
del Fiore of Florence, Italy 2006
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The Bell Tower
(Campanile) by Giotto,1334
Florence, 2006
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V I D E O -
F L O R EN C E A N D P I S A
Here are the
highlights of our time in Florence and Pisa.
Florence is one
the great cities of Tuscany and a must-see for
travelers to Italy. Pisa is important and
historical and a short trip away by train. But
Florence is just so extraordinarily fun to walk
around in - and shop and eat and shop and eat.
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click to play
F l o r e n c e a n d
P i s a , I t a l y
M a y , 2 0 0 6
Music: Nel Cuore Lei sung by
Andrea Bocelli with Eros Ramazzotti;
O Mio Babbino Caro sung by
Liliana Felipe
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-continued-
T H E
P O N T E V E C C H I O
It is said that when Hitler came
to see Florence during the occupation, he stood on the Ponte Vecchio and
declared it to be the most beautiful bridge he had ever seen. "Save this
bridge," he said. "And destroy all the rest." Which they did. Dozens of
medieval homes and castles, all the other venerable bridges, and
hundreds of shops and homes that lined the River Arno were bombed into
rubble. The gold and silver shops were emptied and shipped to Berlin.
Today, the
beautiful Ponte Vecchio is still lined with gold and silver
shops selling the famous Florentine gold. There are hundreds of padlocks
attached to the walls of the towers. Serious romantics bring a padlock to the bridge,
attach it, and throw the key into River Arno, symbolizing their undying
love for each other.
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2006
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On the Ponte
Vecchio, Florence 2006
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The medieval Ponte
Vecchio with the gold and silver shops still in business.
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-continued-
T H E
M E R C A T O N U O V O
Another
big thanks to
Rick
Steves Guide to Italy 2006. We would
have missed this terrific shopping
open-air shopping market: butter-soft
italian leather jackets, handbags, and
pashmini silk wraps in a rainbow of
colors (for
€10 each). We
stocked up for gifts.
The market also has the famous IL
Porcellino (piglet), a fountain
statue of a boar, cast in bronze in 1612
by Pietro Tacca. Visitors place a coin
in the boar's mouth and rub the snout
for good luck.
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Enter the Mercato Nuovo under the
archway on the left 2006
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Today's News 2006
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Vicki Shopping, Florence 2006
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We rub the nose of the
Porcellino in the Mercato Nuovo for good luck
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We rub the nose of the
Porcellino in the Mercato Nuovo for good luck
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Artist and chalk
drawing outside the Mercato Nuovo, Florence 2006
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Artists and chalk
drawing outside the Mercato Nuovo, Florence 2006
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P I A Z Z
A D E L L A S I
G N O R IA
Piazza
della Signoria is an L-shaped square in
front of the Palazzo Vecchio. It is the
focal point of the origin and of the
history of the Florentine Republic and
still maintains its reputation as the
political hub of the city. It is a major
meeting place for Florentines and a
major destination for tourists. We had a
wonderful lunch al fresco before
we set off to explore the piazza. Right
on the piazza is the Palazzo Vecchio and
a large outdoor sculpture group in and
around the Loggia dei Lanza. Just off
the Piazza is the famous Uffizi Gallery.
P A L A Z
Z O V E C C H I O
The 14th
century Palazzo Vecchio dominates the
piazza. It is the town hall of Florence,
Italy. This massive, gothic, crenellated
fortress-palace is among the most
impressive town halls of Tuscany.
Overlooking the Piazza della Signoria
where the famous David statue stood
until the 19th century ( a copy stands
there now) as well the gallery of
statues in the adjacent Loggia dei
Lanzi, it is one of the most significant
public places in Italy.
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Palazzo
Vecchio
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Palazzo
Vecchio 2006 |
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Front of The Palazzo
Vecchio 2006 |
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Piazza
della Signoria by Canelletto
In the painting
above by Canelletto, the Loggia Dei Lanzi can be
seen in shadows at the right, the Palazzo directly
in front/right with the statues of David (1504) by
Michaelangelo on the left side of the front entrance
and Hercules and Cacus (1533) by Bandinelli on the
right side. The Fountain of Neptune (1575) by
Bartolomeo Ammannati sits at the left-most corner of
the Palazzo.
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L O G G I
A D E I L A N Z
I
The
Loggia dei Lanzi, also called the Loggia
della Signoria, is a building on a
corner of the Piazza della Signoria in
Florence, 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.
The
Loggia is filled with famous statuary
and people wander freely around and
among them, having a bit of lunch or
people-watching.
This
splendid open-air museum evokes
centuries of greatness and power. It was
already a central square in the original
Roman town Florentia, surrounded by a
theatre, Roman baths and a workshop for
dying textiles. Later there was a church
San Romolo, a loggia and an enormous 5th
c. basilica. This was shown by the
archaeological treasures found beneath
the square when it was repaved in the
1980's. Even remains of a Neolithic site
were found.
The
square remained a long time untidy, full
of holes. In 1385 it was paved for the
first time. In 1497 Girolamo Savonarola
and his followers carried out on this
square the famous Bonfire of the
Vanities, burning in a large pile books,
gaming tables, fine dresses, and works
of poets. In front of the fountain of
Neptune, a round marble plaque marks the
exact spot where Savonarola was hanged
and burned on May 23rd 1498.
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Menelaus
Supporting the Body of Patroclus, an
ancient Roman marble group from c. 200 B.C.
Gifted to Cosimo I d'Medici in 1579 by Pope
Pius V.
Loggia dei
Lanzi, Florence 2006
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Front: Giambologna's Rape of the Sabine Women
The sculpture by Giambologna (1579–1583) depicts three figures (a man
lifting a woman into the air while a second man crouches) and was carved
from a single block of marble.
Rear: Giambologna's less celebrated Hercules
beating the Centaur Nessus (1599) carved from a single block
of white marble.
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The group The
Rape of Polyxena, is a fine
diagonal sculpture by Pio Fedi
from 1865.
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T H E
F O U N T A I N O F
N E P T U N E
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
Neptune figure, whose face resembles
that of Cosimo I de' Medici, was meant
to be an allusion to the dominion of the
Florentines over the sea. The figure
stands on a high pedestal in the middle
of an octagonal fountain. The pedestal
in the middle is decorated with the
mythical chained figures of Scylla and
Charybdis.
However,
when the work was finished, it wasn't
appreciated in particular by the
Florentines who use to call it 'Il
Biancone' (the white giant). Even
Michelangelo scoffed at the sculptor:
'Ammanato, you've ruined a lovely block
of marble! '
Work continued on this fountain during
the next ten years. Ammannati, with the
assistance of the best Florentine
sculptors and casters, added around the
perimeter of the basin, in a Mannerist
Style, suave, reclining, bronze river
gods, laughing satyrs and marble sea
horses emerging from the water.
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Fountain of Neptune 2006 |
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Fountain of Neptune 2006
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River Gods, Fountain of Neptune 2006 |
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Fountain of
Neptune
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Satyr on the
Fountain of Neptune, Florence 2006
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Dinner on
the Arno River 2006
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Sunset on the
Arno River, Florence 2006
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Sunset on
the Arno River, Florence 2006
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