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The Florence Guides guide to museums and churches


Please remember that the last admission to museums is usually until one hour before closing time and to churches 30 minutes before closing time.

Please note that the admission fees to museums may change  on the occasion of temporary exhibitions. 

MUSEUMS

Uffizi Gallery

Perhaps the most important art gallery in Italy and the oldest museum in modern Europe a collection of masterpieces of Italian painting from every period (Giotto Botticelli Leonardo da Vinci Michelangelo Raphael Titian Caravaggio) and a selection of representative works from foreign schools.The Uffizi Gallery

Piazzale degli Uffizi 6

Opening hours:

Weekdays: 08.15am – 6.50pm

Holidays and Sundays: 08.15am – 6.50pm

Closed on Mondays

Entrance fee: Euro 6.50 



Academy Gallery

This gallery is famous for Michelangelo's celebrated sculpture of David as well as the enormous Prisoners the Saint Matthew and the Pietà Barberini a work which still provokes much discussion.The Academy Gallery

Via Ricasoli 60

Opening hours:

Weekdays: 08.15am – 6.50pm

Holidays and Sundays: 08.15am – 6.50pm

Closed on Mondays

Entrance fee: Euro 6.50



Palatine Gallery

This collection distributed amongst beautifully decorated rooms with frescoed ceilings by Pietro da Cortona and Ciro Ferri maintains the character of a royal gallery. It contains many important works especially those of the 16th an17th centuries such as the portraits of the "Englishman" and Pietro Aretino by Titian; the Madonna of the Chair by Raphael; the Sleeping Cupid by Caravaggio; and the Four Philosophers by Rubens.The Palatine Gallery

Piazza Pitti

Opening hours:

Weekdays: 08.15 – 6.50pm

Holidays and Sundays: 08.15am – 6.50pm.

Closed on Mondays.

Entrance fee: Euro 8.50
Integrated ticket Royal Apartments Modern Art Gallery. 


Silverware Museum (Museo degli Argenti)

Housed in the Grand Dukes' summer apartments in the Pitti Palace this museum consists of valuable collections of objects made with precious metals semi-precious stones crystal and ivory. Of particular interest are the semi-precious stone vases which belong to the collection of Lorenzo il Magnifico.

Piazza PittThe Silverware Museum (Museo degli
                        Argenti)i

Opening hours:

Weekdays holidays and sundays: january february november and december : 08.15am – 4.30pm; march: 8.15am-5.30pm/closes one hour later during Eu summer time; april may september october: 8.15am-6.30pm/closes one hour earlier when eu summer time is over; june july august: 8.15am-7.30pm

Closed onthe first and last Monday of every month.

Entrance fee: Euro 6.00. Combined ticket Porcellane Museum Costume Gallery Boboli Gardens and Bardini Garden.

Gallery of Modern Art

Housed on the second floor of the Pitti Palace a collection offering a complete panorama of Italian painting from Neoclassicism to the twentieth century together with a number of sculptures and works by foreign artists.

Piazza Pitti

Opening hours:

Weekdays: 08.15am – 6.50pmThe Modern Art Gallery

Holidays and Sundays: 08.15am– 1.50pm

Closed on Mondays

Entrance fee: Euro 8.50 
Integrated ticket Palatine Gallery Royal Apartments.


Costume Gallery

A collection of historic items of clothing that document the evolution of costume from the early 1700s to the beginning of the 20th century. The exhibited costumes are changed every two years.

Piazza Pitti

Opening hours:

Weekdays holidays and sundays: january february november and december : 08.15am – 4.30pm; march: 8.15am-5.30pm/closes one hour later during Eu summer time; april may september october: 8.15am-6.30pm/closes one hour earlier when eu summer time is over; june july august: 8.15am-7.30pm

Closed onthe first and last Monday of every month.

Entrance fee: Euro 6.00. Combined ticket Porcellane Museum Costume Gallery Boboli Gardens and Bardini Garden.



Boboli Gardens

Piazza Pitti /you can also enter from Forte Belvedere (Via S. Leonardo)

Opening hours:

weekdays: January February November and December: 8.15 am – 4.30 pm; March: 8.15 am – 5.30 pm; April May September October: 8.15 am – 6.30 pm; October: 8.15am - 5.30pm: closing time one hour earlier at the end of E.U. summer time; June July August: 8.15 – 7.30 pm; the ticket office closes one hour before the garden closing time.The Boboli Gardens

weekdays: January February November and December: 8.15 am – 4.30 pm; March: 8.15 am – 5.30 pm; April May September October: 8.15 am – 6.30 pm; October: 8.15am - 5.30pm: closing time one hour earlier at the end of E.U. summer time; June July August: 8.15 – 7.30 pm; the ticket office closes one hour before the garden closing time.

