florenz.info

Oltrarno

Florence's artisan and craft quarter south of the Arno

The down-to-earth side of Florence south of the river, full of workshops, with Palazzo Pitti, the Boboli Gardens and the lively Piazza di Santo Spirito.

View of the wooded Oltrarno hillside with the historic city wall, cypresses and olive groves south of Florence.

The other bank

Oltrarno (literally "beyond the Arno") is the historic quarter south of the river, right behind the Ponte Vecchio. Florence feels more down-to-earth and authentic here than in the centre: for centuries the lanes have been lined with workshops run by goldsmiths, restorers, frame-makers and upholsterers, the living heritage of Florentine craftsmanship.

Palaces, gardens and squares

Yet major sights sit here too: the vast Palazzo Pitti, the Boboli Gardens, and the quieter Giardino Bardini with its views over the city. The heart of the quarter is the relaxed Piazza di Santo Spirito, with Brunelleschi's church, a small market and buzzing evening life.

A quieter place to stay

Oltrarno is a good choice for travellers who want to stay central but a little quieter and more local, the city centre is just a few minutes away across the Ponte Vecchio, and in the evening you're right in the middle of everyday Florentine life.

Around Oltrarno

The amphitheatre of the Boboli Gardens before the rear front of Palazzo Pitti

Palazzo Pitti

The Medici family's vast Renaissance palace in the Oltrarno now houses seven museums under one roof, led by the Galleria Palatina and its world-leading Raphael collection.

City panorama of Florence from an elevated viewpoint south of the Arno, with Brunelleschi's dome and Giotto's Campanile as the dominant silhouette above the rooftops.

Boboli Gardens

The Boboli Gardens behind the Palazzo Pitti are a textbook Renaissance garden, terraces, statues, grottoes and open views over the rooftops of Florence.

Piazza di Santo Spirito with its fountain and market stalls

Piazza di Santo Spirito

The relaxed heart of Florence's artisan quarter, built around an octagonal fountain, a neighbourhood market by day, a gathering spot by night, plus a Michelangelo crucifix inside the basilica.

The wisteria pergola in the Bardini Garden overlooking Florence

Giardino Bardini

This quiet terraced garden in the Oltrarno combines a Baroque staircase, the famous wisteria pergola and one of Florence's finest, most relaxed rooftop views.

The bare sandstone facade of the Basilica di San Lorenzo with the Medici dome to the right and a busy square full of visitors.

Basilica di San Lorenzo

The Basilica di San Lorenzo was the Medici family's parish and burial church, with Brunelleschi's Renaissance architecture, Donatello's bronze pulpits and Michelangelo's Biblioteca Laurenziana.

The facade of Santa Maria Novella with its characteristic white and green marble cladding, the rose window and the bell tower in the background.

Santa Maria Novella

The Basilica di Santa Maria Novella by the main station pairs Alberti's Renaissance marble facade with Masaccio's groundbreaking Trinity fresco and Ghirlandaio's fresco cycle.

The octagonal Baptistery of San Giovanni with its distinctive green-and-white marble cladding and gilded dome, surrounded by crowds of tourists on the Piazza del Duomo.

Florence Baptistery

The Battistero di San Giovanni facing the Duomo is one of Florence's oldest buildings, famed for Ghiberti's gilded Gates of Paradise and its golden mosaic ceiling.

Frontal view of the white and green marble facade of Florence Cathedral with Giotto's Campanile on the right and visitors on the cathedral square.

Giotto's Campanile

Giotto's marble-clad bell tower beside the Duomo climbs 414 steps to a terrace with the classic view of Brunelleschi's dome directly opposite.

Looking up into the dome of the Cappella dei Principi

Medici Chapels

The Medici family's mausoleum behind San Lorenzo combines the opulent Chapel of the Princes with Michelangelo's New Sacristy and its famous Times of Day allegories.

Aerial view of Brunelleschi's red-tiled cathedral dome and Giotto's Campanile rising above Florence's old town.

Florence Cathedral

Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence's Gothic cathedral, is topped by Brunelleschi's world-famous dome. Entry is free; climbing the dome needs advance booking.

Close-up of Michelangelo's David statue in the Galleria dell'Accademia, showing the head and shoulders in detail.

Galleria dell'Accademia

The Accademia Gallery holds the original of Michelangelo's David, five metres carved from a single block of Carrara marble, flanked by the unfinished Prigioni and Tuscan panel painting.

The cast-iron hall of the Mercato Centrale above the rooftops

Mercato Centrale

The Mercato Centrale near San Lorenzo, a cast-iron hall from 1874, combines a fresh-produce market downstairs with a food court of over twenty stalls upstairs.

The monumental sundial of the Museo Galileo on Piazza dei Giudici

Museo Galileo

Right on the Arno behind the Uffizi, this science museum displays over 1000 historic instruments, ornate globes and Galileo's only two surviving telescopes.

Hall of the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo with the reconstruction of the cathedral façade

Museo dell'Opera del Duomo

The Opera del Duomo Museum holds the originals from the cathedral square - Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise, Donatello's sculptures and Michelangelo's Bandini Pietà, in a 2015 building with a reconstructed facade.

The façade of Orsanmichele with the statues of the Florentine guilds

Orsanmichele

This solid guild church between the Duomo and Piazza della Signoria was once a grain market, famous for the saints' statues in its facade niches and the sculpture museum upstairs.

The rusticated façade of Palazzo Medici Riccardi on Via Cavour

Palazzo Medici Riccardi

The first great Medici city palace, built from 1444 by Michelozzo. Famous for Benozzo Gozzoli's radiant fresco cycle of the Magi and Luca Giordano's Baroque Hall of Mirrors.

Palazzo Strozzi with its massive rusticated stonework

Palazzo Strozzi

The imposing Renaissance palace on Via de' Tornabuoni is Florence's leading venue for major temporary exhibitions; the arcaded courtyard is free to enter.

Rustic sandstone entrance portal of Palazzo Vecchio with the blue sign for the Museo di Palazzo Vecchio and the Florentine lily crest above the arch.

Palazzo Vecchio

Palazzo Vecchio on Piazza della Signoria has been Florence's town hall since the 14th century, home to the Hall of the Five Hundred and the Torre di Arnolfo.

The Loggia dei Lanzi on the Piazza della Signoria with its three large round arches and the sculptures underneath, busy with numerous tourists.

Piazza della Signoria

Florence's political square is a free open-air museum in front of the Palazzo Vecchio, with the Neptune Fountain, a copy of David and Renaissance sculpture in the Loggia dei Lanzi.

The Ponte Vecchio over the Arno seen up close, with its characteristic ochre-coloured house structures and the bridge's reflection in the river.

Ponte Vecchio

The Ponte Vecchio is Florence's oldest bridge, still lined with small goldsmiths' shops since 1593, with the reopened Vasari Corridor running above the Arno.

The courtyard of the Uffizi Gallery with the elegant colonnades of the facade and a view through the archway to the Renaissance buildings opposite.

Uffizi Gallery

The Uffizi Gallery holds the world's finest Renaissance collection - Botticelli, Leonardo, Raphael, Caravaggio. Book a timed-entry ticket in advance.