Museum

Basilica di San Lorenzo

Address: Piazza San Lorenzo

Telephone: 055214042 (Opera Medicea Laurenziana);

055290184 (Artworks Co-operative)

Fax: 0552654696

E-mail: sanlorenzo@operadarte.net

Hours: weekdays 10am–5.30pm (the ticket office closes at 5pm). Access to tourists may be limited by liturgical requirements.

Entrance: € 2.50; Children under 6 free.

The museum is handicap accessible.

This, the first documented church in the city (393), is closely bound up with the Medicis, Who commissioned Filippo Brunelleschi to design its reconsrtuction in 1418. The visit takes in the church and Old Sacristy by Brunelleschi. A masterpiece of Reinassaince architecture, the basilica contains sculptures and paintings by Donatello, Filippo Lippi, Desiderio da Settignano, Rosso Fiorentino and Bronzino.

Battistero San Giovanni

Address: Piazza San Giovanni

Telephone: 0552302885

Fax: 0552302898

E-mail: opera@operaduomo.firenze.it

Hours: weekdays: noon–7 pm; Sunday and holidays: 8.30am–2pm

Entrance: € 3

The museum is handicap accissible.

The oldest monument in the square was originally built in the 5th century, but in its current form dates back to the 11th century; the mosaic in the dome were added in the 13th century. The three bronze doors are by Andrea Pisano (south) 1330 ca.; by Lorenzo Ghiberti (north and east) 1402-1425 and 1425-1452 respectively (the latter is a copy, the original is in the Museo dell’Opera).

In addition to the splendid mosaics the interior also contains the funerary monument to Baldassarre Cossa, by Donatello and Michelozzo.

Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana

Address: Piazza San Lorenzo 9

Telephone: 055210760

Fax: 0552302992

E-mail: medicea@unifi.it

Hours: Monday - Saturday 8.30am–1.30pm; times may vary during exhibitions.

Entrance: free, except durind exhibitions.

This library, accessed from the cloister of San Lorenzo, was first opened to the public in 1571. It is one of Michelangelo’s masterpieces and one of the most historically and artistically significant libraries in existence. The monumental vestilube and reading room are opened to visitors as a museum. Temporary exhibitions of manuscripts and printed books are held in the adjoining late 19th century rooms.

Campanile di Giotto

Address: Piazza del Duomo

Telephone: 0552302885

Fax: 0552302898

E-mail: opera@operaduomo.firenze.it

Hours: every day 8.30am–7.30pm

Entrance: € 6

The site isn’t handicap accessible. The tower has 413 steps.

The cathedral belltower, built between 1334 and 1359, was designed by Giotto, Andrea Pisano and Francesco Talenti. It is structured on three levels and has a panoramic terrace at the top of the 413 steps. The 16 statues and 56 bas-reliefs adorning the sides are copies (the originals are in the Museo dell’Opera).

Cappella Brancacci

Address: Piazza del Carmine

Telephone: 0552382195

E-mail: gestione.musei@comune.fi.it

Hours: weekdays: 10am-5pm; Sundays and holidays: 1-5pm. Closed Tuesdays, Christmas, New Year, 6 January, Easter, 1 May, 16 July an 15 August. Access is limited to no more than 30 people at a time, and for no more than 15 minutes.

Entrance: € 4; 18-19 years olds, over 65s € 3; children aged 3-17 and school groups € 1.50. Family ticket for 2 adults with 2 children € 9.50; or for 2 adults with 3 children € 11.

The site isn’t handicap accessible.

The frscoes in the Brancacci chapel are among the most accomplished works of painting of all time. They were painted by Masolino and Masaccio (1425 ca.) and completed by Filippo Lippi (1485 ca.). The parts painted by Masaccio, including the celebrated Expulsion from Paradise and Tribute Money scenes, display, in their use of perspective and the volumetric power of the figures, the sheer genius of the father of Renaissance painting. The visit also includes a programme of educational activities.

Cappelle Medicee

Address: piazza Madonna Aldobrandini 5

Telephone: 0552388602

Fax: 0552388602

Hours: 8.15am-4.30pm; Sundays and holidays 8.30am-4.30pm. Closed on the second and fourth Sundays of the manth and the first, third and fifth Monday of the month.

Entrance: € 6; reduced € 3

The so called Medici chapels comprise the Baroque chapel of the Princes and the New Sacristy, begun in 1521 to a design by Michelangelo: the statues of Giuliano Duke of Nemours, of Lorenzo Duke of Urbino, of the Madonna and Child; and the reclining figures of Day and Night, Dawn and Dusk. The visit also includes a collection of valuable relics and, on request, the wall drawings by Michelangelo and his school in the underground areas.

Casa Buonarroti

Address: via Ghibellina 70

Telephone: 055241752

Fax: 055241698

E-mail: fond@casabuonarroti.it

Hours: every day except Tuesday, 9.30am-2pm. During temporary exhibitions the opening time is extended to 4pm.

Entrance: € 6.50; groups € 4

This house, bought by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1514 and renovated in the 17th century by his great grandson Michelangelo the Younger, exhibits original drawings and early masterpieces by the celebrated artist, including the Madonna of the Steps, the Battle of the Centaurs, and the art collections of the Buonarroti family. Visitors are also taken through the sumptuous Baroque rooms, some of the finest examples of which were created in the 17th century Florence and Tuscany.

Casa Rodolfo Siviero

Address: Lungarno Serristori 1-3

Telephone: 0552345219 (Museum); 055293007 (Friends of the Museums Association)

Fax: 0552345219

E-mail: a.tori@mail.regione.toscana.it

Hours: October-May: 10am-6pm June-September: 9.30am-12.30pm and 4.30-7.30pm; Monday 9.30am-12.30pm. Closed Sundays and holidays. Open other days for groups on request.

Entrance: free

The museum is handicap accessible.

Thi building, built by G.Poggi, contains the private collection of Rodolfo Siviero, who salvaged many works of art that would otherwise have been lost during World War II. The display is typical of an art lover’s home. Furniture, weapons, vases, medals and archaeological finds accompany the statues and paintings from various periods. There is a particularly interesting section with works by De Chirico, Soffici, Manzù, Messina, and Annigoni, who were all friends of Siviero.

Cenacolo del Conservatorio di Fuligno

Address: via Faenza 42

Telephone: 055286982

Fax: 0552388699

E-mail: segreteria@sbas.firenze.it

Hours: Monday, Tuesday, Saturday 9am-noon. Closed Christmas, New Year and 1 May.

Entrance: free

Founded at the beginning of the 14th century and renovated around 1430, the ancient convent of the nuns of Fuligno has had a chequered history and served various different purposes down the ages. Now to be redesigned, the refectory area is dominated by the fresco of the Last Supper painted (1493-1496) by Pietro Perugino and his workshop: Christ’s final meal with his apostles is depicted with calm beauty against a beautiful landscape background.