Closed: first and last Monday of every month. December 25 January 1 May 1.

Entrance fee: Euro 6.00. Combined ticket Porcellane Museum Costume Gallery Boboli Gardens and Bardini Garden.




Medici Chapels

Splendid complex of chapels containing the Princes' mausoleum and Michelangelo's New Sacristy; location of the famous allegories of Day and Night of Twilight and Aurora.

Piazza MadonnThe Medici Chapelsa degli Aldobrandini

Opening hours:

Weekdays: 08.15am – 1.50pm

Holidays and Sundays: 08.15am – 1.50pm

Closed on Mondays except the second and fourth Monday of every month

Closed on Sundays except for the first third and fifth of every month

Entrance fee: Euro 6.00




Bargello Museum

An extremely rich collection of works mainly sculptures housed in the famous Palazzo del Podestà. It contains minor works by Michelangelo such as the Brutus the Apollo and the Baccus; the Saint George and the David by Donatello; and the celebrated panels presenThe Bargello Museumted by Brunelleschi and Ghiberti on occasion of the competition for the design of the Baptistry doors in 1401 which according to art historians marks the beginning of the Renaissance.

Via del Proconsolo 4

Opening hours:

Weekdays: 8.15am – 1.50pm

Holidays and Sundays: 8.15am – 1.50pm (open on the second and fourth Sunday of every month)

Closed on Mondays except the first third and fifth Monday of every month

Entrance fee: Euro 4.00




San Marco Museum

This museum occupies the evocative and carefully restored buildings of the Dominican convent of Saint Mark. The collection of works by Beato Angelico is particularly remarkable.

Piazza San Marco 1

Opening hours:San Marco Museum

Weekdays (from monday to friday): 8.15am – 1.50pm

Saturdays: 8.15am – 6.50pm

Holidays and Sundays: 8.15am – 6.50pm (open on the second and fourth Sunday of every month)

Closed on the first third and fifth sunday of every month; closed on the second and fourth monday of every month

Entrance fee: Euro 4.00




Archaeological Museum

One of the most important and interesting archaeological museums in Italy. Particularly noteworthy are the collection relating to the Etruscan civilization and the Egyptian section established between 1824-28 and the most important collection in Italy after the Egyptian Museum of Turin.The Archeological Museum

Via della Colonna 38

Opening hours:

Mondays: 2.00pm – 7.00pm

Tuesdays and Thursdays: 8.30am – 7.00pm

Wednesdays Fridays Saturdays: 8.30am – 2.00pm

Holidays and Sundays: 8.30am – 2.00pm

Entrance fee: Euro 4.00



Palazzo Vecchio (Palazzo della Signoria)

The most significant example of civil architecture in Florence and one of the most important Mediaeval public buildings in Italy. Inside the Victory by Michelangelo and Donatello's Judith and Holofernes are especially noteworthy.

Piazza della Signoria

Opening hours:

Palazzo della SignoriaWeekdays : 9.00 am– 7.00 pm

Thursdays 9.00am – 2.00pm

Holidays: 9.00 am– 7.00 pm. Midweek holidays: 9.00 am – 2.00pm (January 6 Easter Monday April 25 June 2 November 1 December 8 and 26).

Closed on December 25 January 1 Easter sunday may 1 august 15

Entrance fee: Euro 6.00. Combined ticket with Cappella Brancacci: Euro 8.00



Santa Maria Novella Museum

Includes part of the cloisters belonging to the convent and several annexes. The frescoes in green earth by Paolo Uccello are particularly beautiful representing stories from the book of Genesis especially the Great Flood and the Drunkenness of Noah.

Piazza Santa Maria Novella

Opening hours:

Weekdays: 9.00am– 5.00pm

Holidays: 9.00am – 2.00pm

Closed on Fridays and Sundays

Entrance fee: Euro 2.50


Museum of the Cathedral (Opera del Duomo)

A recently-enlarged museum that contains important Florentine sculptural works from the 14th and 15th centuries including the original sculptures from the Baptistry the Cathedral and Giotto's Bell-tower: Michelangelo's Pietà thaThe Cathedral
                        Museum (Opera del Duomo)t the artist had intended for his own tomb the "cantorie" by Donatello and Luca della Robbia and Donatello's dramatic "Magdalene in Penitence".

