After leaving Fiuggi we headed for Tuscany where we were to visit Florence and Pisa which are both on my bucket list of places to see; Jane relaxing en route.
John and Tony parked up in the Piazzale Michelangelo (Michelangelo Square) which is located on the hill above Florence and provides a panoramic view of the city. A bronze statue of David sits in the middle of the square to commemorate Michaelangelo and was erected in 1873.
Our first sight of Florence from the top of the hill.
This magnificent cathedral is the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore (Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flowers) that was built in the 1296 but not completed with the dome until 1436 because no-one could come up with a viable solution to how to support the dome.
The story about how this was achieved is fascinating and too involved for this blog but in short a competition was held and a hot-tempered goldsmith, Filippo Brunelleschi, came up with an idea which he refused to divulge until he was given the job. He built two domes one inside the other which has survived to this day, quite extraordinary for someone with no architectural training whatsoever; Brunelleschi himself is buried in good company with popes and other Italian notables in the cathedral. It's worth reading the whole story.
The darker building on the other side of the river in the middle of the picture is the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze (National Library of Florence) and is one of the two most important in Italy. The library was founded in 1714 when scholar Antonio Magliabechi bequeathed his entire collection of books, encompassing approximately 30,000 volumes, to the city of Florence. From 1743 on, by law, every book issued must provide a copy to the library so the collection of books should be vast; however, a major flood of the Arno River in 1966 damaged nearly one-third of the library's holdings, most notably its periodicals and Palatine and Magliabechi collections. Although the Restoration Center was subsequently established and has saved many of these priceless artifacts, much work remains to be done and some items are forever lost.
The famous Ponte Vecchio in the distance was built very close to the original Roman crossing, and was the only bridge over the river Arne not blown up by the retreating Germans in WW2, supposedly because Hitler said it was too beautiful to destroy; nevertheless they did destroy many medieval buildings on both sides to prevent access to the bridge. You can see that all the bridges in the background are relatively new.
Ponte Vecchio. In the 1400s, the bridge was populated by a lively throng of rowdy grocers, butchers, fishmongers and tanners all activities that produced a lot of noise and unpleasant odors. In order to make the bridge cleaner and more elegant, Grand Duke Ferdinand I decided to evict the merchants and substitute them with goldsmiths and silversmiths, a tradition that is still in place today.
When the Medici moved from Palazzo Vecchio to Palazzo Pitti, they decided they needed a connecting route from the Uffizi to the Palazzo Pitti on the other side of the Arno that would enable them to keep out of contact with the people they ruled. The result was the Corridoio Vasariano (Vesari Corridor), built in 1565 by Giorgio Vasari and which runs above the jewellers shops. This corridor is visible right at the top of the bridge as a row of small square windows."/>
Jewellers shops on the Ponte Vecchio.
The Basilica di Santa Croce (Basilica of the Holy Cross) is the principal Franciscan church and a minor basilica of the Roman Catholic Church. It is situated on the Piazza di Santa Croce and is famous as the burial place of some of the most illustrious Italians, such as Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli, Foscolo, Gentile and Rossini. It is a rather unassuming place for so many illustrious people to be buried.
The children's story 'The Adventures of Pinocchio'(1883) was written by Carlo Collodi, a Florentine. There are many shops in Florence selling wooden marionette puppets of Pinocchio."/>
The equestrian statue of Cosimo in the Piazza della Signoria. Cosimo I de’ Medici became head of the Florentine Republic in 1537 and conquered his way to being named the Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1569; Cosimo was also famous for the creation of the Uffizi, which gathered all of the city’s administrative offices and public services under one roof. The Uffizi now houses one of the world greatest collections art built on the Medicis’ original collection.
Fountain of Neptune in front of the Palazzo Vecchio. It was used as a convenient washbasin for laundry at the end of the 16th century.
The Palazzo Vecchio is the town hall of Florence and the seat of the Florentine government. It was constructed at the end of the 13th century and completed around 1322 when the bell tower was added; the bell was tolled to announce public meetings or to warn for imminent danger.
The European Union flag, the Italian flag and the Florentine flag fly in front to the Palazzo Vechio in Piazza Signoria.
The Cathedral of Florence, officially known as Cattedrale Santa Maria del Fiore but better known as the Duomo. Construction took around 85 years and it was finally finished in 1436 when it was consecrated by pope Eugene IV. The addition of the dome has been described in an earlier slide.
The left hand photo shows the north door which was constructed first and is the main entrance to the cathedral. The right hand photo shows the east doors built around 25 years later which contain ornate bronze panels.
One of the panels from the east doors, depicting scenes from the bible, were designed by Ghibert and described by Michelangelo as the Gates of Paradise. The panels have long been replaced by replicas, the originals are now on display at the Museo dell Opera del Duomo.
Statues in front of the Palazzo Vecchio. The statue on the right is Michelangelo's David, one of the masterpieces of Renaissance sculpture created in 1504; in 1873 the statue was replaced by a replica, the original is now in the Galleria dell'Accademia. The statue on the left is of Hercules and Cacus and was commissioned by the Florentine government to Michelangelo as a companion piece to his David but a decade later, after a change of government, the marble ended up in Baccio Bandinelli's hands. The result supposedly reflects a story of triumph and strength, serving as a reflection of the city’s power; however, instead of being humbled by its beauty and humanity, most people are left feeling slightly uneasy as the figures are a bit ugly and have overly-developed faces and muscles.
