The Medici family was one of the most important to ever live in Florence! This powerful Renaissance family resided in several majestic palaces and left behind tons of history. Learn more of their secrets with a local on a Florence Medici tour!
The Medici family’s economic and political success throughout the 1400s allowed Florence to become the cradle of the Renaissance. In the mid-1500s the Medici family was made by the papacy into a royal dynasty and it started ruling in Florence and Tuscany as Grand Dukes until the mid-1700s replacing the Florentine Republic. This walking tour takes you to the most important sights in town related to this family of Patrons of the Arts and allows you to discover the most significant art works and monuments the Medici Family commissioned to the Florentine Renaissance artists, including, among the others, Brunelleschi and Michelangelo.
Medici Riccardi Palace was their first residence in town and their business headquarters in the 1400s. Here is where Lorenzo the Magnificent was born and where Michelangelo was invited to stay with his family for a few months. Inside you will admire the famous Chapel of the Magi, featuring the detailed Benozzo Gozzoli’s fresco with faithful Medici’s portraits. Then, you will reach the parish church of San Lorenzo, which was commissioned to Brunelleschi by Cosimo il Vecchio de’ Medici in the early 1400s. You will visit the two magnificent Medici’s Chapels. The Chapel of the Princes with its baroque semiprecious stone wall decoration and the New Sacristy by Michelangelo featuring a very unique architecture and statues in the original setting. Next you will visit the interior of Palazzo Vecchio, today’s City Hall of Florence. The Salone dei Cinquecento, still used for official receptions, is the largest room in town featuring historical scenes on its wall and ceiling celebrating the Medici’s power. Da Vinci and Michelangelo were involved in its decoration.
This tour is available at 9am or 2pm on Monday, Friday and Saturday. This tour is available only in the morning on Thursday. Please request your preferred time slot at the time of booking.
Exact time will be provided in final documents. If you are staying at a centrally located hotel, your guide will meet you in the hotel lobby. Otherwise, a meeting point will be arranged.