Piazza Duomo 9

Opening hours:

Weekdays: 9.30 am -7.30 pm

Holidays and Sundays: 9.00 am – 1.40 pm

Closed on December 25 January 1 Easter Sunday September 8

Entance fee: Euro 6.00



Cathedral's Dome (Brunelleschi's Dome)

A unique experience. More than 400 steps to climb inside this jewel of the Renaissance before reaching the highest point in the centre of Florence. An incomparable panorama!

Piazza del Duomo

Brunelleschi's DomeOpening hours:

Weekdays: 8.30 am – 7.00 pm

Saturdays: 8.30 am – 5.40 pm

Holidays and Sundays: closed

Entrance fee: Euro 6.00




Giotto’s Bell-tower

Famous for the narrowness of the Gothic architecture the elegance of the polychrome finishing and the richness of the decoration.

Piazza del DuomoGiotto's Belltower

Opening hours:

Weekdays: 8.30 am- 7.30 pm

Holidays and Sundays: 8.30 am -7.30 pm

Closed from february 4 to february 14 2008. December 25 January 1 Easter Sunday September 8

Entrance fee: Euro 6.00



Museo del Tesoro di San Lorenzo (Treasure of San Lorenzo Basilica museum)

This new museum is aimed at proposing the outstanding patrimony of reliquaries and liturgical objects that has belonged to the basilica of san lorenzo for immemorable time. There are around forty artworks dating back to the xiv-xix centuries among which a suberb silver and silver-foiled cross by Michelozzo

Piazza San Lorenzo

Opening hours:

weekdays: 10 am - 5.30 pm

holidays: closed From March to October: 1.30pm - 5.30pm

Closed: Sunday and holidays

Entrance fee: Euro 3.50. Combined ticket with San Lorenzo church.



Palazzo Medici Riccardi

Considered the prototype of residences for wealthy Florentines it was built for Cosimo il Vecchio the grandfather of Lorenzo il Magnifico. Of particular interest is the beautiful "Cavalcade of the Magi" a remarkable fresco painted by Benozzo Gozzoli and one of the most significant and admired works of Florentine Renaissance painting. Above all it is noted for the portraits of well-known people of the time.The Medici Riccardi Palace

Via Cavour 3

Opening hours:

Weekdays: 9.00 am- 7.00pm

Holidays and Sundays: 9.00 am -7.00 pm

Closed on Wednesdays

Entrance fee: Euro 4.00



Museum of Santa Croce (Opera di Santa Croce)

An evocative museum contained in two old refectories and several rooms which were once chapels between the first and second cloister. Inside Brunelleschi's celebrated Pazzi Chapel one of the most authentic and exemplary pieces of Renaissance architecture.

Piazza S.Croce 16The Pazzi
                        Chapel

Opening hours:

Weekdays: 9.30 am – 5.30 pm

Holidays and Sundays: 1.00 pm – 5.30 pm

Entrance fee: Euro 5.00 (combined ticket Santa Croce Basilica and Santa Croce Museum)



Brancacci Chapel

The frescoes by Masaccio the most important work by this great innovator of Renaissance painting were according to Vasari the "School of the World" meaning they were the "textbook" which Renaissance painters studied and meditated upon.

Church of Santa Maria del Carmine – Piazza Santa Maria del CarmineThe Brancacci Chapel

Opening hours:

Weekdays: 10.00 am- 5.00 pm reservation requested

Holidays: 1.00pm – 5.00pm. Reservation requested

Closed on Tuesdays

Entrance fee: Euro 4.00  (combined ticket Brancacci Chapel and Palazzo della Signoria Euro 8.00)


Casa Buonarroti

The houses that Michelangelo bought in the district of florence he loved so much later transformed into a palace following a plan already drawn by the artist. Beautifully decorated with two important juvenile artworks by the the divine maestro: the battle of the centaures and the virgin of the steps.

Via Ghibellina 70Michelangelo's Battle
                        of the Centaurs

Opening hours:

Weekdays: 9.30 am - 2 pm. The ticket office closes 30 minutes before the museum closing time.

Holidays and sundays: 9.30 am - 2 pm. The ticket office closes 30 minutes before the museum closing time.

Closed on Tuesday. December 25 January 1 Easter.

