FLORENCE (FIRENZE)
FLORENCIA has been one of the holy places of beauty worship since the revival of the Renaissance in the 19th century. The marble-clad Baptistery and the Duomo are extraordinary, and the architectural perfection of the cathedral's vault has been a subject of admiration since its inception. But these colorful buildings and other photogenic monuments such as the Romanesque Church of San Miniato al Monte and the mighty Orsanmichele are not typical of the city as a whole. The streets of the historic center are often narrow and dark, audacious and intimidating palaces. Some of the outstanding, for centuries, unfinished buildings were finished or supplemented inadequately, be not at all. Few of the squares in the city want to spend an hour lazily. Piazza della Signoria, the nucleus of political life in Florence, now it resembles a huge construction site, because work was stopped due to accusations of corruption and incompetence, which, moreover, happened to a number of maintenance projects. Despite the creation of a restricted traffic zone on central streets, the volume of vehicle traffic remains intimidating.
However, inside the Florentine buildings there are unparalleled works, which probably few can disappoint. Chapels, galleries and museums are an inexhaustible treasury, embodying the composite, the optimistic and often hard-to-grasp spirit of the Renaissance more fully than any other city in the country. The process of transition from the medieval to the modern worldview - which was largely driven by Florentine artists and thinkers - can be traced step by step in the huge collections of paintings in the Uffizi and the sculptures by Bargello and Museo delPOpera del Duomo.
The birth of humanism can also be seen in the fabulous series of frescoes in the churches of Santa Croce and Santa Maria Novella, and nothing better illustrates the special care for harmony and rational arrangement of space in the Renaissance era than the San Lorenzo interiors designed by Brunelleschi, Santo Spirito i Pazzi Chapel. The bizarre architecture of the Sagrestia Nuova in San Lorenzo and the marble statues of the Accademia (including David) fully reveal the genius of Michelangelo, the greatest Florentine artist and dominant figure of 16th-century Italy. Other astonishing individual works include the Fra Angelica frescoes in San Marco, Andrei del Sarto w Santissima Annunziata i Masaccia w Santa Maria del Carmine, while the enormous Palazzo Pitti houses half a dozen museums, including one art gallery, which any city could envy.
History of Florence
Although the Etruscan peoples lived in Tuscany from the 8th century. p.n.e., Florence did not have an Etruscan ancestor - their local seat was in Fiesole on the hill. The development of Florence itself began with the founding by Julius Caesar in 59 r. p.n.e. colonies for ex-soldiers, called Florentia; to this day, you can see the Roman chessboard plan in the streets between the duomo and Piazza della Signoria. The city began to expand, and the regular movement of commercial vessels on the Arno River contributed to the accelerated development of Florence in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. neither. However, in 552 r. the city fell into the hands of the barbarian hordes of Totyla, and less than twenty years later the Lombards subdued Florence to the principality, which they ruled from Lucca.
At the end of the 8th century. The Franks of Charlemagne took control of Florence, and administratively the city was subordinate to the margraves also residing in Lucca.
Over the next 300 For years, Florence rose to the top of the Tuscan cities and became a particularly important religious center. W 1078 r. Margrave Matilda of Tuscany, who was one of the Pope's closest allies in the battles with Emperor Henry IV, she supervised the construction of new fortifications, and in the year of his death (1115) granted Florence the status of an independent city. In the new city commune of Florence, the rule was ruled primarily by a council of one hundred people, drawn mostly from the wealthy merchant class. W 1125 the city sealed its domination over the region after beating its rival Fiesole.
SEE TO GIBELINI
At that time, the intrigues of the great landowners were a constant part of the game and political stabilization did not take place soon.. W 1207 r. the ruling council was replaced by a podium, it was the office, a position traditionally elected to someone outside Florence; around this time the first arti was created (features) to promote the interests of merchants and bankers. Throughout trecento and later, Florence was shaken by the conflict between the processarian ghibellines and the pro-priest guelphs; the dispute arose from the murder committed in Florence, but soon it spread throughout Italy. Backed by the Guelphs, the primo popolo regime, merchant class row, was overthrown after the victory of the Sienese army and its Gibelin allies over Florence in 1260 r. Already in 1280 r. the Guelphs came back to power with the secondo popolo, a regime controlled by * arti maggiori (great features). The communist regime was soon improved: with 1293 the aristocracy was excluded from rule, which was the most dramatic move, transferring power into the hands of signoria, council from the main guilds.