Cenacolo de Ghirlandaio

Address: Borgo Ognissanti 42

Telephone: 0552396802; 3486450390

Hours: Monday, Tuesday and Saturday 9am-noon

Entrance: free

The site is handicap accessible.

The refectory of the Convento di Ognissanti, reached through a Renaissance cloister frescoed with scenes from the Life of St. Francis in around 1600, was built in 1488 and painted by Ghirlandaio. The typical hall-style dining chamber contains the Last Supper and its sinopia, together with ancient hand basins and a doorway dated 1488, two 18th century paintings by Romei, and an early 15th century Annunciation.

Cenacolo di San Salvi

Address: via di San Salvi 16

Telephone: 0552388603

Hours: weekdays, Sundays and holidays 8am-2pm; closed Monday

Entrance: free

The museum is handicap accessible.

The museum is housed in the monumental rooms of the 16th century Vallombrosan monastery of San Salvi. In addition to the celebrated fresco of the Last Supper by Andrea del Sarto, the abbey contains paintings by important Florentine and Tuscan artists of the 16th century (including Franciabigio, Pontormo, Maso da San Friano, Sogliani, Michele di Ridolfo, Brina, Butteri and Poppi). There is also a fine funeral monument to San Giovanni Gualberto by Benedetto da Rovezzano.

Cenacolo di Sant’Apollonia

Address: via XXVII Aprile 1

Telephone: 0552388607

Fax: 0552388699

E-mail: segreteria@sbas.firenze.it

Hours: 8.15am-1.50pm. Closet second and fourth Monday of the month, first, third and fifth Sunday of the month, Christmas, New Year and 1 May.

Entrance: free

The museum is handicap accessible.

The ancient refectory in the Benedectine Convent of Sant’Apollonia has been a museum since 1891. Dedicated to the powerful personality of Andrea del Castagno, it presents works taken from the convent (paintings by Neri di Bicci and Paolo Schiavo). The refectory, dominated by the Last Supper surmounted by the scenes of the Resurrection, Crucifixion, and fragments of frescoes from the church of Sant’Egidio.

Chiesa di Santa Maria Novella

Address: piazza Santa Maria Novella

Telephone: 055215918

Fax: 055219257

E-mail: operasmn@virgilio.it

Hours: weekdays 9.30am-5pm; Fridays, Sundays and holidays 1-5pm. The ticket office closes at 4.30pm.

Entrance: €2.50; youngsters aged 13-18 and school groups who have made a prior booking: € 1.50. Children up to the age of 12 and residents of Florence and the surrounding province free.

The church is handicap accessible.

A ticket system needed to be introduced to protect the works of art, to allow them to be properly appreciated and to ensure that church services can be carried out undisturbed. Of particular interest are the architectural strusctures, Giotto’s Cross, Orcagna’s altarpiece, Nardo di Cione’s frescoes, Brunelleschi’s sculpted Crucifix, Masaccio’s Trinity, the fresco cycles by Filippino Lippi and Ghirlandaio, and Botticelli’s Nativity.

Chiostro dello Scalzo

Address: via Cavour 69

Telephone: 0552388604

Fax: 0552388699

E-mail: segreteria@sbas.firenze.it

Hours: Mon., Thu. and Sat. 8.15am-1.50pm. Closed Christmas, New Year and 1 May.

Entrance: free

The Chiostro is handicap accessible.

Atrium of the Compagnia dei disciplinati di San Giovanni Battista or of the Passion of Christ, named after the fact that the bearer of the cross during processions used to walk scalzo, or barefoot. It is frescoed entirely with scenes from the Life of John the Baptist, and is an excellent example of the work of Andrea del Sarto. As a result of various difficulties and interruptions, it took the artist a long time to create the work: begun in 1509-1510 it was not finished until 1526.

Collezione della Fondazione di Studi di Storia dell’Arte Roberto Longhi

Address: via Benedetto Fortini 30

Telephone: 0556580794

Fax: 0556580794

E-mail: longhi@iris.firenze.it

Hours: by prior arrangement in writing

Entrance: free

A museum housed in Villa il Tasso, which from 1939 to 1970 was the home of Roberto Longhi (1890-1970), the famous art critic who collected here major artworks from the 13th to 20th centuries. It includes important works by Caravaggio and the Caravaggeschi.

Complesso Monumentale di Santa Croce

Address: piazza Santa Croce 16

Telephone: 0552466105

Fax: 0552466105

E-mail: info@operadisantacroce.it

Hours: weekdays 9.30am-5.30pm; holidays 1-5.30pm. The ticket office closes at 5pm.

Entrance: € 4; 11-18-years-olds and groups of more than 15 people € 2. Children under 11, tour guides, disables visitors and escorts resident in Florence free.

Italy’s Pantheon of Illustrious Dead (tombs and monuments of Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli, Dante, Rossini, Foscolo, Alfieri, etc.) also has frescoes by Giotto and the main Giottesque artists, Cimabue’s Crucifix, Donatello’s Crucix and Annunciation, Brunelleschi’s Cappella dei Pazzi and cloister, the Gallery of the Romantic Sepulchres, 19th century sculptures (Canova, Bartolini, Dupré) and works by Verrocchio, Rossellino, Ghiberti, Vasari, Bronzino and Della Robbia.

Cripta di Santa Reparata

Address: piazza del Duomo

Telephone: 0552302885

Fax: 0552302898

E-mail: opera@operaduomo.firenze.it

Hours: every weekday 10am-5pm. Closed Sunday.

Entrance: € 3

The Cripta isn’t handicap accessible; there are ten steps at the entrance.

Santa Reparata, the ancient cathedral of Florence, was built in the 5th century and destroyed at the end of the 13th century to be replaced by the new, much bigger Santa Maria del Fiore. The crypt has early Christian mosaic floors, remains of frescoes, tombstones and the tomb of Filippo Brunelleschi.

Cupola del Brunelleschi

Address: piazza del Duomo

Telephone: 0552302885

Fax: 0552302898

E-mail: opera@operaduomo.firenze.it

Hours: weekdays 8.30am-7pm; Saturday 8.30am-5pm; first Saturday of the month 8.30am-3.20pm. Closed Sunday and holidays.

Entrance: € 6

The Cupola isn’t handicap accessible. There are 463 steps.

The octagonal Cupola of Florence Cathedral was built by Brunelleschi between 1418 and 1434 while the lantern, designed by the same architect, was added after his death in 1446. The ball, a work by Andrea del Verrocchio, was added in 1466 (the present ball is a copy: the original fell after being hit by lightning in 1600). The 463 steps lead up to the panoramic terrace, which gives excellent views of the interior of the Cathedral and the inner architectural structure of the dome itself.

