Florence

Art & History Through Legends, Anecdotes, and Ghost Tales in the Four Historical and Cultural Districts

ArtMuse offers four family-friendly walking tours through the four historical districts of Florence. Learn about the art and history of this beautiful city through legends, anecdotes, and ghost tales.  Tours last 1.25 to 1.5 hours.

District 1: Santa Maria Novella

• Santa Maria Novella church: Renaissance façade by L.B.Alberti and the “miraculous pee” of the Rucellai family

• The wine doors in Via delle Belle Donne

• Strozzi Palace and the onions of Caparra

• Giambologna’s Little Devil (Vecchietti Palace)

• Santa Trinita: the piazza with 3 sides and 4 styles. Salimbeni Palace: “to stay wide awake”; the legend of the Column of Justice

• Republic Square: where 3 districts meet

• Santa Maria Maggiore Church: the Berta’s Bell

District 2: San Giovanni Battista

• Baptistry: the trick of the Pisans and the miracle of the flowering tree of San Zanobi

• Cathedral: the Bull and the Baker at the Almond Door; the Lion nightmare; the blasphemous Angel; when the Verrocchio ball crashed to the ground; the cricket cage

• Canto de’Bischeri

• Pallottole Square and Dante Alighieri’s stone

• The Wild Boar Market and the “bare bottom” punishment

• Orsanmichele Church and the re-attached hoof

District 3: Santa Croce

• Signoria square: the profile carved by Michelangelo; the self – portrait by B.Cellini; Savonarola’s plaque; Hercules by B.Bandinelli ( “sack of watermelon” and “suicide” of the marble slab) to compare with Michelangelo’s David

• Martino square: Buonomini and the alms box (“to be at death’s door”); term “ballot”; the Resuscitated Bride; the Scandal alleyway

• November 4: the two floods of the Arno River

• Bargello: death sentences and executions

District 4: Oltrarno

• Old Bridge: love padlocks tradition; Mannelli Tower

• The Pitti family’s last coat of arms

• Bianca Cappello Palace

• Florentine streets numbers

• Trinita Square

Meet the ArtMuse Florence Team