The Berkeley Guides:
Berkeley Guide to Europe:
Italy:
Florence
Michelangelo's David and Botticelli's Primavera may be the most famous works of art in Florence (Firenze), but the city's attitude toward visitors is best represented in Donatello's St. George: Valiant but cautious, the saint surveys an approaching dragon with a slightly worried eye. Like the wary Florentines, you may be put off by the massive onslaught of tourists that descends on the city each summer, but don't let them scare you away. Florence contains the most phenomenal array of Renaissance art and architecture you'll ever see, most of it commissioned by the Medici family in the 15th and 16th centuries. The modern city has protected its Renaissance flavor beautifully, farming out industry to distant suburbs. The streets are relatively clean and safe, major sights lie within a few blocks of each other, and nearby hill towns like Siena and San Gimignano make great day trips.
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