Fondazione Romano nel Cenacolo di Santo Spirito

Address: piazza Santo Spirito 29

Telephone: 055287043

E-mail: gestione.musei@comune.fi.it

Hours: 2 January-31 March: weekdays and holidays 10.30am-1.30pm. 1 April-31 December: weekdays and holidays 9am-2pm. Closed Monday, Christmas, New Year, 1 May and 15 August.

Entrance: € 2.07; 18 to 25-year-olds and over 65s € 1.70; children aged 6-17 and schools € 0.60.

The museum is handicap accessible.

Housed in the old cenacolo of the Augustinian monastery of Santo Spirito. The huge room, decorated with a fresco by Andrea Orcagna depicting the Crucifixion and the Last Supper, contains sculptures donated in 1946 to the City of Florence by the antiquarian Salvatore Romano. Prominent among the works, which date from pre-Roman times to the 16th century, are the Caryatid and Angel by Tino di Camaino, a Madonna and child by Jacopo della Quercia and two bas-reliefs by Donatello.

Fondazione Scienza e Tecnica – Planetarium

Address: via Giusti 27

Telephone: 055242241; 0552341157; 055242654

Fax: 0552343140

E-mail: info@fstfirenze.it

Hours: the planetarium, opened by prior arrangement, with a selection of the scientific collections.

Entrance: € 5.50; schools € 4.50; nursery schools € 2.

The museum is handicap accessible.

The Foundation was established in 1987 to promote scientific, technical and industrial culture. It contains the huge historical scientific bequest of the 19th century Istituto Tecnico Toscano, which remains in its original home. This collection, the only one of its kind in Italy, has some 50,000 itms: natural hisory collections, scientific instruments, models of machines, industrial products and book collections of particular historical interest. In April 2002 the planetarium was opened to the public.

Galleria d’Arte Moderna

Address: Palazzo Pitti, piazza Pitti

Telephone: 0552388601

Fax: 0552654520

E-mail: GAM@sbas.firenze.it

Hours: weekdays and holidays 8.15am-1.50pm. Closed 1st, 3rd, 5th Monday of the month and 2nd and 4th Sunday of the month, Christmas, 1 January and 1 May.

Entrance: € 5, combined ticket with Galleria del Costume; EU citizens under 18 and over 65 free; EU citizens aged 18-25 half price; other statutory reductions apply. Bookings for schools: contact Firenze Musei on 055290112.

The museum is handicap accessible.

Works on display are mainly from the Tuscan figurative tradition from the late 18th century to the period between the two world wars. Notable paintings and sculptures include those by Francesco Hayez, Giovanni Fattori, Silvesrtro Lega, Telemaco Signorini, Adriano Cecioni and Federigo Zandomeneghi.

Galleria degli Uffizi

Adddress: loggiato degli Uffizi 6

Telephone: 0552388651

Fax: 0552388694

E-mail: direzione.uffizi@tin.it

Hours: Tuesday-Sunday 8.15am-6.45pm. Closed Monday

Entrance: € 6.50; during exhitions € 8.50. EU citizens aged 18-25 half price. EU citizens under 18 and over 65 and citizens from countries with reciprocal agreements free.

The museum is handicap accessible.

Though founded in the time of the Medici (1581), Florence’s world-famous art gallery did not open to the public until 1765, and was organised to more rational criteria by Lorraine government. It has paintings from the Tuscan school from the 13th century to the Renaissance and beyond (Giotto, Masaccio, Piero della Francesca, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo), together with works by other Italian (Mantegna, Bellini, Raphael, Titian, Caravaggio) and European artists. There is also an important collection of ancient sculpture.

Galleria del Costume di Palazzo Pitti

Address: piazza Pitti

Telephone: 0552388713

Fax: 0552388713

E-mail: costume.pitti@virgilio.it

Hours: 8.30am-1.50pm. Closed 1st, 3rd, 5th, Monday of the month, and 2nd and 4th Sunday of the month.

Entrance: € 5, combined ticket with Modern Art Gallery.

The museum is hanicap accessible.

This museum of the history of fashion has collections of costumes and accessories from the 18th century to the present day, along with theatrical costumes and the restored funeral garments of Cosimo I de’ Medici, Eleonora di Toledo and Don Garzia. The collections are selected for display on a biennial basis and for temporary exhibitions.

Galleria dell’Accademia

Address: via Ricasoli 58-60

Telephone: 0552388612

Fax: 0552388609

E-mail: GalleriaAccademia@sbas.firenze.it

Hours: Tuesday to Sunday 8.15am-6.50pm. Closed Monday.

Entrance: € 6.50; during exhibitions € 8.50.

The museum is handicap accessible.

The collection comprises a major group of sculptures by Michelangelo ( the statues of David and St. Matthew, and four unfinished Prisoners for the mausoleum of Pope Julius II), paintings from the Florentine school from the 13th to 16th centuries, and original plaster models by Lorenzo Bartolini and Luigi Pampaloni. A new section is dedicated to ancient musical instruments from the Medici and Lorraine households.

Galleria dell’Istituto degli Innocenti

Address: piazza SS. Annunziata 12

Telephone: 0552037323

Fax: 055241663

E-mail: sartini@istitutodegliinnocenti.it

Hours: every day 8.30am-2pm. Closed Wednesday.

Entrance: € 4; OAPs and schools € 2.

The museums isn’t handicap accessible.

In the hall above Brunelleschi’s celebrated colonnaded loggia are works commissioned to adorn the church and living quarters. The various masterpieces, which have been on show since 1971, include Adoration of the Magi by Ghirlandaio, the Madonna and Child by Luca della Robbia, works by Botticelli and Piero di Cosimo and paintings from the Florentine Cinquecento.

Galleria Palatina e Appartamenti Reali

Address: piazza Pitti

Telephone: 0552388611; 0552388614

Fax: 0552888613

E-mail: galleriapalatina.galleri@tin.it

Hours: Tuesday-Sunday 8.15am-6.50pm (the ticket office closet at 6.05pm). Closed Mondays, 25 December, 1 January, 1 May. Schools must book with Firenze Musei (tel. 055290112)

Entrance: € 8.50; reduced € 4.25. Under-18s and over-65s free. Free also for school groups and teachers with group lists presented on headed school notepaper (prior bbokings with Firenze Musei obligatory).

The museum is handicap accessible.

Housed in the halls of Palazzo Pitti’s piano nobile, the Museum illustrates the great interest of the Medici and Lorraine families in connecting art, seen both in the layout, typical of princely gallery, and in the choice of works, which are mainly from the 16th and 17th centuries, by artists such as Raphael, Andrea del Sarto, Pontormo, Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese, Caravaggio, Rubens, Van Dyck and Velàzquez. Adjoining the gallery are the monumental apartments, documenting the period in which they were the residence of the Italian royal family.

