abroad but connected: all'estero ma collegati: ZAGA-IN-FIRENZE TOURS

Our first stop was the beautiful Piazza d’Azeglio, which was my site to present. A quick recap of my presentation: soon after Italy was united, the capital was moved from Turin to Florence and thus much of Florence had to be built up to house the businessmen, government officials, and officers that were moving into the city. Poggi had very recently been pulling down the gates that blocked off the city and making them into boulevards. Piazza d’Azeglio was created because of this new boom in aristocratic population. The piazza was based off of the concept of the London residential square where there was a central garden and all of the houses faced this area. Originally there was a large iron gate placed around the garden and only the residential owners had the keys to the garden, thus making it become a very exclusive area. But in WWII, the gate was torn down and melted to make weapons, and now the garden is a public area where anyone can come to enjoy the beautiful park.

In this square Palazzo Wilson Gattai-Prof. Carrara's Family Palace- is also located, which we will be seeing later on another tour (I also did a little research on the castle’s architecture but I will write about that after we go to see the castle more in depth).

THE GREAT JEWISH SYNAGOGUE

The next stop was at the great Jewish Synagogue of Florence. There are many exotic and Egyptian nuances on the exterior; some say that this building was even meant to recall the great Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. One very interesting fact is that there were three architects on this building and of the three only one was actually Jewish.

LOOKING ACROSS TO PIAZZA POGGI

Next we moved on to the ramps and Porta a San Niccolo. The day was stunning and I took many absolutely beautiful photos here. There is one of the last standing city gates in the middle of the area here. On the inside you can still see a fresco on the upper wall above the arch. There are also rings to tie up your horses and place your torches inside the gate.

THE ARNO RIVER

PIAZZA MICHELANGELO

There is a bronze replica of the David surrounded by bronze copies of Dawn, Dusk, Night, and Day. The piazza is, of course, a monument and commemoration to the genius Michelangelo. Caroline, Kalea, and I are going to hike to the top of the piazza this weekend.

absolutely breathtaking

of course, Divine light shines down on Michelangelo's Piazza

FIRENZE'S NATIONAL LIBRARY
Which houses the first copy of Dante's Divine Comedy

MONUMENT TO NICHOLAS DEMIDOFF

We next walked across the Arno to the Monument to Nicholas Demidoff. The monument was moved to this square to commend the Russian bureaucrat on all of the good works that he had done for Florence including bring much more commerce to the city by building a silk factory. The monument had a separate overhang created to house the monument to shield it from the environment around it. The monument was commissioned by Nicholas’ son and on the plaque on the monument Nicholas’ name appears in italics as the Italian “Niccola.”