If you're in the Renaissance city of Florence in 2023, you'll probably visit the David in the Accademia Gallery, Botticelli's masterpieces in the Galerie degli Uffizi, and you've already been to the Duomo. But there are many more treasures that we want to show you in this article. There are museums dedicated to fashion and film, or to the beautiful art of mosaic carving. You can also discover gardens, such as the Iris Garden and the Rose Garden not far from Piazzale Michelangelo, as well as the Pratolino Park, otherwise an insider tip.

We would like to point out some very exceptional museums:

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Piazza della Repubblicca ©MichelleLamponi

How did a family live in the Renaissance?

Museum, art

Palazzo Davanzati

Here you can experience how a family lived in the Renaissance. It seems to have been very comfortable, at least for the higher income families. Built in the mid-14th century, Palazzo Davanzati was acquired by the Davanzati family in 1578 and remained in their possession until 1838, when it was divided into several flats. The building was then converted into a museum that aims to reconstruct the ambience of an old Florentine house, with furniture and household appliances. Through an impressive courtyard on the ground floor, a stone and wooden staircase leads to the medieval rooms on the four upper floors. 

Via Porta Rossa, 13, Firenze

Museum, books

Do you love books? Then the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana is the place for you.

This historic library is located in a cloister of the Basilica of San Lorenzo. It contains more than 11,000 manuscripts collected by Cosimo the Elder and Lorenzo the Magnificent. The Laurentian Library is one of Michelangelo's most important architectural achievements.

Piazza San Lorenzo, 9, 50123 Firenze

Inside magical Gucci Garden ©Jackie Jabson Pexel

These museums are among the most beautiful fashion highlights in the world

Museum, Fashion

Museo Salvatore Ferragamo
The Museo Salvatore Ferragamo is a company museum dedicated to the history of Ferragamo and the life of its founder and his creations. It is located in the basement vaults and is probably one of the most extraordinary corporate museums in the world. The current Women in Balance exhibition is dedicated to Wanda Miletti Ferragamo. She headed the Salvatore Ferragamo brand from 1960 until her death on October 19, 2018. When her husband died in August 1960, she decided not to close the company, but to transform the artisanal atelier for women's shoes into a fashion house that is now one of the most important luxury brands in the world.

Piazza di Santa Trinita, 5R, Firenze

Museum, Fashion

Costume Gallery Pitti Palace

Also worth a visit for fashionistas, is the Costume Gallery, located in Palazzo Pitti. It was begun under Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo in 1776 and finished in 1840. The Lorraine-Savoy Rooms display collections of historical clothing and accessories previously stored in the palace's storerooms. The ballroom serves exhibitions related to fashion.

Piazza de' Pitti, 1, Firenze

Museum, Fashion

Gucci Garden

Another museum is the Gucci Garden. It is located in the historic Palazzo della Mercanzia right next to Palazzo Vecchio. Designed by creative director Alessandro Michele, the place contains a boutique with objects you can only buy there, a restaurant by three-star chef Massimo Bottura and the Gucci Garden Galleria exhibition space, with changing art exhibitions.

Piazza della Signoria, 10, Firenze

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Are you an admirer of Franco Zeffirelli's work?

Museum, film

Fondazione Franco Zeffirelli

The Zeffirelli Collection houses over 250 works by Maestro Zeffirelli, including scene sketches, drawings and costume designs. Original costumes are contrasted with drawn sets and sound effects. The museum is located in the Complesso di San Firenze at Piazza San Firenze No. 5, just a few steps from Palazzo Vecchio and Piazza della Signoria. Concerts and events are also held there regularly. The Bookshop is also recommended, where you can find books and catalogues that would not be available anywhere else.

Piazza di S. Firenze, 5, 50122 Firenze

Museo Casa di Dante

Now that you have had intellectual access to Dante's Inferno through the Zeffirelli Collection, we recommend a visit to the Museo Casa di Dante. At the beginning of the 20th century, the city council ordered the construction of a house to celebrate the birthplace of Dante. The house is located where, according to research, the houses of the Alighieri family were in the 13th century. Using your smartphone, you can connect to the house's virtual technology and walk alongside Dante through medieval Florence.

Via Santa Margherita, 1, 50122 Firenze

Arno River ©MichelleLamponi

Are you interested in exceptional beauty?

Museum, rare

Opificio delle Pietre Dure

The small Opificio delle Pietre Dure museum is also an institute where you can obtain a Master's degree in semi-precious stone inlay. The Medici's passion for this art form led Grand Duke Ferdinando I de'Medici to establish a court laboratory in 1588, as the need for semi-precious stone mosaics was so great at court.

Via degli Alfani, 78, Firenze

Museum, Porcellane

Museo delle Porcellane

If you climb up the beautiful baroque garden of Boboli behind Palazzo Pitti, you will find the Porcelain Museum in the middle of the rose garden in the Palazzina del Cavaliere. From there you have a view of the Forte del Belvedere and the Florentine hills. The museum itself houses collections of porcelain tableware from the ruling houses that lived in the Patti Palace, such as the Medici to the Lorraines, including the Bourbon Parma and also Napoleon's sister, Elisa Baciocchi.