Galleria Rinaldo Carnielo

Address: piazza Savonarola 3

Telephone: 055575045

Fax: 0552625984

E-mail: gestione.musei@comune.fi.it

Hours: currently closet for restoration and refurbishment

Entrance: to be defined

The museum is handicap accessible.

The Art Nouveau-style building that was the study-home of Rinaldo Carnelio (1853-1910) contains sculptures, plater models and casts and bas-reliefs that reflect Carnelio’s eclecticism and the influence Florentine art had on this Veneto-born sculptor. The bas-reliefs evoke the purity of Renaissance form, the preparatory plaster models for the commemorative monuments are more veristic, and the furnishings show a love of the whimsical forms of the “Liberty” (or Art Nouveau) style.

Giardino della Villa Medicea di Castello

Address: Castello, via di Castello 47

Telephone: 055454791

Hours: Novembre-February: 8.15am-5pm; March: 8.15am-6pm; April-May, September-October: 8.15am-7pm; June, July and August: 8.15am-8pm. Closed second and third Monday of the month.

Entrance: € 2; reduced € 1. The ticket includes the visit to Villa della Petraia, if made on the same day. Guided tours of the Grotta degli Animali and the Ortaccio.

The museum is handicap accessible. However, some difficulties are encountered in the garden.

Visitors to the Villa, now the home of Italy’s venerable Crusca Academy, are only admitted to the splendid garden of 1537, which Tribolo was commissioned to create by Cosimo I to enhance and embellish his property. Of particular interest is the so-called “Animals Grotto”, an unusual artificial space devised by Tribolo, populated by an encyclopaedic selection of animals sculpted by Giambologna and others, and brought to life by spectacular water displays.

Giardino di Boboli

Address: piazza Pitti

Telephone: 0552651816

Hours: November-February: 8.15am-4.30pm weekdays, Sundays and holidays. March: 8.15am-5.30pm. April and May: 8.15am-6.30pm. June-September: 8.15am-7.30pm. October: 8.15am-6.30pm. Closed first and last Monday of the month, Christmas, New Year and 1 May.

Entrance: € 4, combined ticket with the Silverware and Porcelain Museums; during exhibitions and special events the cost may rise to € 6; statutory reductions apply. Bookings (obligatory for schools, tel. 055290112) € 3.

The site is handicap accessible.

Originally laid out on the Belvedere hillside by Tribolo in 1549 for duchess Eleonora of Toledo, it was extended and altered in later centuries. It is one of the most significant examples of an Italy-style garden with fountains, spectacular scenery, grottoes and of grate artistic merit.

Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza

Address: piazza dei Giudici 1

Telephone: 055265311

Fax: 0552653130

E-mail: imss@imss.fi.it

Hours: 1 Ju.-30 Sep.: 9.30am-5pm Mon., Wed., Thur. and Fri.; 9.30am-1pm Tue. and Sat.; closed Sun., 2 and 24 Ju., 15 Aug. 1 Oct.-31 May: 9.30am-5pm Mon., Wed., Thur., Fri. and Sat.; closed Sun. And holidays.

Entrance: € 6.50; 7- to 18-year-olds, over 65s and groups of at least 15 people € 4; school groups (ages 7-15) € 3; children under 6 free.

The museum is handicap accessible.

This museum , which opened in 1930, presents the Medici and Lorraine collections of scientific instruments. Of particular significance are the mathematical and asrtonomical instruments of the Renaissance, those belonging to Galileo and those bequeathed to the Cimento Academy.

Museo Archeologico

Address: via della Colonna 38

Telephone: 05523575

Fax: 055242213

E-mail: sat@comune.firenze.it

Hours: Monday 2-7pm; Tuesday and Thursday 8.30am-7pm; Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday 8.30am-2pm.

Entrance: € 4

The museum is handicap accessible.

Visitors are admitted to the ancient Egyptian section (one of the largest in Italy) and to the section presenting the collections of the Medici family and the Grand-Dukes, with Greek, Etruscan and Roman exhibits. They include the Francois vase, a black-figured Attic krater (6th century BC); the sarcophagus of the Amazons with paintings from the 6th century BC.; bronze Etruscan statues of the Chimaera (5th-6th centuries BC) and of the Orator (1st century BC.).

Museo Casa di Dante

Address: via Santa Margherita 1

Telephone: 055219416

Fax: 055219416

Hours: closed for restoration work

Entrance: to be established when the museum re-opens

The museum isn’t handicap accessible.

The museum, currently closed for refurbishment, spreads over three floors marking the key periods in the life and times of Dante Alighieri (1265-1321). It presents iconographic, graphic and documentary material on the life of the poet and several editions of the Divine Comedy.

Museo degli Argenti

Address: Palazzo Pitti, piazza Pitti 1

Telephone: 0552388709; 0552388761

Fax: 0552388710

E-mail: argenti@sbas.firenze.it

Hours: November to February: 8.15am-4.30pm weekdays, Sundays and holidays. March: 8.15am-5.30pm. April and May: 8.15am-6.30pm. June-September: 8.15am-7.30pm. October: 8.15am-6.30pm. Closed first and last Monday of the month, Christmas, New Year and 1 May.

Entrance: € 4, combined ticket with Boboli Garden and Porcelain Museum; statutory reductions apply. Bookings (obligatory for schools tel. 055290112) € 3.

This museum is situated inside the Pitti Palace, in what was once the summer apartment of the Tuscan sovereigns. The museum is both an example of a royal residence and a display of artworks belonging to the Grand-Dukes. The frescoed ground-floor receptionrooms display ivories, reliquaries, ambers and semi-precious stones. On the mezzanine are the jewels of the Palatine Electress, the Treasure of Salzburg, various exotic items and jewellery from the 18th and 19th centuries.

Museo del Bigallo

Address: piazza San Giovanni 1

Telephone: 055215440

Fax: 055210141

E-mail: o.bigallo@tin.it

Hours: temporarily closed, time sto be defined

Entrance: to be defined

This museum, in the 14th century Loggia del Bigallo, was founded in 1904 and contains works of art belonging to the ancient Confraternity of Bigallo. The most significant works are the Madonna of Mercy, a 1342 fresco featuring a view of Florence; a Crucifix on wood by the Maestro del Bigallo; a portable triptych by Bernardo Daddi; a Madonna and Child with Angels by Alberto Arnoldi; and a Madonna of Humility by Domenico di Michelino.

Museo del Calcio

Address: Coverciano, via Aldo Palazzeschi 20

Telephone: 0556193190; 055600526

E-mail: info@museodelcalcio.it

Hours: Monday-Friday 9am-1pm and 4-6pm. Saturday 9am-1pm. Closed Sunday

Entrance: € 3; children € 1,50.

The museum is handicap accessible.

