Der Piazzale Michelangelo

Art has always dominated life in Florence. The city at the foot of green hills and on both sides of the Arno, which mostly ripples lazily through northern Tuscany from the Apennines, has achieved arguably everlasting fame thanks to the fortune of the Medici family. Florence is almost overloaded with the beauty of mighty churches and grandiose palaces. It's hard to get an overview of so much splendor in this city, but visitors get the best view of the scenery from Piazzale Michelangelo. Here the city has set a monument for eternity to arguably its greatest son, for Michelangelo Buonarroti was the offspring of a Florentine civil servant and from the age of 13 worked in the workshop of Domenico Ghirlandaio in Florence, where in particular he discovered the secrets of fresco art.

Via Viale dei Colli to Piazzale

On a hill to the south of the numerous historical buildings, the Piazzale Michelangelo was built under the direction of the town planner and architect Giuseppe Poggi. He was commissioned in 1864 with structural changes in Florence. As a result, he had part of the historic city walls demolished, planned wide arterial roads and squares, and gave his hometown a neo-Renaissance character. The Viale dei Colli was redesigned by Giuseppe Poggi into a magnificent boulevard with shady trees. It leads to Piazzale Michelangelo, his masterpiece of planning. The Viale dei Colli was used until 1935 by a tramway that connected Florence with San Casciano Val di Peso and Greve in Chianti.

The copy of Michelangelo's "David

The Piazzale, which translates as "great square", probably enjoys for all time an unobstructed view of the beauties of this city. If you want to avoid the walk along a narrow path from the river bank, you can head for the Piazzale by car or bus. There is parking there - but also an ever-increasing number of stalls selling souvenirs of all kinds. In 1873, thanks to the support of a team of oxen, Michelangelo's famous sculpture "David" was placed in the Piazzale. However, this is not the original, which is in the Galleria dell' Accademia, but a copy. Another copy can be seen in front of the Palazzo Vecchio.

A guardian of splendor and glory

The "David" occupies a dominant position in the Piazzale Michelangelo. For many a viewer, "David's" view of "his" city has a symbolic character. As if this monumental body in its nakedness were the guardian of the splendor and glory of the city of Florence. The design of the loggia with its neoclassical elements also comes from Giuseppe Poggi. Originally, a museum was planned here as a tribute to the great master Michelangelo, but this did not come to pass. Instead, a restaurant was placed in the loggia on the Piazzale. The replicas on the large pedestal of the statue represent day, night, dawn and dusk.

"Look around and see his monument"

The memory of Michelangelo's genius is kept alive at Casa Buonarotti. You pass the building, not far from the Bardini Museum, if you choose to walk from the Ponte Vecchio and Porta San Niccolò to get to the Piazzale. Below the large platform and the view of the Church of Santa Croce, the Duomo, Palazzo Fecchio and as far as the distant hills near Fiesole, there is, moreover, a historical inscription commemorating Poggi's work. It reads: "Giuseppe Poggi, Florentine architect, look around and see his monument here...".