The fourteenth century began with a conflict between the so-called. "white" and "black" fractions within the Guelphs, and the worst was yet to come. W 1340 r. two of the largest banks have collapsed, mainly due to the insolvency of King Edward III of England, a w 1348 r. the black death wiped out half the city's population. Thirty years later, discontent among industrial workers erupted, on whose work in spinning mills and textile factories depended the fate of Florence - the rise of the ciompi (wool carders) led to the creation of three new guilds, which directly represented the workers. However, in 1382 the alliance of the guelphs with popolo grasso (the richest merchants) took the guilds from power for forty years.
MEDICES
Gradually, the balance of power shifted again, and Cosima de 'Medici's political career was to some extent the result of the sympathy of his family towards popolo inuto, members of smaller guilds. The Medici owed their fortune to Father Cosim's banking sense, Giovanniego Bicci de'Medici, and Cosimo made the best use of his power, that wealth gives, becoming a key political figure in the city, though he seldom held office himself. Thanks to Cosima's patronage, Florence became the main focus of artistic creativity in Italy; the tradition was continued by his son, Piero the Gottosa (Gouty) and grandson Wawrzyniec Wielki (Lorenzo the Magnificent). The papacy's reluctance to the independence of Florence was reflected in the envy of the Pazzi family towards the Medici. The resulting Pazzi plot - during which Lorenzo was wounded, and his brother Giuliano murdered - only increased respect, which Wawrzyniec the Magnificent enjoyed.
Despite earlier conflicts with the Roman Curia, Lawrence the Magnificent until his death (1492 r.) he continued a peaceful policy with the papacy. The son of Lawrence, Piero, he was forced to flee after surrendering to the invasive French army led by Charles VIII. For a time, power in Florence was practically in the hands of a fanatical ascetic, the monk Jerome Savonarola, but in 1498 r. he was hanged, and then burned for heresy, then Florence functioned as an aristocratic oligarchy. W 1512 r., after the victory of the Spaniards over Florence, The Medici are back, but were dethroned again in the aftermath of the sack of Rome by Charles V c 1527 r. - Pope Clement VII was Medici and humiliation, which he suffered from the imperial army became a stimulus to remove his highly unpopular relatives. Two years later, the pendulum swung the other way - after the city was besieged by the combined papal-imperial forces, Florence capitulated.
After the murder of Alessandro de'Medici in 1537 r. power passed to the next Cosim, descendant of brother Cosimo the Elder. Under his authority, Florence subjugated all of Tuscany. From then on, the Medici remained at the helm until 1737 r., when the last male descendant of the family died, Gian Gastone.
TO THE PRESENT
As part of a treaty signed by sister Giana Gastone, Anna Maria, Florence went to Francis Stefan, the prince of Laternia, future Francis I. The rule of the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty lasted until the advent of the French in 1799 r.; after fifteen years of their rule, the Austrian dynasty was restored, which lasted until the uprisings on the eve of the risorgimento 1859 r. A year later, Florence was absorbed into the united Italian state, a w 1861 r. became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, in which role she has maintained to 1875 r.
Florence's later history is marked mainly by catastrophes. W 1944 r. the city was severely damaged by the retreating German army, which bombed all bridges except Ponte Vecchio and blew up a large part of the medieval town near the Arno River. The November flood wreaked even greater havoc 1966 r., in which many people died, and damage to buildings and works of art has not yet been fully repaired. These monuments and paintings are the basis of Florence's existence, hence such a state of affairs is highly dissatisfied. Building a new industrial sector (New Florence) between the northern suburbs and Prato - largely financed by the Fiat concern - is the latest and most ambitious attempt to free Florence from its increasing dependence on tourism.