A range of memorabilia (shirts, scarves, footballs and trophies) celebrating the Italian national team victories in the World Cup, Olympic Games and European championships in 1934, 1936, 1938, 1968 and 1982, the near-victories in 1970, 1978, 1990, 1994 and 2000 and the victories of the under-21 side in 1992, 1994 and 1995. The history of the Italian Football Association (FIGC) is documented by multi-media presentations, with photographs and TV footage.

Museo dell’Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore

Address: piazza del Duomo 9

Telephone: 0552302885

Fax: 0552302898

E-mail: opera@operaduomo.firenze.it

Hours: weekdays 9am-7.30pm; Sunday 9am-2pm

Entrance: € 6

The museum is handicap accessible.

Foounded in 1891 and refurbished in 1999, the museum contains works from Florence Cathedral, most notably Michelangelo’s, the Cantorie by Donatello and Luca della Robbia, statues and panels from Giotto’s belltower, the statues of Arnolfo di Cambio for the Cathedral’s original facade, the silver altar of the Baptistery, the restored panels of the Bptistery’s “Gte of Paradise” by Lorenzo Ghiberti.

Museo dell’Opificio delle Pietre Dure

Address: via degli Alfani 78

Telephone: 0552651357

Fax: 055287123

Hours: Monday-Saturday 9am-2pm; closed Sundays and holidays

Entrance: € 2; reduced € 1

The museum is handicap accessible.

The main room documents production from the time of the Medici and Lorraine families, the 19th century rooms cover the period after the unification of Italy. The raised ground floor is devoted to the craft of working precious stones and displays various stone pieces, workbenches and craftsmen’s tools, inlaying and engraving techniques, illustrating the entire process from the original idea to the finished work and presenting the most detailed techniques used in a fascinating period of Florence’s artistic history.

Museo della Casa Fiorentina Antica di Palazzo Davanzati

Address: via Porta Rossa 13

Telephone: 0552388610

Fax: 0552388699

Hours: while restoration work is in progress visitors are admitted only to the entrance loggia, where a selection of exhibits from the museum are displayed; everyday 8.15am-1.50pm. Closed on the second and fourth Sunday of the month, and on the first, third and fifth Monday of the month.

Entrance: free

The museum is handicap accessible.

This building, which dates back to the mid-14th century, became the property of the Davanzati family in 1578, who lived here until 1838. It was purchased in the early 20th century by the antiquarian Elia Volpi, who furnished it in a way that recreated a typical old Florentine home. After the disappearance of the original furnishings, it was bought by the State in 1951 and opened in 1956 as the Museo della Casa Fiorentina Antica. The collections comprise various items from different periods: paintings, sculptures, furniture, furnishings, fabrics, majolicas and everyday objects.

Museo della Certosa

Address: Galluzzo, via Buca di Certosa 2

Telephone: 0552049226

Fax: 0552048617

Hours: winter: 9-11.30am and 3-4.30pm; summer: 9-11.30am and 3-5.30pm. Closed Monday (except holiday Mondays)

Entrance: voluntary contributions requested

The museum isn’t handicap accessible.

Visitors to this monastery complex are admitted to the 14th century churh of San Lorenzo (remodelled in the 16th century), which is filled with frescoes and paintings; to the large Renaissance cloister with its fine well and 66 terracotta busts by Giovanni della Robbia; to a number of monks’ cells; and to the small Conversi cloister. Palazzo Acciaioli, at the entrance to the Certosa, is the home of the Art Gallery, which, among other works, has a series of frescoes by Pontormo with Scenes of the Passion (1523-1525), detached from the large cloister.

Museo della Fondazione Herbert Percy Horne

Address: via dei Benci 6

Telephone: 055244661

E-mail: horne@vps.it

Hours: Monday-Saturday 9am-1pm. Closed Sunday.

Entrance: € 5; reduced € 3.

The museum isn’t handicap accessible.

Herbert Percy Horne (1864-1916) was an English collector living in Florence, who in 1911 bught a building remodelled in the 15th century by Cronaca, restored and furnished it to recreate an example of a noble Renaissance residence. The museum has drawings, paintings, sculptures, furniture, ceramics, gold, fabrics etc. The St. Stephen by Giotto and the paintings by Pietro Lorenzetti, Simone Martini, Masaccio, Filippo and Filippino Lippi, Beccafumi and Dossi are of particular interest.

Museo delle Carrozze

Address: piazza Pitti

Telephone: 055294883

Hours: closed for reorganisation

Entrance: to be definited

The museum isn’t handicap accessible.

This museum, on Palazzo Pitti’s right-hand roundabout, houses carriages from 18th and 19th centuries, mainly from the Lorraine and Savoy courts. Of particular interest is an early 19th century decorated coach that came to Florence with the Savoy but originally belonged to Ferdinand II king of Naples, and three sumptuous berlin coaches in painted and gilded sculpted wood, built in Florence in 1818. The collection is currently housed in a depot which may be visited on request.

Museo delle Porcellane

Address: Palazzo Pitti, piazza Pitti 1

Telephone: 0552388709; 0552388761; 0552388605

Fax: 0552388710

E-mail: argenti@sbas.firenze.it

Hours: November-February: 8.15am-4.30pm weekdays, Sundays and holidays. March: 8.15am-5.30pm. April and May: 8.15am-6.30pm. June-September: 8.15am-7.30pm. October: 8.15am-6.30pm. Closed on the first and last Monday of the month, Chistmas, New Year and 1 May.

Entrance: € 6, combined ticket with Boboli Gardens and Silver Museum; statutory reductions apply. Bookings (obligatory for schools tel. 055290112) € 3.

The museum isn’t handicap accessible.

Housed in the Casino del Cavaliere (the so-called “Horseman’s House”), at the top of the Boboli Garden, this museum presents a collection of porcelain tableware used by the various reigning households who lived in Palazzo Pitti, from the Medici to the Savoy. Note in particular the Egyptian and Greek style pieces (1790-1800) and the statuettes of Neapolitan folk figures made at the Real Fabbrica of Naples; the various porcelain table services were made by Manifattura di Doccia, and in Sevres, Vienna and Meissen.

Museo di Arte e Storia Ebraica

Address: via L.C. Farini 4/6

Telepphone: 0552346654

Fax: 055244145

E-mail: cscsigma@tin.it

Hours: April-May and September-October: 10am-6pm Monday-Thursday and Sunday. June, July, August: 10am-6pm Monday-Thurday and Sunday. November-March: 10am-3pm Monday-Thurday and Sunday. Friday 10am-2pm. Saturday closed.

Entrance: € 4; children under 14, students and groups € 3.

The museum is handicap accessible.

