Squares & Towers

36 SHOPPING

The best-known fashion houses have their boutiques and shops on Via de’ Tornabuoni and Via della Vigna. The other shopping streets are located just a few meters away from the city’s main attractions. And so, by walking from the Duomo to Piazza della Signoria, you will be able to browse and shop at the many stores along Via Calzaiuoli and Via del Corso. Be sure to

Piazza Santo Spirito

visit the Ponte Vecchio lined with sparkling jewelry shops. 37 CRAFT SHOPS

It is the other side of Florence, the traditional one, oozing with the creativity and colors of craft shops. It is Florence’s Oltrarno, the neighborhood of old arts and crafts. The San Frediano, San Niccolò and Santo Spirito areas are filled with goldsmith’s workshops that work and assemble gemstones to create unique and extraordinary jewels. 38 ANTIQUE SHOPS

Via Maggio and Via dei Fossi are the streets where the ancient techniques of etching, metalworking and furniture and frame gilding are still performed. Workshops that attract customers from all over the world and keep the tradition of pottery, wood carving and decoration alive. 39 FORTE BELVEDERE

Besides being one of the city’s most panoramic locations, it is an architectural work designed in the late 1500s by Bernardo Buontalenti for Ferdinando I de’ Medici. It is the Vasari Corridor’s final stretch and it has been housing international contemporary art exhibitions since 2013. Via di S. Leonardo, 1 ph. +39 055 2768224 musefirenze.it Open from June to October, closed on Mondays 40 LOGGIA DEL PORCELLINO

Loggia del Porcellino is the common name for Florence’s Loggia del Mercato Nuovo, so called to distinguish it from the Mercato Vecchio, which was located in the area of today’s Piazza della Repubblica. The Loggia’s focal point has been, since 1640, the Fontana del Porcellino ( the piglet fountain), actually a replica of the seventeenth-century

Piazza del Duomo

Tower of San Niccolò

Piazza Pitti

bronze wild boar by Pietro Tacca currently showcased at the Stefano Bardini Museum.

SQUARES & TOWERS

22 PIAZZA DEL DUOMO

The heart of the city where you can admire all together the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, Brunelleschi’s dome, Giotto’s bell tower and the Baptistery of San Giovanni. 3 PIAZZA DELLA SIGNORIA

The square’s current design dates back to the 13th century and it was paved in the late 14th century. It has always been the symbol of the city’s civil power. Its most iconic building is Palazzo Vecchio, with a replica of Michelangelo’s David at the entrance and next to the Loggia dei Lanzi. In the middle of the piazza is the Fountain of Neptune, also known as the Biancone, with its central statue designed by Bartolomeo Ammannati. 2 PIAZZA PITTI

Nearly completely dominated by the imposing Palazzo Pitti, it is one of the major piazzas of the Oltrarno neighborhood. 41 PIAZZA DELLA REPUBBLICA

The heart of the city since ancient Roman times. Rising in the middle of the square is the Column of Abundance, which marks the point where the

Piazza della Signoria main ancient Roman roads, the Cardus and Decumanus, intersected. Today some of the city’s most popular cafés are located on the piazza. 42 PIAZZALE MICHELANGELO

Designed by architect Giuseppe Poggi. Standing in the middle of the square are the Monument to Michelangelo, composed of

Piazza Santa Croce