Day 9, Florence [Duomo Bell Tower, Galileo Museum, Ponte Vecchio, & Santa Croce] – September 26, 2017

This morning we walked to the Duomo Bell Tower 

and walked the 414 steps to the 82 m high observation point on the tower.  From there we had beautiful views of the city of Florence and the Tuscan hills in the distance.  

The sky was clear and blue.  This also gave a great view of the observation level of the Duo dome, which is 10 m higher than that on the bell tower.   

We met Joe and Terry just as we were on the last set of stairs. 

Leaving the Bell Tower, we walked through the Plaza Vecchio 

and then through the very crowded Ufizi lines and to the sidewalk leading to the Galileo Museum.  This museum houses and displays a fabulous collection of scientific apparatus dating from the time of Cosimo Medici to the 19^th century – physics, chemistry, optics, electromagnetism, astronomy, medicine, navigation, etc.  There is an online virtual exhibit with an inventory of holdings in the rooms.  We had a downloaded app as a guide to the 3 floors of displays.  Here is a sampling of just a few items:

Armillary Sphere

Peter Leopold's Chemistry Cabinet

On display is also Galileo's pointer finger, index finger and tooth.

At 1:00 pm the museum closed and we walked toward and across the Ponte Vecchio 

to the other side of the Arno River.  There were great views of the river from the middle of the bridge.   

Once on the other side, we found a great restaurant (Golden View) for lunch.  We had a window seat with a close-up view of the Ponte Vecchio.   

Very pretty location, quiet, and relaxing. 

Leaving the restaurant, we walked further along the river 

Ufizi and Galileo Museum

to the next bridge (Ponte Alle Grazie) which lead us to the piazza Santa Croce 

and the basilica of Santa Croce with its beautiful Neo-Gothic façade of white and green marble.  The façade dates from 1857-1863. A prominent Star of David can be seen in the façade and this was placed there by the Jewish architect, Niccolo Matas, who designed the façade.  We toured Santa Croce and viewed the many 14^th century frescos and the tombs of Rossini, Michelangelo, and Galileo. 

Galileo's Tomb

The basilica was begun in 1294 and consecrated in 1442 by Pope Eugene IV.  The floorplan is a Tau cross, which is the symbol of St. Francis.  The chapels along the nave contain beautiful frescoes by Giotto and his pupils.  Many of these date from the 1320’s.  The Bardi Chapel, immediately to the right of the altar, shows the story of St Francis of Assisi.  Inside, the stories of St Francis are beautifully narrated through the paintings. 

The next chapel on the right is the Peruzzi Chapel, and Giotto painted these frescoes in 1326 - the stories of St John the Baptist on the left-hand side, and the stories of St John the Evangelist on the right. The main chapel (apse) was done by Agnolo Gaddi, a student of Giotto, in 1380. 

 

After leaving Santa Croce, we wandered through the streets toward the Duomo and walked back to the hostel to relax before the group’s evening activities – happy hour and dinner at Il Nutino.