This museum is housed on the first floor of the Tempio Maggiore, built in 1882 in the exotic Moresque style, with an impressive facade and copper-clad dome. Through photographs, it presents various aspects of the life of Jewish community and its relations with the city, as well as displaying an extensive collection of furnishings, fabrics gold and liturgical items relating to the Hebrew worship and the secred texts. Visits are also organised to the monumental Jewish cemetery created in 1777 outside Porta San Frediano.

Museo di Orsanmichele

Address: via Arte della Lana 1

Telephone: 055284944

Fax: 055219397

Hours: currently closed for restoration work.

Entrance: free

The museum isn’t handicap accessible.

Housed in the beautiful Gothic halls on the upper floors of the church of Orsanmichele, the museum holds most of the original sculptures which formerly adorned the outside of the church but were brought here for safe keeping and replaced by copies. The particularly important statues of the patron saints of the guilds are by some of the main artists of the Renaissance: Donatello, Ghiberti, Nanni di Banco and Verrocchio. There is a splendid view from the hall on the second floor.

Museo di San Marco

Address: piazza San Marco 3

Telephone: 0552388608

Fax: 0552388704

E-mail: museosanmarco@tiscali.it

Hours: Monday-Friday 8.15am-1.50pm; Saturday 8.15am-6.50pm; Sunday 8.15am-7pm. Closed first, third and fifth Sunday of the month, and second and fourth Monday of the month, Chistmas, 1 January and 1 May. The ticket office always closes half an hour before closing time.

Entrance: € 4; 18-25-years-olds € 2. Italian and EU citizens under 18 and over 65 and school groups free. Groups must book with Firenze Musei (tel. 055294883).

The museum is handicap accessible.

This museum occupies the oldest part of the Dominican monastery enlarged by Michelozzo for the Medici family in 1437-1452 and is devoted mainly to the work of the “Blessed” (Beato) Fra Angelico, who painted his most important fresco cycle here. As well as the frescoes that decorate the various rooms of the monastery, there is an extensive collection of paintings on wood by Beato Angelico in the ancient hospice. Note also the Last Supper by Ghirlandaio who lived here in the early 16th century.

Museo di Storia Naturale Sezione Botanica “F. Parlatore”

Address: via La Pira 4

Telephone: 0552757462

Fax: 055289006

E-mail: musbot@unifi.it

Hours: by prior arrangement

Entrance: free. School lessons € 31 for class.

The museum is handicap accessible.

The home of Italy’s most important herbarium, with some 4 million specimens. It contains the historical plant collections of A. Cesalpino (16th century), P.A. Micheli (18th century) and P.B. Webb (18th and 19th centuries), a collection of plants made of wax and 17th century paintings depicting plants. These latter collections, togheter with the historic herbaria, form the core of the section, and were brought here from the old Imperial and Royal Museum of Physics and Natural History, founded by the Lorraine family in 1775.

Museo di Storia Naturale Sezione di Geologia e Paleontologia

Address: via La Pira 4

Telephone: 0552757536

Fax: 0552756230

E-mail: muspal@unifi.it

Hours: October-May: 9am-1pm and 2-5pm Tuesday. June-Sptember: 9am-1pm Wednesday and Friday.

Entrance: € 4; reduced € 2; children under 6, over 65s, employees and students of Florence University: free.

The museum is handicap accessible.

The core of the museum’s holdings dates back to the time of the Lorraine and was part of a single museum until it was broken up in the 19th century. It was opened to the public in its current form in 1963. The collection of vertebrates is particularly interesting. The section containing fossilised invertebrates, plants and rocks is open to researchers only.

Museo di Storia Naturale Sezione Mineralogia e Litologia

Address: via La Pira 4

Telephone: 055275737

Fax: 0552757455

E-mail: musminfi@unifi.it

Hours: weekdays: 9am-1pm. Closed Saturday, Sunday and every day from 9 to 20 August.

Entrance: free.

The museum is handicap accessible.

Created with the transfer of various sections of the Museum of Phisics and Natural History by the Lorraine household in 1775, this museum contains some 40.000 samples of rocks and mineral, togheter with the Medici collection of various artistic items made from different kinds of worked stone. It forms a section of the Natural History Museum of Florence University.

Museo di Storia Naturale Sezione Orto Botanico “Giardino dei Semplici”

Address: via P.A. Micheli 3

Telephone: 0552757402

Fax: 0552757438

E-mail: ortobot@unifi.it

Hours: March-September: 9am-1pm Monday-Friday; closet Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. April-October: 9am-1pm and 3-6pm Tuesday; 9am-1pm Wednesday-Friday; closed Saturdays, Sundays, Mondays and holidays. Closed for the whole week of 15 August.

Entrance: € 3; 6 to 14 years olds, groups of more than 10 people, men on military service € 1,50; children under 6, over 65s, employees and students of Florence University, ICOM members free.

The museum is handicap accessible.

Founded in 1545 by Cosimo de Medici, the garden consists of hothouses, open-air beds, an arboretum containing century-old trees and thematic collections of medicinal and food plants, palms, citrus fruit-trees, succulents, carnivorous plants and other exotic species. Recent creations have focused on local plant life: mesophilic shrubs, endemisms, serpentinophytes, edible wild plants, wild ancestors of fruit trees, and medicinal plants in the popular tradition.

Museo di Storia Naturale Sezione Zoologica “La Specola”

Address: via Romana 17

Telephone: 0552288251

Fax: 055225325

E-mail: specola@specola.unifi.it

Hours: weekdays and Sundays 9am-1pm; closed Wednesday. The skeleton hall on the ground floor is open Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday 9am-1pm.

Entrance: € 5; reduced € 2,50; children under 6, over 65s, emloyees and students of Florence University free.

The museum isn’t handicap accessible.

Created out of the Imperial Regio Museum di Fisica e Storia Naturale, set up in 1775 by Pierre Léopold of Lorraine. The Galileo tribune (1841) of the original museum, with its celebrative decorations of Italian scientists, survives. After the removal of many sections to other museums in the 19th century, the museum comprises an extensive collection of zoological items and anatomical wax models. Particularly important are the waxes of the Siracusan scientist Gaetano Zumbo (1656-1701), the first examples of polycrome anatomical wax models.

Museo Diocesano di Santo Stefano al Ponte

Address: piazza Santo Stefano al Ponte 5

Telephone: 0552710732

Fax: 0552710741

Hours: Friday 3.30-6.30pm (winter) and 4-7pm (summer). August closed. For further information contact: Ufficio Arte Sacra dell’ Arcidiocesi di Firenze (tel. 0552710732).

Entrance: free (guided tours).

The museum isn’t handicap accessible.

The works kept in the former church of Santo Stefano al Ponte, so named because of its proximity to the Ponte Vecchio, come mostly from the former Museo Arcivescovile. Sacred furnishings, gold artefacts and paintings are exhibited inside. Giotto’s Enthroned Madonna, a St. Julian by Masolino and Paolo Uccello’s Quarate predella are particularly noteworthy. In 2002 a small section devoted to contemporary sacred artworks was created.

