CITY CENTRE EAST - Florence and Tuscany - page 62

19th-century copy of the Pianta della Catena , showing Florence's cityscape

Museo di Firenze
com'era 8
Via dell'Oriuolo 24. Map 2 D5 (6 F2).
Tel [phone].

international outcry, but not
before buildings had been
cleared for the new Piazza
della Repubblica (see p112)
and the 14th-century walls
had been torn down.

clippings from ice-cream
connoisseurs that strongly
support this view.
The bar stands at the heart
of the colourful Santa Croce
district, with its narrow alleys
and tiny squares. Here, you
will find small shops that
serve the local community,
rather than cater for tourists,
and scores of little workshops
where craftsmen make picture
frames or mend furniture. Via
Torta is typical of the area.

9am-2pm
Mon-Wed, 9am-7pm Sat (last adm:
30 mins before closing).

#

1 Jan,
Easter Sun, 1 May, 15 Aug, 25 Dec.
&

¢

Bar Vivoli
Gelateria 9
Via Isola delle Stinche 7r. Map 4 D1
(6 F3) . Tel [phone].

The museum traces the
development of the city
through drawings, plans and
paintings. One of the most
fascinating exhibits is the
Pianta della Catena , a 19th-
century copy of a woodcut
made around 1470. The title
refers to the chain-like border
that surrounds the whole
image, which shows Florence
at the height of the Renaissance.
Some buildings, for instance
the Palazzo Pitti, can be seen.
The Palazzo Pitti features
again in the delightful
sequence of lunettes made by
the Flemish artist Giusto Utens
in 1599. They show all the
Medici villas and gardens,
with fascinating vignettes of
rural life (see pp121 and 165) .
One room is devoted to a
scheme devised by Giuseppe
Poggi, the city architect invol-
ved in remodelling much of
central Florence during its
brief stint as the capital of
Italy in 1865-71. If the scheme
had been implemented, large
parts of the centre would
have been destroyed. The
scheme was halted after an

7:30am-1am Tue-Sat, 9:30am-1am
Sun.

#

three weeks in Jan & three
weeks in Aug. www . vivoli.it

¢

Casa Buonarroti 0
Via Ghibellina 70. Map 4 E1 .
Tel [phone].

# 9:30am-2pm

Wed-Mon. 1 Jan, Easter Sun, 25

Apr, 1 May, 15 Aug, 25 Dec.

¢

& ^

7

Michelangelo (whose
surname was Buonarroti)
lived briefly in this group
of three houses which he
bought as an investment in
1508. Subsequent generations
of his descendants added what
they could to a significant
collection of his works.
Among these is his earliest
known work, the Madonna
della Scala , a marble
tavoletta , or rectangular relief,
carved in 1490-92. There is
also a relief from 1492,
showing The Battle of the
Centaurs , and the design,
never used, for the façade of
San Lorenzo, shown in a
wooden model.

Bar Vivoli Gelateria

This tiny ice-cream parlour
attracts large crowds and long
queues for its rich iced
concoctions. Vivoli claims to
make the “best ice cream in
the world”, and the walls of
the bar are covered in press