Entrance fee: Euro 6.50



Casa di Dante

An interesting XX century reconstruction of Dante Alighieri's birthplace built on the same location of his origal house which no longer exists.

Via Santa Margherita 1

Opening hours:

Weekdays: Tuesday 10 am - 4 pm Wednesday and Friday 10 am - 3 pm Saturday 10 am - 5 pm

Holidays and Sundays: 10 am -5 pm

Closed on Monday and Thursday

Admission fee: Euro 4.00

Casa Guidi

This house was the residence of the english poets Robert and Elisabeth barret browning when they lived in florence. The house has retained the same number of rooms and layout and is furnished in much the same style as it was in the brownings'day: it is still today full of an atmosphere of the past.
Casa Guidi
Piazza San Felice

Weekdays: from April 1st to November 30th: Monday Wednesday and Friday 3 pm - 6 pm.

Holidays and Sundays: closed.

Closed on Tuesday Thursday Saturday and Sunday

Entrance fee: free donation



Museo della Casa Fiorentina Antica (Palazzo Davanzati Musem)

The best surviving example of a mediaeval nobleman's house in florence. It is particularly interesting as an illustration of florentine life in the middle ages. It has been partly restored and the areas accessible to the public at present are the entrance hall the inner courtyard and on the first floor the sala madornale the sala dei pappagalli and the study room.

Via Porta Rossa 13Palazzo
                    Davanzati

Opening hours:

Weekdays: 8.15 am - 1.50 pm; open second and fourth Monday of the month. Open ground floor Salone Madornale and Sala dei Pappagalli Sale dei Merletti.

Holidays and Sundays: 8.15 - 1.50 pm - open first third and fifth Sunday of the month.

Closed: the second and fourth Sunday of the month; the first third and fifth Monday of every month. December 25 January 1 May 1

Entrance fee: free



Museo della Fondazione Horne

The Horne Museum takes ist name from the English collector Herbert P. Horne (1864-1916) who donated his palace and collections of a lifetime to the Italian State together with the palace where he had collected them.

Via dei Benci 6The Horne Museum

Opening hours:

Weekdays: 9 am - 1 pm; the ticket office closes 30 minutes before the museum closing time.

Holidays and Sundays: closed

Closed: Sunday and Holidays


Entrance fee: Euro 5.00



Museo Storico Topografico "Firenze com'era" ('Florence as it was')

This off-the-beaten path museum has a very interesting display of maps paintings etchings and prints that accompany the visitor through the history of florence from its origins all the way through the XIX century when it became the capital of italy. Of particular interest is the so-called 'pianta della catena' (catena map) showing a bird's eye-view of florence in the XV century.

Via dell'Oriolo 24Justus Utens
                        Lunette

Opening hours:

Weekdays : Monday Tuesday Wednesday 9 am- 2 pm; Saturday 9 am - 7 pm; from June 1 to Sept 30: Monday and Tuesday 9 am - 2 pm; Saturday 9 am - 7 pm

Holidays and Sundays: closed

Closed: Thursday and Friday; from June 1st to Sept. 30th: Wednesday Thursday Friday. December 25 January 1. -

Entrance fee: Euro 2.70



CHURCHES

Baptistery

The religious centre of the city and one of the oldest and most august buildings in Florence which Dante described as the "beautiful Saint John". It is also famous for the splendid "Gates of Paradise".

Piazza S.Giovanni

The BaptistryOpening hours:

Weekdays: 12.00 pm – 7.00 pm. First saturday of the month: 8.30 am – 2.00 pm

Holidays and Sundays: 8.30 am -2.00 pm. Easter monday april 25 may 1: 8.30 am – 7.00 pm

Entrance fee: Euro 3.00



Santa Croce

One of the most distinguished churches in Florence and a masterpiece of Florentine gothic architecture. It is famous for being the pantheon of illustrious Italians (with the tombs of Michelangelo Galileo Machiavelli Rossini). It is also celebrated for the frescoes of the Bardi and Peruzzi chapels one of the great Giotto's later works.Santa Croce

Piazza S.Croce

Opening hours:

Weekdays: 9.30 am – 5.30 pm

Holidays and Sundays: closed. From march to october 1.30 pm – 5.30 pm

Entrance fee: Euro 5.00. Combined ticket with the Santa Croce Museum



San Lorenzo

Among the great masterpieces of religious architecture produced by the early Renaissance. The basilica is indissolubly linked with the Medici family. The church is renowned above all for the Old Sacristy designed by Brunelleschi and decorated by Donatello an authentic jewel of the Renaissance.

