Santa Croce and Guided Walking Tour in Florence

Start the tour in the main square, where the famous soccer game played in medieval costumes, the Calcio Storico Florentino takes place every year in June. Your guide will describe in detail all the immense artistic wealth in Santa Croce; frescoes (1380) by Gaddi in the Cappella Maggiore tell the story of "Santa Croce", and beautiful frescoes by Giotto in the Bardi and Peruzzi Chapels show scenes from the life of St. Francis and St. John the Evangelist. On your way to the left of the entrance, see the memorial of the 19th-century playwright Giovanni Battista Niccolini built as an inspiration for the Statue of Liberty. As you walk through the hallowed walls, learn about the art of Donatello and his crucifix, one of the jewels of the Renaissance, as well as the art of Brunelleschi and the perfect architectural harmony of his Chapel of Fools.

See the monumental cemetery and damaged paintings and that was destroyed in the tragic flood of 1966 and have been subsequently restored. After visiting the interior, learn about the exterior which is covered with a polychrome marble façade. Finally, the guide will tour you around the Bell Tower, Crypt and the 16 chapels. The tour takes about an hour, and you will have the opportunity to return to anything you might want to see again after the tour ends.

From the point of the meeting, the guide will give you an insight into the history of this Renaissance city and how this incredible cultural movement of the Renaissance transformed not only Florence but eventually the rest of Europe. The guide will start off with Piazza Della Republica, the main square of Florence that marks the center of the City. After a little talk of history & the changes of Piazza Republica since its origin, you will walk straight to the marvelous piece of art, the Piazza Della Duomo. A showstopper of Filippo Brunelleschi, Giotto, Arnolfo & Francesco Talenti.

Walk passing the Duomo Square the guide will lead you straight through the old buildings and some of the historical landmarks of Florence to Palazzo Vecchio, where David’s’ sculpture (the original is in the Galleria dell'Accademia) by Michelangelo is placed outside the Palazzo Vecchio as a symbol of the Republic's defiance of the tyrannical Medici.

Afterward, as you walk past the Palazzo Vecchio, the guide will explain to you about the Uffizi Gallery, one of the greatest museums of the world, and then you will reach the most famous old bridge in Florence known as “Ponte Vecchio”.

Your next stop is Palazzo Pitti, the enormous palace of Florence's largest architectural monuments of Filippo Brunelleschi and the household of the Pitti Family, later of the Medicis’. The tour takes about two hours, enough time to help you understand the uniqueness and beauty of Florence city.