My Italy in 10 Days – Day 7 Arrivederci Florence, Ciao Roma

So, this was my last day in Florence. I did change hotels and was now staying at Via Cavour, in the historical center. Before departing to Rome and as the day was beautiful, I decided I could still see palazzo Pitti and Boboli gardens, on the other side of the Arno, so there I go, stopping along the way to admire beautiful details in Florence’s streets.

Palazzo Pitti is a huge and impressive building of the Rennaissance, located on the south side of Arno. The palace owned by Pitti, a florentine banker, was bought by the Medici in the 16th century.  The palazzo was the residence of the Medici family until the 18th century. With the death of the last Medici male heir his sister occupied the palace until her soon death, and with it, the extinction of the Medici family. The palace was then owned by the House of Lorraine from Austria, and for a brief time Napoleon also used the palazzo during his time controlling Italy.

At the present, Palazzo Pitti is a museum complex divided in several museums including: Palatine Gallery, Monumental Rooms, Porcelain Museum, Silver Museum, Museum of Costumes.

Getting to Palazzo Pitti

As the time was not on my side, I decided I would see the Palatine gallery, Monumental Rooms and the Museum of Costumes only (and that was quite a lot).  The Palatine Gallery only, has 28 rooms including: Castagnoli room with portraits of the Medici and Lorraine families, Room of Prometheus with the Madonna with the Child by Lippi, Room of Justice, Room of Ulysses, Room of Saturn, Room of Mars, Room of Venus with the Venere Italica by Canova and the beautiful White Hall, that was once the ball room.

The Palatine Gallery occupies the whole left wing of the first floor of the Pitti Palaceand it has a magnificent collection with masterpieces by Raphael, Titian, Rubens, Lippo, and many others.

The Royal Apartments comprise 14 rooms decorated mainly in an Empire style, and occupy the right wing of the main floor of the Pitti Palace.

From the Costume gallery I left Palazzo Pitti and headed to the Boboli Gardens, another beautiful place not be missed.

And so it was, tired but marveled at all the beauty I saw, I went to the hotel to pick up my luggage and head to Santa Maria Novella Train Station to get on the train to …. Ohhhhh la bellissima Roma, where I had my second emotional moment… stay tuned

Ciao Roma