Palazzo Pitti and Giardino di Boboli – for a glorious palace and gardens

The Palazzo Pitti, the most grandiose of all Florentine residences, became the seat of government for the Medici dukes. Set in a massive Renaissance palace that dominates the Oltrarno, the Pitti houses seven museums, and leads to the lovely Boboli gardens, once a pastoral Medici pleasure-dome.  Rather than attempt to see all the museums, select a couple that match your interests. To appreciate the sumptuous Medici art collection and the lifestyles of the grand-dukes, the Royal Apartments and Palatine Gallery (Galleria Palatina) are the obvious choices.  The Silver Museum (Museo degli Argenti) comes a close second, more for the magnificently decorated rooms than for the contents. In terms of art history, the Modern Art Museum (Galleria d’Arte Moderna) takes up the story where the Uffizi leaves off, and gives a sense of the lavish but somewhat dubious decorative tastes of the last residents, the rulers of the houses of Lorraine and Savoy.
The adjoining Giardino Boboli (Boboli Gardens) act as an excellent antidote to the suffocating splendours of the Pitti Palace. The Medici dynasty created these Italianate gardens which became the model for Italianate gardens for centuries to come. The landscaping of the Boboli Gardens, following the natural slope of the hill, provide the perfect complement to the sumptuous palace. As the most charming Italian late Renaissance garden, the Boboli reveal statues, fountains, ornamental pools, grottoes and even an Egyptian obelisk. At every turn, Classical and Renaissance statuary give way to whimsical Mannerist grottoes dotted with grotesque sculpture.

Address: Palazzo Pitti
Web: www.uffizi.it/en/pitti-palace