Piazza S.Lorenzo

Opening hours:

Weekdays: 10.00 am – 5.30 pm

Holidays and Sundays: closed. From march to october: 1.30 pm - 5.30 pm

Entrance fee: Euro 3.50. Combined ticket with Museo del Tesoro di San Lorenzo.



Santa Trinita

Among the oldest churches in Florence it was built in the second half of the 11th century and later reconstructed in 14th century Gothic style perhaps by Neri di Fioravante. The stone Baroque facade was designed bSanta Trìnitay B. Buontalenti.

Piazza Santa Trinita

Opening hours:

Weekdays: 8.00 am -12.00 pm /4.00 pm – 6.00 pm

Holidays and Sundays: 4.00 pm – 6.00 pm

Free admission



Santa Maria del Fiore (duomo)

An illustrious religious monument facing the Baptistry built according to the large and simple lines that were typical of Florentine Gothic. The "final Judgement" by Vasari and Zuccari found on the inside the cupSanta Maria del Fiore (The Duomo)ola is extraordinary.

Piazza Duomo

Opening hours: 10.00-17.00 (the first Saturday of every month 10.00-15.30); Thursday 10.00-15.30

Holidays and Sundays: 13.30-17.00

Free admission



Santa Maria Novella

One of the most famous churches in Florence Santa Maria Novellaa masterpiece of Gothic architecture. Its facade was re-designed in the 15th century by a Florentine architect Leon Battista Alberti. Inside the famous Trinity by Masaccio and Brunelleschi's beautiful wooden crucifix are especially worth seeing.

Piazza S. Maria Novella

Opening hours:

Weekdays: 9.00 am – 5.00 pm. Friday: 1.00 pm- 5.00 pm

Holidays and Sundays: 1.00 pm – 5.00 pm

Entrance fee: Euro 2.50



San Miniato al Monte

Perched on top of the hill close to Piazzale Michelangelo. The stairs leading up to the church offer a beautiful panoramic view of the city. Together with the Baptistry it represents the masterpiece of Romaesque architecture in Florence.

Via Monte alle CrociSan Miniato al Monte

Opening hours:

Weekdays: (summer) 8.00 am -7.00 pm; (winter) 8.00 am -12.00 pm/3.00 pm – 6.00 pm

Holidays and Sundays: (summer) 8.00 am -7.00 pm ; (winter) 3.00 pm – 6.00 pm

Free admission


Santissima Annunziata

A famous Florentine sanctuary which houses the venerated image of the Madonna Annunziata. Legend attributes the painting to a friar who waking from his sleep is said to have found that the face of the Virgin had been miraculously completed.

Ss.Annunziata

Piazza SS. Annunziata

Opening hours:

Weekdays: 7.30 am – 12.30 pm/4.00 pm – 6.30 pm

Holidays and Sundays: 7.30 am – 12.30 pm/4.00 pm – 6.30 pm

Free admission



Santo Spirito

Together with San Lorenzo this church is amongst the purest creations of early Renaissance architecture. It was begun in 1444 by Brunelleschi and continued according to his original plans following his death.

Piazza S.Spirito

Opening hours:Santo Spirito

Weekdays: 9.30 am – 12.30 pm/ 4.00 pm – 6.00 pm

Holidays and Sundays: 4.00 pm – 6.00 pm

Closed on Wednesdays afternoon

Free admission

OTHER PLACES OF WORSHIP

Synagogue and Museum

An elaborate building in the spanish-moresque style with a tall green dome an unmistakable feature in the florentine skyline. On the first floor you can visit the small but extremely interesting museum regarding the history of the jewish community in florence from its origins and with a display of ceremonial objects silver and vestments and old codices.

Via Farini 4

Opening hours:The Synagogue

Weekdays: From November to March: Monday to Thursday 10 am – 3 pm and Friday 10 am – 2 pm; April May September and October: Monday to Thursday 10 am – 5 pm and Friday 10 am – 2 pm; June July and August: Monday to Thursday 10 am – 6 pm and Friday 10 am – 2 pm.

Holidays and Sundays: From November to March: 10 am – 3 pm; April May September and October: 10 am – 5 pm; June July and August: 10 am – 6 pm.

Closed: Saturday. January 1. For Jewish holidays please contact the Community offices ( +39 055 24 52 -52 or -53)

Entrance fee: Euro 5.00


 

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