This is an itinerary rich of the most significant expressions of the Renaissance. Our intention is to devote it to Guido di Pietro, whose art was so full of religious inspiration to deserve the name Angelic, because it is along this path and, more particularly in St. Mark Museum, that we can see the grandeur of the artist. The ex-convent of Dominican monks in fact, it is of exceptional interest because it hosts all the main works of Angelico, who resided there from 1436 to 1447.

1. Piazza San Marco
2. Santa Apollonia Cenacolo
3. San Marco or Beato Angelico Museum
4. Semplici’s Garden
5. Galleria dell’Accademia
6. Piazza SS. Annunziata
7. Spedale degli Innocenti
8. SS. Annunziata Basilica
9. Archeological Museum

PIAZZA SAN MARCO

Ample and regular, it accommodates in its perimeter the Church of St. Mark with the annexed convent, place of the homonym museum devoted to Beato Angelico, the University of Florence, and at the angle with street Ricasoli, the Accademia delle Belle Arti, preceded by a fourteenth-century loggia with lunettes adorned with valuable enamelled terracotta by Della Robbia.

SANTA APOLLONIA CENACLE

Via XXVII Aprile, 1 (S. Marco)
Free entrance
Opening hours: from Tuesday to Sunday h 8.15am – 1.50 pm
Phone: 0552388607

The cenacle is in the refectory of the ancient monastery of camaldolesi nuns, here you can also find other valuable frescoes by Andrea del Castagno (1450), who was one of the first artists to use perspective in paintings.

SAN MARCO OR BEATO ANGELICO MUSEUM

Piazza San Marco, 1 (S. Marco)
Paying visit
OPENING HOURS: from Monday to Friday h. 8.15am – 1.50 pm;
Saturday h: 8.15 am – 6.50 pm
Sunday: 8.15am - 7.00 pm (second and fourth Sunday of the month)
Closing days: the second and fourth Monday of the month
Phone:0552388608

In the XV century Cosimo De Medici commissioned, to his favourite architect Michelozzo, to redesign the suggestive indoors and the cloister of the Dominican convent of St. Mark, a then extraordinary centre of culture.
Inside the entry hall, the Chiostro di S. Antonino and then the Ospizio dei Pellegrini, allows the visitor to enjoy all the important works of Angelico. Let’s briefly remember the most inspired ones: the Tabernacolo dei Linaioli, the Universal Judgment and the Deposition that belong to the series of 35 events of the Life Christ. At the top of the staircase there’s a beautiful loggia that hosts the Annunciation; the peak of the inspiration and the art of the monk Guido di Pietro, called the Angelico for his ability to depict Heaven, but see also the simple cells of the monks, all enriched by a fresco of the great master.
At the end of the corridor that leans out on St. Mark Square, you’ll find the area of the Prior where Savonarola used to live, while on the entrance corridor, by the two cells reserved to Cosimo de Medici for his spiritual retreat, you find the Library, an elegant environment planned by Michelozzo.

THE SEMPLICI’S GARDEN

Via Micheli, 3
Paying visit
Opening hours: from Monday to Friday h: 9.00 am - 1.00 pm; Saturday closed
Sunday openings: May 19 and May 26 , h: 9.00 am - 1.00 pm.

Since the Middle Ages the "semplici", a varieties of plants with curative virtues, were cultivated in several gardens of the city. In the XVI century, the duke Cosimo I dei Medici commissioned the setup of the garden to Niccolò Pericoli, also called the Tribolo, and the choice of the plants to the botanist Luca Ghini, founder of the botanical garden in Pisa. Alternate stories marked the life of the garden, and in 1753, when the Botanical Society merged with the Georgofilis’ academy, it became part of a specialized system for studies on plants and grasses. During the 1800, the garden was opened to the public. The collection of azaleas, comprising centenary exemplary, is truly famous, for the great impression it gives in full bloom.

GALLERIA DELL’ACCADEMIA

Via Ricasoli, 60 (S. Marco)
Paying visit
Opening hours: from Monday to Sunday h. 8.15am - 6.50 pm
Phone:0552388609

Thousands of tourists come to admire the David of Michelangelo, a work full of strength that symbolizes the regained freedom of the Florence republic. Initially the David statue was in Piazza della Signoria, but it was replaced by a copy (1873), to preserve it from deterioration.
The series of the Four Slaves of Michelangelo, where the graven figures seem to want escape from the marble that constricts them, also gives an impression of great strength.
Other important works are the paintings of Florentine school, spanning from the XIII century to the Renaissance.

PIAZZA SANTISSIMA ANNUNZIATA

The square features beautiful proportions and is surrounded by Renaissance porticos. It is enriched with two beautiful Baroque fountains by P. Tacca and the equestrian statue of Ferdinando I (a work by Giambologna) placed at the centre. The church Ss. Annunziata in the background complete the design of the square.

SPEDALE DEGLI INNOCENTI

Designed by Brunelleschi, is one of the first expressions of Florentine renaissance (1426). The portico, to which one accesses by a staircase, features nine arcades supported by columns, decorated by ten enamelled terracotta circles by Andrea della Robbia with babies in swaddling.
The inside, features a beautiful courtyard with portico, decorated by a lunette with Annunciation of Andrea della Robbia. From here you access to the Gallery in the upper floor displaying sculptures, illuminated manuscripts (codici miniati) and furniture dating back to 1300 and 1700.

Spedale Gallery

Piazza Santissima Annunziata (S. Marco)
Paying visit
OPENING HOURS: from Monday to Sunday h. 8.30 am – 2.00 pm;
CLOSING TIME: every Wednesday
Phone:0552491708

The best works are the Adoration of the Magis by Ghirlandaio, a true masterpiece of the great master, the Madonna with Child by Botticelli in which, unfortunately, heavy restoration has left an indelible sign, the Madonna in terracotta by Luca of the Robbia.

SANTISSIMA ANNUNZIATA BASILICA

Piazza Santissima Annunziata (S. Marco)
OPENING HOURS: from Monday to Sunday h. 7.30 am - 12.30 am and 4.00 pm - 6.30 pm
Phone:0552398034

This basilica devoted to Madonna of the Annunciation, it is the famous Florentine sanctuary. It was erected in 1200 by the Servants of Maria, reconstructed in 1400 by Michelozzo and restructured several times, it is preceded by a portico of the 1600, with interesting frescoes of Florentine school, from which one access the so called Chiostrino dei Voti.
The inside has a pompous Baroque look: in the chapels there are two noteworthy frescoes of Andrea del Castagno and the presbytery, constituted by a grandiose rotunda planned by Michelozzo and by Leon Battista Alberti, surrounded by chapels with paintings and statues of 1500.

ARCHEOLOGY MUSEUM

Via della Colonna, 38 (S. Marco)
Paying visit
OPENING HOURS: Monday: h 2.00 pm - 7.00pm
Tuesday and Thursday: h 8.30am - 2.00 pm
Wednesday, Friday, Sunday, h 8.30 am - 2.00 pm
Phone:0552388607

The Museum, wanted by Cosimo I, shows, distributed in the three floors of the building, notable findings of the Egyptian, Greek, Roman and most importantly the Etruscan civilizations, all distributed in proper sections.
Among the sculptures of the etrusco-greco-romano Antiquarium one finds works of great value such as the Arringatore, a funeral statue of Aulo Metello of the III century B. C., the Chimera, an Etruscan work from the V century B. C., Idolino and the Torso di Atleta, two original Greek items of the V century B. C.
In this rich collection of vases and items made of terracotta the Vaso François, a masterpiece of archaic ceramic from attica is of particular interest.