Archive for 'Localities'

Florence is rife with museums and you'll never be stuck for one to visit but if you're after something a little off the beaten track, you might consider the Stibbert Museum. Less well-known to international tourists but with an astounding collection, it is hugely extensive with a wide range of objects and art works from around the world.

The museum also has a coffee shop, book store and a particularly lovely garden surrounding – you may never want to leave! If this sounds like something that might pique your interest, why not find the perfect luxury villa in Florence and spend a day admiring the collection, strolling the grounds and grabbing a coffee?

Located in Piazza dei Giudici, not far from the Uffizi, is Palazzo Castellani. The eleventh century building takes its name from its last private owners, the Castellani family and has been home to the Museo Galileo, or Institute and Museum of the History of Science, since 1930.

It displays an important collection of scientific instruments from the 13th century onwards and sheds light on the scientific tradition of Florence which is sometimes forgotten in favour of its artistic heritage.

It developed from the interests of the Medici and Lorraine families who added to scientific collections, as well as artistic ones, from the 17th into the 19th centuries.

The Boboli Gardens in Florence is a park behind the Pitti Palace which was once the seat of the Medici family. Some of the first formal Italian gardens, Boboli is made up of fountains, statuary from ancient Rome to the 18th century, semi-private and public spaces, nympheums, temples, planting and grottoes. The largest of these grottoes is by the artist, Buontalenti. Built between 1583 and 1593 for Francesco I de' Medici, it was conceived to complete gardens plans that had been devised by Vasari. Composed of three rooms organised in succession, the grotto is a masterpiece of Florentine Mannerist style. Bizarre, extravagant and somewhat surreal, it is one of the highlights of the garden and a highly memorable place quite unlike anywhere else in the world.

San Gimignano is a walled medieval hill town in the province of Siena in Tuscany. It is most well known for its many medieval tower houses, historic city centre and the white wine, Vernaccia di San Gimignano. Picturesque, historic and quaint, it's probably the last place one would imagine hosts a Medieval Torture Museum. However, the museum is not merely a grisly and macabre tourist attraction but also an educational tool used to inform visitors about contemporary human rights abuses.

Catherine of Siena was a Dominican tertiary, philosopher and theologian. Born in the 14th century, she began having visions of Christ at the age of five or six. At seven, she had decided to devote her life to God. She resisted marriage as a young woman until she was eventually allowed to join the Dominican Order. She was known for helping the sick and poor and launching reform campaigns among the faithful. Catherine even went so far as to become involved in political matters like swaying the loyalties of cities back towards the papal armies. Her writings spread her word further and gained more followers but she also became known for extreme devotion, eventually dying due to her refusal to eat.