Piazzale Michelangelo

After visiting the historic center, having traveled on the banks of the river, crossed the bridges, given the majesty of Palazzo Pitti and the small artisan shops of the Oltrarno district, it is time to climb the hill and see Florence in all its splendor from a unique vantage point: Piazzale Michelangelo.

Piazza Santa Croce

Once you get off the Piazzale Michelangelo it is time to go back to the center, but before the tour comes to an end we will once again pass by the river, in front of the National Library and the enchanting square of Santa Croce. The Basilica of Santa Croce located in the square is the principal Franciscan church in Florence, Italy, and a minor basilica of the Roman Catholic Church. It is situated on the Piazza di Santa Croce, about 800 meters south-east of the Duomo. The site, when first chosen, was in marshland outside the city walls. It is the burial place of some of the most illustrious Italians, such as Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli, the poet Foscolo, the philosopher Gentile and the composer Rossini, thus it is known also as the Temple of the Italian Glories. When Stendhal visited the Basilica of Santa Croce he was overcome with emotion. He wrote: I was in a sort of ecstasy, from the idea of being in Florence, close to the great men whose tombs I had seen. Absorbed in the contemplation of sublime beauty ... I reached the point where one encounters celestial sensations ... Everything spoke so vividly to my soul. Ah, if I could only forget. I had palpitations of the heart, what in Berlin they call 'nerves'. Life was drained from me. I walked with the fear of falling.