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Monday, June 25, 2012

View of Florence from S. MIniato al Monte

Speranza



Firenze is especially a Renaissance city although it stands above a sunken Roman town.

Roman Florence survives in a few street names, such as "Via delle Terme" and "Via del Campidoglio", and the plan of the Roman colony which replaced an Etruscan settlement in the first century A.D. can still be dimly discerned in the layout of modern Firenze.

But there are no Roman ruins above ground.

Until the 12th century, Fiesole was a more important centre than Firenze.

The prospect of the city from S. Miniato al Monte began to assume its present appearance in the early 14th century and has changed very little since Brunelleschi added his great dome to the cathedral in 1461.

The adjacent campanile which rises conspicuously beside the west front of the church was designed by Giotto in 1334, continued by Andrea Piccino from 1336 to 1348 and completed by Talenti a few years later.

The tower of the Palazzo Vecchio with its battlements and machicolations, which after the dome is the most prominent and characteristic feature of the landscape, is traditionally ascribed to Arnolfo di Cambio (1298-1314).

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