This was our last day in Florence and we tried to make the most of it.
We had noticed little wooden Pinocchios all over Florence. Turns out the author who wrote The Adventures of Pinocchio in 1883, was Carlo Lorenzini. He used the pen name, Carlo Collodi, and he was born, lived his life, and died in Florence.
So we bought one of the little wooden characters to hang on our Christmas tree.
On our way to another famous Basilica, we stopped in the Piazza della Signoria. It's a huge square with statues everywhere.
You can see the size and scale of these things compared to the people walking around. I think this may also be the square where Ross was surprised to get the check for a €6.50 ($9) Coke. I thought Belgium was expensive (and it is), but Italy may take the cake.
In this same square is the Palazzo Vecchio (Old Palace) which looks more like a fortress. It's actually the Town Hall of Florence.
The entryway on the side of the building was really beautiful though.
This is the Santa Croce Basilica in the Piazza Santa Croce. It doesn't seem so big until you have a look at the people standing out front.
It is no less beautiful than the other basilicas we've visited.
It is full of frescoes and sculptures . . .
like this one, Annunciation, by Donatello.
Donato di Niccolo' di Betto Bardi, known as Donatello, (1386-1466) was an Italian artist and sculptor. He also had a Ninja Turtle named after him.
This basilica is also full of tombs. This is the tomb of Giovanni Battista Niccolini (1782-1861), an Italian poet. This monument was sculpted by Pio Fedi (1815-1892) to honor the poet.
Look familiar?
Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, creator of the Statue of Liberty lived in Florence in 1870, the same year Pio Fedi created a plaster sample of his monument to Niccolini.
Pio Fedi's completed monument was placed in the Basilica in 1883. Bartholdi's Statue of Liberty was placed in the bay in NY in 1887.
Coincidence? Or perhaps Bartholdi just knew a good design when he saw it.
The Santa Croce Basilica is also home to the tombs of some very famous people including . . .
Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527), an Italian historian and philosopher best known for his work, Il Principe (The Prince).
Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), an Italian poet and prose writer best known for his epic poem, La Divina Commedia (Divine Comedy).
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (1475-1564), an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, and architect. Best known for the sculptures Pieta' and David, frescoes of scenes from Genesis in the Sistine Chapel in Rome and he was also one of the architects of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. We were lucky enough to get to see all of these masterpieces.
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), an Italian physicist, mathematician and astronomer. He is best known for improvements to the telescope and astronomy observations that supported Copernicanism (that the Earth and other planets orbit around the Sun).
Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868), an Italian composer who wrote 39 operas. He is best known for his operas Il Barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) and Guillaume Tell (William Tell).
Our very last stop on the way to the train was this market. We were dragging our luggage so we didn't stay long, but I wish we'd had several hours. So much to see!
Florence. I would go there again.
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