History and development of the town of Florence – Full day

The program:

• 10:00 You meet your guide, an expert architect, passionate about her town, at your hotel reception
• The city as a palimpsest 
  Piazza della Repubblica: from the Roman forum and capitolium to the Jewish ghetto and to the modern centre; the Futurists’café: Le Giubbe Rosse
  Merchants and bankers 
  Palazzo Strozzi (the largest private palace of its time, built by bankers): the “panca di via” as a public/private structure
  Palazzo Davanzati (a merchant’s palace): visit to the Museum of the Ancient Florentine House
  Loggia del Mercato Nuovo: a covered piazza
  Le Arti (The Guilds) 
  Some headquarters: the palace of the Arte della Lana (The Wool guild) and the Arte dei Beccai (The Butchers Guild)
  Orsanmichele: an ancient loggia, used as covered market and granary, later transformed into the church of the Arts
  The major public space 
  Piazza della Signoria: from the democracy piazza with the public palace and the public loggia to the Medici’s piazza
• 13:00 pm Lunch break in a typical Florentine restaurant with a local menu and wine
  The river Arno 
  The river banks from a working space (mills, fulling mills, laundries...) to the modern promenades (the Lungarni)
  The Ponte Vecchio, the Vasari’s corridor and an ancient tower
  The Oltrarno 
  A neighbourhood with palaces, row houses and artisans: e.g. from via Guicciardini (examples of the post-war reconstruction) to piazza della Passera and streets around
• 17:00 End of the program

The price of the program includes: an expert English-speaking guide, entrance tickets and a Tuscan lunch with a Tuscan menu and wine.