My view about statues as a lay person with very little artistic appreciation is that love it or hate it they have historical significance for being a product of the renaissance period. Can you imagine Tracy Emin's 'The Bed' being admired by visitors to a gallery in England in 500 years time LOL.
The statue on the right is of Andrea Orcagna (1308—1368) a prominent Florentine painter, sculptor, and architect of the mid-14th century, and the left statue is decidedly human who at the end of the day will pick up his 'stone' bucket with a few euros in it and go home for dinner.
The following day we continued to Pisa which was a big surprise to me. Everyone knows the iconic Leaning Tower, but Pisa is in fact much more with a history that is partly shrouded in the midst of time. While the origin of the city had remained unknown for centuries with the Pelasgi, the Greeks, the Etruscans and the Ligurians having variously been proposed as founders of the city; Archaeological remains from the 5th century BC confirmed the existence of a city by the sea, trading with Greeks and Gauls. The presence of an Etruscan necropolis, discovered during excavations in the Arena Garibaldi in 1991, confirmed its Etruscan origins. After the fall of Rome, Pisa became a powerful republic and reached the height of its powers as a sea-faring nation in the 11th Century.
The astronomer Galileo Galilei was born here in 1564; those of you who know their history will know that he was tried by the Inquisition, found 'vehemently suspect of heresy', and forced to recant. He spent the remaining 27 years of his life under house arrest during which time he wrote one of his best-known works, 'Two New Sciences'.
The Baptistry built in 1152 and restyled by Nicola Pisano and his son Giovanni around the mid-thirteenth century; Pisano also built the pulpit in the cathedral next door it as he did at Siena.
The Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, also known as the Duomo, built at a time when Pisa was a powerful maritime republic and the Pisan sailors travelling to other parts of the world were deeply influenced by islamist buildings which explains the Byzantine style of the Duomo.
The iconic Leaning Tower stands next to the cathedral and defies gravity. The Pisans built the cathedral and bell tower over a 200 year period starting in 1173 to show off their strength and wealth to the Florentines who they hated; this was at a time when success was measured by the splendor of its cathedrals and the height of its bell towers. Unfortunately, they built the tower on marshy ground and five years after construction began, when the building had reached the third floor level, the weak subsoil and poor foundation led to the building sinking on one side. The building was left for a century, which allowed the subsoil to stabilise itself and prevented the building from collapsing and in 1272, to adjust the lean of the building, when construction resumed, the upper floors were built with one side taller than the other. The seventh and final floor was added in 1319 by which time the lean was approximately 1 degree, or 80 cm from vertical; over time this increased to around 10 degrees but by underpinning the tower the lean was reduced to approximately 4 degrees in 2010.
Jane showed what countless others have done over the years how one person could support the tower with their hand, why spend all that money on underpinning.
On the left the entrance to the Campo Santo or Monumental Cemetary which was built to provide a tomb for the members of the illustrious families of Pisa and citizens emeriti, and which many claim is the most beautiful cemetery in the world.
On the right the entrance to the Sinopie Museum which was originally built in 1257 to provide a refuge for pilgrims, the poor, the sick and abandoned children and was part of the Hospital of Santa Chiara. Unfortunately we didn't have time to go into either of these; the Campo Santo contains a collection of Roman sculptures and sarcophagi and the museum is dedicated to the drawings of the frescoes that were discovered during the restoration of the cemetery.
View of some stonework of Pisa Cathedral. The stonework has latin inscribed on it and appears to be a piece of medieval recycling.
The Cathedral and Baptistry on the left and the Monumental Cemetary on the right.
After our walk around the Square of Miracles at Pisa, the girls went for a shop for souvenirs, Nick and me had a beer that was anything but
Duff.
After our visit to Pisa, we moved on for our last experience of Picturebook Italy which was to be the lesser known splendour of the Borromean Islands, a group of three small islands and two islets in the Italian part of Lago Maggiore that take their name from the aristocratic Borromean family, who took ownership of the land in the 16th and 17th centuries.
These pictures were taken of the island we visited (Isola Bella) in the distance from Stresa where we caught the ferry, photos of the town of Stresa as we sailed to the island and the landing on the island.
Isola Bella was commissioned by Carlo III of the Borrowmean family in 1632 to turn what was a barren rock into a palazzo dedicated to his wife, Isabella D'Adda. Only the best architects and gardeners were called on to turn the island into a grand, luxurious residence; Isola Bella was completely transformed and its palace and gardens are the epitome of opulence and luxury as you can see from the next group of slides.
he gardens of the palace were immaculate and the ceilings and walls of some of the rooms inside the palace were incredible, if a bit over the top. The shell grotto rooms (bottom left and right) were designed to provide a cool retreat from summer; the walls, ceilings, floors, and doorways are all covered with intricate murals made from shells and black pebbles. So ornate is the shell-work that it took workmen and architects a century to complete the grotto.
The island has had many illustrious admirers, including Napoleon and his wife Joséphine de Beauharnais and Caroline of Brunswick, the Princess of Wales. It is said that Caroline, having fallen in love with the place, did her best to persuade the Borrowmeans' to sell her one of the islands (Isola Madre) and when her request was turned down, she established herself on the banks of Lake Como at Cernobbio in the Villa d’Este.
The beautiful gardens of Isola Bella.
Attempt at a group self portraits, although it's a little dark with the light behind us.
This is the last photo of our Picturebook Italy holiday, I'm not sure of the significance of the location (in front of the toilet) maybe it's something to do with the copious amounts of Italian wine that has been consumed during our holiday.