Museo e Chiostri Monumentali di Santa Maria Novella

Address: piazza Santa Maria Novella

Telephone: 055282187

E-mail: gestione.musei@comune.fi.it

Hours: weekdays 9am-5pm, Sundays and holidays 9am-2pm. Closed Friday, Christmas, New Year, Easter, 1 May, 15 August.

Entrance: € 2.70; 18 to 25 year olds and over 65s € 2; children aged 3-17 and schools € 1.

The museum is handicap accessible.

The sequence through the museum, which displays gold artefacts, wooden sculptures, fabrics and embroidery work from the church trasury, includes the cloisters of the convent, whose frescoes are outstanding examples of 14th and 15th century Florentine painting. The so-called Green Cloister, decorated entirely with scenes from the Old Testament, is a masterpiece of Paolo Uccello’s later work. The frescoes by Andrea Bonaiuti in the Cappellone degli Spagnoli celebrate the Dominican order.

Museo Fiorentino di Preistoria

Address: via Sant’Egidio 21

Telephone: 055295159

Fax: 0552340765

E-mail: info@museofiorentinopreistoria.it

Hours: Monday-Saturday 9.30am-12.30pm.

Entrance: € 3; reduced € 2,50.

The museum is handicap accessible.

A museum documenting the most ancient traces of human activity from the early Stone Age to the late prehistoric age, almost up to the time when historical records were first kept. The museum is a very lively institution, whose vitality is seen in the constant additions being made to the collections, the studies carried out and the resulting publications, together with a busy educational programme extending beyond strictly academic circles.

Museo Marino Marini

Address: piazza San Pancrazio 1

Telephone: 055219432

Fax: 055289510

E-mail: museomarinomarini@tiscalinet.it

Hours: 10am-5pm; closed Tuesday, Sunday and holidays.

Entrance: € 4; children aged 6-12 and groups of more than 10 people € 2; children under 6 free.

The museum is handicap accessible.

This museum is housed in the specially restored former church of San Pancrazio, and has works by the Pistoia-born artist Marino Marini (1901-1980): 87 sculptures, 33 paintings, 30 drawings and 30 engravings bequeathed at different times by the artist and his wife Marina. The works cover all the artistic periods and milestones in the career of Marini, who was one of the most multi-faceted figures in the 20th century art.

Museo Nazionale del Bargello

Address: via del Proconsolo 4

Telephone: 0552388606

Fax: 0552388756

E-mail: museobargello@libero.it

Hours: 8.15am-1.50pm. The ticket office closes at 1.20pm. During the year the museum closes on the 1st, 3rd and 5th Sunday of each month, the 2nd and 4th Monday of the month, Christmas, 1 January and 1 May.

Entrance: € 4; 19 to 25 year olds € 2; under 18s and over 65s (EU citizens only) free.

The museum is handicap accessible.

This grand museum of Renaissance sculpture is housed in the medieval Palazzo del Podestà, now the Palazzo del Bargello, which also contains a chapel frescoed by Giotto. All the main Florentine artsts of the period are represented: Ghiberti, Donatello, Brunelleschi, Luca della Robbia, Verrocchio, Michelangelo, Ammannati, Cellini and Giambologna. There is also a fine collection of minor medieval and Renaissance art: ivories, enamel work, sacred and profane artefacts in gold, majolicas, medals, coins, bronze figures and weapons.

Museo Nazionale di Antropologia ed Etnologia Sezione del Museo di Storia Naturale

Address: via del Proconsolo 12

Telephone: 0552396449

Fax: 055219438

E-mail: musant@unifi.it

Hours: Monday, Wednesday, Saturday 9am-1pm; Tuesday 9am-1pm and 3-5pm. Closed Thursday, Friday, Sunday and holidays.

Entrance: € 4; reduced € 2.

The museum is handicap accessible.

This museum collects, conserves and promotes works relating to anthropological sciences. It vast collections include some extremely rare and ancient items: from pre-Columbian America, formerly part of the Medici household collection, and items collected by James Cook in 1776 on his voyage through the Pacific. The collections were extended with items from numerous scientific expeditions made in the 19th and 20th centuries, documenting the culture of indigenous peoples from all continents.

Museo Salvatore Ferragamo

Address: via Tornabuoni 2

Telephone: 0553360456

Fax: 0553360475

E-mail: sricci@ferragamo.com

Hours: Monday-Friday 9am-1pm and 2-6pm. Closed Good Friday and Easter Monday, for the whole of August and from 23 December to 6 January.

Entrance: free.

The museum isn’t handicap accessible.

This museum, housed in the 13th century Palazzo Spini Ferroni, documents the work of the “shoemaker of dreams” Salvatore Ferragamo and his importance in the history of international fashion. The collection comprises over 10,000 models created between 1920 and 1960, exhibited on a rotation basis in various thematic displays.

Museo Stefano Bardini

Address: Piazza de’ Mozzi 1

Telephone: 0552342427

Fax: 0552625984

E-mail: gestione.musei@comune.fi.it

Hours: closed for reorganisation

Entrance: to be defined when the museum re-opens

Art connoisseur and shrewd international merchant, Stefano Bardini (1836-1922) transformed the building into an imposing Renaissance palace and furnished it with items from his own antiques gallery, and various architectural structures brought from demolished churches and palaces. The museum, bequeathed to the city, contains such artistic masterpieces as Tino di Caimano’s Charity, Donatello’s Madonna dei Cordai, Pollaiolo’s St.Michael Archangel and many other lesser artworks. The museum is expected to re-open in 2005.

Museo Stibbert

Address: via Federigo Stibbert 26

Telephone: 055475520; 055486049

Fax: 055475721

E-mail: museostibbert@tin.it

Hours: Monday-Wednesday 10am-2pm; Friday-Sunday 10am-6pm. Closed Thursday.

Entrance: € 5; reduced € 2.

The Museo Stibbert is one of the most charmingly unexpected places in Florence. The museum-house designed by its owner, Frederick Stibbert (1838-1906), presents in a strikingly beautiful arrangement the exceptional collections Stibbert bequeathed to the city when he died. Most notable among the exhibits is the famous weapons collection, but also on display are some quite remarkable artefacts and everyday items from the civilisations of Europe, the Islamic world and the Far East, especially Japan.

Museo Storico Topografico “Firenze com’era”

Address: via dell’Oriuolo 24

Telephone: 0552616545

Fax: 0552616568

E-mail: gestione.musei@comune.fi.it

Hours: weekdays 9am-2pm; Sundays and holidays 9am-1pm. Closed Thursday, Christmas, New Year, Easter, 1 May and 15 August.

Entrance: € 2,70; 18to25 year olds and over 65s € 2; children aged 3-17 and schools € 1.

