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Florence - The Uffizi Gallery
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The Galleria degli Uffizi, enclosing the square
of the same name in an elongated U-shape, runs from the Palazzo Vecchio
and down to the river Arno. It is the single busiest building in Italy
and attracts well over a million and a half visitors per year. Planned
and built as an office block (hence the name) for Cosimo I in 1560, work
was started by Vasari. It was after Vasari´s death that Francesco I (Cosimo´s
son) chose to house his art collection in the upper storey, and successive
generations of the Medici family only added to this virtually unequalled
treasure trove. In 1737 the entire collection was left to the people by Anna Maria Ludovica, the last of the Medici line, and it now represents the finest collection of paintings in Italy. The Uffizi is also home to some of the most impressive queues in Italy. You will never get in without having to queue, excepting maybe in the depths of a cold winter, and at the height of season you may well have to wait for hours before entering. But it is worth the wait. One visit doesn´t allow time for even a whistle-stop tour, but if one visit is all you are permitted then use it to view the first fifteen rooms, where a dazzling display of Renaissance genius awaits you. It is now possible to book your tickets in advance - click here for online ticket booking and reservations for the Uffizi Gallery and the Accademia (David). Click on the names in the (far from exhaustive) list below for a few images from the gallery. |
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Piero della Francesca Leonardo da Vinci Filippo Lippi Bronzino Raphael Botticelli |
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Uffizi & Accademia tickets