Boboli Garden, Piazza de' Pitti, 1, Firenze

Museum, rare

Ginori Museum, Reopening in 2025

Ginori is one of Italy's most important porcelain manufacturers located in Sesto Fiorentino. The gardens of the Ginori Museum are already open. The museum itself is scheduled to reopen in 2025. It will house 8,000 pieces of porcelain from the company, founded in 1735, artistically designed by Gio' Ponti in the middle of the century and bought by Gucci's Kering in 2013.

Arno River ©MichelleLamponi

Museum, Fairy tale

Museo delle Carrozze

Carriages that seem to have come out of a fairy tale can be found in the Museo delle Carrozze, housed in the rooms of the Pitti Palace. These carriages were used by the courts of Lorraine and Savoy in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The most important piece in the museum is probably a silver carriage belonging to the King of Naples, Ferdinando II di Borbone, which was brought to Florence by the Savoys.

Piazza de' Pitti, 1, 50125 Firenze

Museum, Perfume

Museo Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica

The Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella is one of the oldest pharmacies in the world. Founded by Dominican monks shortly after 1221, the year they arrived in Florence, the pharmacy used medicinal herbs grown in the monastery gardens to make medicines, balms and pomades for the monks' infirmary. Today it is a luxury brand available all over the world. The museum is located in the old laboratories and is also a shop.

Via della Scala, 16, Firenze

Museum, Perfume

Museo Villoresi

Speaking of perfume. The name Lorenzo Villoresi is a household name on the international perfume scene. His perfume creations can be found in his Lorenzo Villoresi Boutique in Florence. A perfume museum has also recently opened in the century-old family estate.

Via de' Bardi, 12, Firenze

True treasures of art museums

Museum, art

Palazzo Medici Riccardo

The palace was commissioned from Michelozzo in 1444 by Cosimo the Elder, patriarch of the Medici family. It is now the first Renaissance building to be erected in Florence. Perhaps the most important part of the palace is the chapel, frescoed in 1459 by Benozzo Gozzoli, depicting the procession of the Magi, which actually shows protagonists of the time and members of the Medici family.

Via Camillo Cavour, 3,  Firenze

Museum, Art

Casa Buonarroti

The Casa Buonarroti is one of the most extraordinary Florentine museums and celebrates the greatness of Michelangelo. You can admire the two famous marble reliefs Michelangelo created in his early years: the Madonna della Scala, which shows his passion for Donatello, and the Battle of the Centaurs, which reflects the artist's admiration for classical art. There is also a collection of Michelangelo's autograph drawings, with 205 valuable sketches.

Via Ghibellina 70, 50122 Firenze

Florence has also new museums

New museum

Museum of Illusions

We have to admit that we haven't been there yet. But judging by the reviews and travel reports, the Museum of Illusions must be a fun place. Located in a historic building in Borgo degli Albizi, the museum presents an interactive and multimedia exhibition where illusions meet science and art. Covering over 600 gm, there are two exhibition rooms with historical and optical illusions and a shop.

Borgo degli Albizi, 29, Firenze

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This museum should not be missing from our list!

Museum, sport

Museo Fiorentina

The Museo Fiorentina, founded in 2009, is not only for fans, but for all lovers of Florence and its traditions. The Fiorentina flag is meant to represent the spirit of Florence and the soul of the Florentines. The ACF Fiorentina Hall of Viola awards ceremony will also take place here.

Via Ximenes 55, Firenze

View from Boboli Gardens towards Palazzo Pitti ©Vicky T

When your head is buzzing with art and culture, we recommend relaxing in nature.

Relax in Florence

Villa di Pratolino

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Villa Demidoff, or Villa di Pratolino, is a park in the Florentine hills. Originally a Medici estate, it was bought by Russian prince Paul Demidoff in the 19th century. Some Renaissance elements, including Giambologna's Appennine colossus overlooking a small lake and small grottoes with decorative elements, frescoes and water features, still remain today. The chapel built by Buontalenti in 1580 is the only building that has been preserved without alterations. It is the ideal place for an excursion outside the city.

Parco mediceo di, Via Fiorentina, 276, 50036 Pratolino

Relax in Florence

Rose Garden

The Rose Garden extends on the hill of San Miniato, where the "Field of Saint Francis" of the Filippini monks once stood. The layout of the present garden and Piazzale Michelangelo was designed by the architect Giuseppe Poggi in his urban planning for Florence. There is also a small Japanese garden there, a gift from the twin city of Kyoto and the Zen temple of Kodai there.

Giardino delle Rose, Viale Giuseppe Poggi, 2, Firenze

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One of the many gardens of Florence, the Bardini Garden

Relax in Florence

Iris Garden

Culture can also be exhausting and where better to relax than in one of Florence's enchanting gardens and parks. Relax in places like the Boboli Gardens, the Rose Gardens at Piazzale Michelangelo or even the Botanical Gardens in the city center.

One of the most beautiful gardens of Florence is the Iris Garden, created in 1954 on the occasion of the international competition for the best varieties of irises and maintained until today. space. The event was organized in the city of Florence because the city has always been associated with this flower as its emblem: a red iris on a white field. The iris garden is located on the east side of Piazzale Michelangelo selected, the so-called: Podere dei Bastioni. Gates of the garden are usually opened at the end of April until May 20.

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 ©Stadt Düsseldorf

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Stuart Semples colour Placebo ©Stuart Semple Studio

Art Calendar, 4 December 2022

Rock band Placebo X Stuart Semple: limited-edition vinyl and an entirely new colour.

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HA Schult in Matera ©HA Schult

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