Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
(Medici Library;
www.bml.firenze.sbn.it
;
Piazza San Lorenzo 9; admission €3, incl basilica €7;
9.30am-1.30pm Mon-Fri)
Beyond the basilica ticket office lie peaceful cloisters framing a
pretty garden with buxom orange trees. Stairs lead up to the loggia and the Biblioteca
Medicea Laurenziana, commissioned by Giulio de' Medici (Pope Clement VII) in 1524 to
house the extensive Medici library (started by Cosimo the Elder and greatly added to by
Lorenzo il Magnifico).
The extraordinary staircase in the vestibule, intended as a 'dark prelude' to the magnifi-
cent
Sala di Lettura
(Reading Room), was designed by Michelangelo.
Cappelle Medicee
MAP
MAUSOLEUM
GOOGLE MAP
( 055 29 48 83;
www.polomuseale.firenze.it
; Piazza Madonna degli Aldobrandini; adult/reduced €6/3;
8.15am-1.20pm, closed 2nd & 4th Sun & 1st, 3rd & 5th Mon of month)
Nowhere is Medici con-
ceit expressed so explicitly as in their mausoleum, the Medician Chapels. Sumptuously
adorned with granite, the most precious marble, semiprecious stones and some of
Michelangelo's most beautiful sculptures, it is the burial place of 49 members of the dyn-
asty.
Francesco I lies in the grandiose
Cappella dei Principi
(Princes' Chapel) alongside
Ferdinando I and II and Cosimo I, II and III. Lorenzo il Magnifico is buried in the stark
but graceful
Sagrestia Nuova
(New Sacristy), Michelangelo's first architectural work and
showcase for three of his most haunting sculptures:
Dawn and Dusk
on the sarcophagus of
Lorenzo, Duke of Urbino;
Night and Day
on the sarcophagus of Lorenzo's son Giuliano;
and
Madonna and Child,
which adorns Lorenzo's tomb.
Palazzo Medici-Riccardi
MAP
PALACE
GOOGLE MAP
( 055 276 03 40;
www.palazzo-medici.it
;
Via Cavour 3; adult/reduced €7/4; 9am-6.30pm Thu-Tue
summer, to 5.30pm winter)
Cosimo the Elder entrusted Michelozzo with the design of the fam-
ily's townhouse in 1444. The result was this palace, a blueprint that influenced the con-
struction of Florentine family residences such as Palazzo Pitti and Palazzo Strozzi for
www.palazzo-medici.it
;
Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, Via Cavour 3; adult/reduced €7/4; 9am-7pm Thu-Tue
summer, to 6pm winter)
, houses one of the supreme achievements of Renaissance painting
and is an absolute must-see for art lovers.
