Posts Tagged ‘florence’

Cupola of Santa Maria del Fiore

Thursday, July 2nd, 2009

Built on the site of an Etruscan settlement, Florence, the symbol of the Renaissance, rose to economic and cultural pre-eminence under the Medici in the 15th and 16th centuries. Its 600 years of extraordinary artistic activity can be seen above all in the 13th-century cathedral (Santa Maria del Fiore), the Church of Santa Croce, the Uffizi and the Pitti Palace, the work of great masters such as Giotto, Brunelleschi, Botticelli and Michelangelo. It is accordingly classified as a World heritage site.

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On the Ponte Vecchio Bridge in Florence

Thursday, June 11th, 2009

The Ponte Vecchio (Italian for Old Bridge)is a Medieval bridge over the Arno River, in Florence, Italy, noted for still having shops built along it, as was once common. Butchers initially occupied the shops; the present tenants are jewelers, art dealers and souvenir sellers. It has been described as Europe’s oldest wholly-stone, closed-spandrel segmental arch bridge, but there are far older segmental arch bridges such as Alconétar Bridge. The Ponte Vecchio’s two neighbouring bridges are the Ponte Santa Trinità and the Ponte alle Grazie.

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Florence Duomo Facade

Tuesday, May 12th, 2009

The first episcopal church of Florence was the ancient basilica of Saint Lawrence ‘outside the walls’, consecrated by Saint Ambrose of Milan in 394. The next main church and cathedral was the Basilica of Santa Reparata, Martyr, which - as can be deduced from recent excavations - was built in the 5th or 6th century. When its rebuilding and enlargement were decreed, Boniface VIII’s legate, Cardinal Valeriano, solemnly laid the first stone of the new cathedral on the Feast of Mary’s Nativity, in 1296. In 1412 the new name of Santa Maria del Fiore (Our Lady of the Flower, or ‘of Florence’) was officially assigned to the magnificent church that by then had arisen on the remains of the earlier basilica. In 1420, Pope Martin V conferred the privileges of a metropolitan church, and Santa Maria del Fiore was finally consecrated on March 25, 1436, by Pope Eugenius IV. This is a marvellous piece of architecture which resonates with the city and provides a central point of reference for all Florentine’s. You can download this desktop wallpaper to bring this wonderful building into your home.

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View from Piazzale Michelangelo

Wednesday, February 18th, 2009

This desktop wallpaper captures the Duomo, Ponte Vecchio and other historic monuments across the landscape of Florence. The photo was taken from Piazzale Michelangelo, a famous viewpoint which was designed in 1869 by Giuseppe Poggi.

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