The museum is handicap accessible.

With its paintings, prints and models, this museum offers a rich documentation of the transformations the city of Florence has undergone down the ages. Alongside the large Catena Map of 1470, are the Topographical map of Buonsignori (1594) and the lunettes by Giusto Utens with the Medici villas. Also interesting are the 18th century views of the Zocchi, the pictures of 19th century Florence and a section devoted to the Florence area from the earliest Roman settlements onwards.

Palazzo Medici Riccardi – Benozzo Gozzoli Chapel

Address: via Cavour 3

Telephone: 0552760340

Fax: 0552760451

E-mail: a.belisario@provincia.fi.it

Hours: every day, 9am-7pm. Closed Wednesday.

Entrance: € 4; groups € 2,50.

The ground-floor rooms are handicap accessible, the Benozzo Gozzoli Chapel is not.

This prototype of the Renaissance Florentine palace was built in the 15th century for the Medici household. In the 17th century it became the property of the Riccardi, who renovated and enlarged the building. The walls of the Chapel were frescoed in 1459 by Benozzo Gozzoli with the celebrated Procession of the Magi. The Luca Giordano room has a ceiling frescoed by the Neapolitan artist with a complex and particularly crowded Allegory of Divine Wisdom (1685). The visit also includes Michelozzo’s courtyard and the garden.

Palazzo Vecchio – Monumental Rooms

Address: piazza della Signoria

Telephone: 0552768325

Fax: 0552625984

E-mail: gestione.musei@comune.firenze.it

Hours: weekdays, Sundays and holidays 9am-7pm; Thursday 9am-2pm. Closed Christmas, New Year, Easter, 1 May and 15 August.

Entrance: € 6; 18 to 25 year olds and over 65s € 4,50; children aged 3-17 and schools € 2,50. Families of four (2 adults, 2 children) € 14; families of five (2 adults, 3 children) € 16.

Built at the end of the 13th century as the home of the Priori delle Arti. In 1540 Cosimo I de’ Medici turned the fortress-palace into the family home of the grand-dukes and commissioned Vasari to transform it into a sumptuous residence. In addition to the Salone dei Cinquecento, the study of Francis I, the frescoes in the Quartiere di Eleonora and the Quartiere degli Elementi, there are some masterpieces of renaissance sculpture: Verrocchio’s Putto, Donatello’s Judith and Holofernes, and Michelangelo’s Victory.

Parco di Villa il Ventaglio

Address: via Aldini12

Telephone: 055802837

Hours: January-February: 8.15am-4.30pm; March-April: 8.15am-5.30pm; May: 8.15am-6.30pm; June-September: 8.15am-7.30pm; October-December: 8.15am-4.30pm.

Entrance: free.

The park is handicap accessible.

The park was built between 1839 and 1856 by Giuseppe Poggi for Milanese count Giuseppe Archinto. Poggi created a romantic park with extensive lawns and large trees around a long winding path. In 1862 the villa and park were sold to Aristide Castelli, and in 1969 passed under State control. The villa is the home of the Università Internazionale dell’Arte, the park is a historic garden.

Raccolta “Alberto Della Ragione” e Collezioni del Novecento

Address: via Sant’Egidio

Telephone: 0552625961

Fax: 0552626584

E-mail: gestione.musei@comune.fi.it

Hours: the museum is currently being organised; the works are temporarily housed in a storeroom which can be visited on Saturday mornings by prior arrangement.

Entrance: free.

The museum isn’t handicap accessible.

The core of the collection was donated to the City of Florence in 1970 by Genoese benefactor Alberto Della Ragione. It presents 20th century Italian art from Futurism to Metaphysics, the return to order and the work of the 1950s. Artists represented included: De Chirico, Carrà, Morandi, De Pisis, Casorati, Sironi, M.Marini, A.Martini, Manzù, Fontana, the Roman School and the Corrente movement, with Vedova, Migneco, Birolli and Cassinari. The museum also has a number of canvases by De Pisis donated by the poet Palazzeschi and a set of paintings by Rosai.

Sala Capitolare Chiesa Santa Maria Maddalena De’ Pazzi

Address: Borgo Pinti 58

Telephone: 0552478420

Hours: weekdays: 9-11.50am, 5-5.20pm and 6.10-7.50pm; Sunday and holidays: 9-10.45am and 5-6.50pm.

Entrance: € 1 (contribution for light, cleaning and caretaker services).

The site isn’t handicap accessible.

The chapter house of the former Cistercian monastery (1442-1628), which later belonged to the Carmelite nuns (1628-1888), is decorated with a fresco by Perugino (1493-1496) of the Crucifixion, set against a beautiful landscape inspired by the area around Lake Trasimeno. The fresco on the left wall, with its sinopia, shows Jesus being taken from the cross and inviting St. Bernard to worship the sixth wound caused by the transverse section of the cross.

Villa Medicea della Petraia

Address: CASTELLO, via della Petraia 40

Telephone: 055451208

Hours: November-February: 8.15am-5pm; March: 8.15am-6pm; April-May and September-October: 8.15am-7pm; June-August: 8.15am-8pm. Closed second and third Monday of the month.

Entrance: € 2; reduced € 1. The ticket also includes the visit to the Garden of the Villa di Castello (same day only).

The courtyard and ground floor are handicap accessible; the garden, however, is very difficult.

The Medici had the villa redesigned by Buontalenti and frescoed by Volterrano with a representation of the glories of the Medici household and of the Knights of St. Stephen. The mainly 19th century furnishings are particularly noteworthy. Note also the memorabilia of King Victor Emanuel II Savoy and his morganatic wife, the countess of Mirafiori, who lived here between 1865 and 1870. The beautiful three-level garden has nurseries, hothouses and pools, a fountain of Venus-Fiorenza by Tribolo and a statue by Giambologna.

Villa Medicea di Careggi

Address: viale Pieraccini 17

Telephone: 0554279755; 0554279497 (porter’s lodge at the villa)

Fax: 0554279080

E-mail: aoc@ao-careggi.toscana.it

Hours: Monday-Friday: 9am-6pm (afternoons preferred); Saturday: 9am-noon. Closed Sunday and holidays. Individual visitors are admitted without prior arrangement; groups must book in advance (tel. 0554279496 or 0554279497).

Entrance: free. A fee of 51,65 € is charged for colour photography, 10,33 € for black and white photography; the charge for cine and TV filming is 2065,83 €.

Only the garden and the ground floor are handicap accessible.

This villa, rebuilt to a design by Michelozzo in the first half of the 15th century, was the favourite residence of Lorenzo il Magnifico, who founded the Accademia Platonica and also died here. It now houses the offices of the Azienda Ospedaliera di Careggi hospital authority, but is also a monument open to visitors: much of the original architecture and the 17th century pictorial decorations have survived intact.