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July 2005

Florence & Cortona (Tuscany)

Jeremy Koh
2005-11-05 12:15:44

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one of the largest frescoed surfaces in the world, covering 3600 square meters. The subject of the frescoes is the Last Judgement, which uses the huge space of the dome to suggest visitors are looking up into heaven. Near the entrance, there is a flight of stairs which leads down to a gift shop and the excavations of Santa Reparata. The current Duomo is built on top of this 4th-5th century church. After paying the entrance fee of �3, we went in to take a look at the excavations. It wasn't a big area and basically what we saw were just some ancient artifacts, the remains of walls and flooring from the houses of Roman "Florentia", and mosaic which paved the ancient basilica. Interesting for history buffs.

Next, we headed to Piazza della Signoria, lined with replicas of famous sculptures and historical buildings. In the past, in times of political crises, the public would be summoned here for popular votes, which usually decided the fates of conflicting families and frequently descended into frenzied riots. Now, all you see are tourists snapping away. Actually this place feels like an open-air museum with all the statues in the square. Some of the famous statues include that of Neptune by Ammannati, the equestrian statue of Cosimo I dČ Medici by Giambologna, and of course, the copy of Michelangelo's David.

Nearby is the Uffizi Palace, supposedly one of the finest art galleries in the world, which we didn't enter. We thought of coming back after we tour the other parts of Florence but it didn't work out eventually. Well, you got to save some stuff so that we have reason to visit again. :) From here, we went on to the Ponte Vecchio, the oldest and most famous bridge crossing the river Arno. The current bridge has survived for more than 750 years and it was the only bridge in Florence that survived Nazi bombing during World War II. Today, the bridge is lined with shops selling gold and silver jewelry. Basically, ...