Florence for Free
Sights and experiences that are admission-free in Florence, Italy
Precious little in Florence is free. They even charge admission to three of the four main churches now. At least wandering the medieval streets is still free...for now.
Free the first Sunday of the month
As of 2014, all state-run museums and cultural sites are now free the first Sunday of every month. In Florence that includes most of the biggies (and some smallies):
Sights that are always free in Florence
Duomo (Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore) ★★★—Renaissance frescoes, della Robbia sculptures, Uccello frescoes, and the chance to climb between the onion-like layers of
Brunelleschi's Dome, an ingenious feat of engineering that rewards the effort with a city panorama from the top (though there is a charge to do this)...
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Baptistery ★★★—Yes, you have to pay to enter the Baptistry itself to see the glittering mosaics inside, but the
star attractions are actually outside and free: The three sets of giant bronze doors, two of which—designed by Lorenzo Ghiberti—are held by many art historians to be the first true works of the Renaissance and which were so beautifully sculpted they were nicknamed "The Gates of Paradise" by none of than
Michelangelo himself...
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The Ponte Vecchio ★★★ - Hanging off either side of this ancient bridge over the Arno are strings of teensy shops selling gold and jewelry, some of them dating back to the Renaissance...
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Piazza della Signoria ★★★ - A lively, statue-studded square lined with cafés and home to the Gothically imposing, fortress-like
Palazzo Vecchio, off which stretches the "U" of the
Uffizi Galleries, Florence's great art museum, next to the open-air Loggia dei Lanzi, crowded with ancient Roman and late Renaissance statues...
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The San Lorenzo leather market ★★★ - The streets around the Medici family church are now filled with a daily outdoor market of leather goods, T-shirts, and other excellent Florentine souvenirs. I get much of my holiday shopping done here (who doesn't appreciate a leather wallet or belt straight from Florence?). Of course, it's only free if you manage not to buy anything...
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Ghirlandaio frescoes, a long-lost Giotto
Crucifix, and the final resting places of both Botticelli and his
Birth of Venus muse, Simonetta Vespucci (as well as the man after whom America was named). Wow. Founded in 1256 by the Umiliati, a wool-weaving sect of the Benedictines whose trade helped establish this area as a textile district, the present Ognissanti was rebuilt by its new Franciscan owners in the 17th century...
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This was the first Gothic church in Florence, built in 1250–58, perhaps by Nicola Pisano (but likely by a lesser-known artist), and best-known for the richness of its Renaissance frescoes—especially the courtly works by Domenico Ghirlandaio in the Sassetti Chapel—nominally of religious events, but populated by parades of contemporary figures (including
Lorenzo de' Medici and his kids) in scenes reproducing faithfully the squares and streets of late 15th century Florence...
Piazza S. Trìnita; tel. +39-055-216-912
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The church of San Marco itself is no great shakes—dark and moody, with only a few minor works—but the attached monastery was decorated by its most illustrious resident, the great Renaissance monk and painter Fra' Angelico. It was also later the base of operations for ruling theocrat
Girolamo "The Mad Monk" Savonarola...
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Founded in 1250, this church near the northern edge of the tourist center was rebuilt in 1444-81 by Michelozzo and completed by Leon Battista Alberti, two of the greatest architects of the Renaissance, and decorated by some of the most important Mannerist artists of the High Renaissance...
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Florence's only real Romanesque church—with a beautiful facade and a wondrous, moving space inside—perches atop a hill amid greenery in the Oltrarno. For every 10,000 people who say "Oo! Look at that pretty church up there!" and snap a photo of it, maybe one bothers making his way up here to see it up close. Their loss. (Oh, and no matter what the movie showed, it was a vista across the Arno to this church that was the "view" discussed in EM Foster's famous book, "A Room with View.")...
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The blank brick non-facade hides a perfection of
Brunelleschian architecture inside, along with some fine altarpieces...
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This former granary—which, given its location halfway down the historic center's major street, you'll keep passing as you criss-cross Florence—is ringed by (replica) statues of saints by
Donatello, Ghiberti, and Verrocchio, and contains a massive and gorgeous gothic altar by Andrea Orcagna...
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Fantastic, classic viewpoint over the city of Florence. This is where they take the photographs for the postcards of the Florentine skyline. (And no, it's not spelled wrong; this was a legitimate alternate spelling for "
Michelangelo" back when they named the piazza.) ...
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As you wander Florence, you'll undoubtedly stumble across this large pedestrian square with a small carousel in the middle, its sides lined by shops and classy 19th century cafes. This was originally the site of the
forum (main square) for the ancient Roman settlement of
Fiorentina. By the Middle Ages it had become the city's Jewish ghetto...
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For great
picnic pickings—not to mention
photo ops—head to Florence's 19th-century covered food market, snuggled behind the outdoor stalls of the
San Lorenzo leather market. It looks a bit like a old grandiose train station inside, all dingy glass and steel struts, but actually was purpose-designed to be a market in 1870–74...
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Florence's only pointy bell tower rises above a Benedictine abbey and Gothic church where Dante once gazed longingly at his Beatrice. The interior has an uninspired baroque overlay, but there are also tombs sculpted by Mina da Fiesole and Bernardo Rossellino, a painting by Giorgio Vasari, several nice but ruinous frescoes by Nardo di Cione, and Filippino Lippi's 1485
Madonna Appearing to St. Bernard. Lovely Renaissance cloisters...
Via del Proconsolo at Via Dante Alighieri; tel. +39-055-264-402
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A tiny Gothic church just south of the Pitti Palace sports a High Renaissance facade by Michelozzo (1457) and a Crucifixion over the high altar recently attributed to Giotto. Also peek at the remnants of Niccolò Gerini's early 15th-century Pietà fresco over the first altar on the right...
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This little church was probably the second to be established in the city, the first edition of it rising in the late 4th century. The current version was built in the 1730s. The star works are in the first chapel on your right, paintings by mannerist master Pontormo (1525–27). The Deposition and frescoed Annunciation are rife with his garish color palette of oranges, pinks, golds, lime greens, and sky blues...
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This country church on the road to Fiesole was where the future master Fra' Angelic first put on monk's robes and picked up paintbrushes. It retains several Angelico masterpieces as well as works by Lorenzo di Credi...
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This tiny, spare medieval church with several
Dante associations has a lovely altarpiece of the
Madonna Enthroned with Four Saints by Neri di Bicci and regularly hosts music concerts...
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Tips & links
Florence tourist info
How long does Florence take?
Planning your day: Florence would well be worth a week, but you can still fit a lot into just a day or three.
To help you get the most out of your limited time in the Cradle of the Renaissance, here are some perfect itineraries, whether you have one, two, or three days to spend in Florence.
» Florence itineraries
Florence tours
Walks & Day tours
Longer tours
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