Boboli Gardens
February 19, 2008
On a beautiful sunny day, we took in more of Florence as we leisurely crossed the famous Ponte Vecchio on our way to the Pallazzo Pitti (Pitti Palace) and the Boboli Gardens. The Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge) is a medieval bridge filled with jewelry shops, art and souvenirs. Mozart enjoyed watching the artists work as she would love to be sitting there selling her art!
The Pitti Palace was built in 1457 for the Pitti family who were arch rivals of the Medici clan. They went bankrupt building the massive palace, so ended up selling it to Cosomo I deâMedici and Elenor of Toledo in 1539. The Mediciâs enlarged it to their tastes and built the Vasari Corridor, so the Grand Duke of Tuscany and his family could move easily between their home and offices. Again, we could not help but think about the wonderful PBS dvd that we watched about the Medici family and found it interesting to walk in their steps.
There are many museums within the Pitti Palace, but one can only see so many museums with a seven year old in tow, so we decided to tour the Boboli Gardens instead. This is a good way to see art and beauty while still being able to run around. It is really an outdoor museum with statues from Roman antiquity as well as 16th and 17th century works. There were some new whimsical statues there that Mozart could play with that she enjoyed and she really liked the bronze statue of a big face. Not to mention, one of the Mediciâs court dwarfs on a turtle near the beautiful grotto that had Michelangeloâs Slaves holding up the corners (the original was moved to the Accademia).
There are also some nice views of Florence from this viewing point on a hill.
We enjoy formal gardens and all the work that has gone into them, so it was a good day.
On a beautiful sunny day, we took in more of Florence as we leisurely crossed the famous Ponte Vecchio on our way to the Pallazzo Pitti (Pitti Palace) and the Boboli Gardens. The Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge) is a medieval bridge filled with jewelry shops, art and souvenirs. Mozart enjoyed watching the artists work as she would love to be sitting there selling her art!
The Pitti Palace was built in 1457 for the Pitti family who were arch rivals of the Medici clan. They went bankrupt building the massive palace, so ended up selling it to Cosomo I deâMedici and Elenor of Toledo in 1539. The Mediciâs enlarged it to their tastes and built the Vasari Corridor, so the Grand Duke of Tuscany and his family could move easily between their home and offices. Again, we could not help but think about the wonderful PBS dvd that we watched about the Medici family and found it interesting to walk in their steps.
There are many museums within the Pitti Palace, but one can only see so many museums with a seven year old in tow, so we decided to tour the Boboli Gardens instead. This is a good way to see art and beauty while still being able to run around. It is really an outdoor museum with statues from Roman antiquity as well as 16th and 17th century works. There were some new whimsical statues there that Mozart could play with that she enjoyed and she really liked the bronze statue of a big face. Not to mention, one of the Mediciâs court dwarfs on a turtle near the beautiful grotto that had Michelangeloâs Slaves holding up the corners (the original was moved to the Accademia).
There are also some nice views of Florence from this viewing point on a hill.
We enjoy formal gardens and all the work that has gone into them, so it was a good day.
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