Pitti Palace & Boboli Gardens, Florence

The extensive Boboli Gardens climbing the hill behind the Palazzo Pitti are a wonderful retreat on a hot summers day.
At the top of the gardens there are fantastic views over Florence and towards the hills beyond.
This picture is of one of the many statues all around the gardens.

If you have been to my pages before you have probably noticed I'm a fan of merging together photos to make a panoramic picture of a landscape or something like that.

No change here then...! This was taken from the top of the Boboli Gardens looking away from Florence.

A truely beautiful view - don't you think?

To see the picture at its best, please click to open it in a new window - it should look like a panoramic picture!

Boboli Gardens started to take shape in 1591 after the Medici bought Palazzo Pitti. They were modified over the years by different artists and were finally opened to the public in 1766. The main entrace to the gardens is through the courtyard of Palazzo Pitti. We took a path lined with cypress trees and classical statues that opened into a large area with an artificial lake and the Little Island (L'Isolotto). There were numerous statues and flowers around. One can rest on one of the benches around the lake and take in the beauty of the Giardini Boboli.

This imposing structure was originally built for Luca Pitti, who was determined to undermine the Medici's by displaying his wealth and power. It was begun in 1457 and was later bought by the Medici family in 1550 when the Pitti heirs were bankrupt. It then became one of the main residences of the Medici's and all of Florence's rulers. Tradition says that the palace was designed by Brunelleschi and built by his pupil Luca Fancelli. The palace was enlarged and altered from 1560. The large courtyard and the two wings, designed by Bartolomeo Ammanati and the complete rearrangement of the gardens.
It is open from 8:30am everyday. It is best to get a combined ticket if you want to visit the gardens and museums.

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The Boboli Gardens are formal Italian style gardens dating back to the 16-17th century.

They are found in the grounds of the Palazzo Pitti.

Take some time out and wander around and discover the fountains, statues and hidden groves.

It is a quiet place to relax and from here there are fabulous view back over Florence.

In Florence, there's SO much to choose from, especially where museums are concerned. Luckily, during my Art History classes, we visited just about every museum and church in the city, so I can comment based on that.

The Galleria Palatina in the Palazzo Pitti is my favorite museum in the city . . .it is smaller than the Uffizi but has some fantastic pieces as well. Plus, some of the rooms have been maintained and appear as they were as bedrooms, etc. during the end of the Medici era.

In the gardens, you'll find fountains, views and statues galore. There's usually some renovation going on, but there are acres and acres to walk. It's the perfect retreat from the city on a nice day.

Tickets for both are to the right as you face the front of the building. When I was there in March 2008, the prices for admission had just been almost doubled. I believe that a ticket for the museum and gardens was 21 euro. Update your guidebooks!

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The Italian Renaissance spawned not just fabulous art and architecture but gardens as well. Green spaces arranged in tightly ordered symmetry - embellished with sparking fountains, grottos and statuary - came into fashion during the 15th century fueled by descriptions of gardens once attached to ancient Greek and Roman villas, and with some exotic Arab influences tossed in as well. The Medici were especially influential in the 16th-century movement, extending an image of wealth, power and cultivation beyond the interiors of opulent palazzos to the enormous expanses around them. The same distinguished artisans commissioned to decorate the churches and piazzas of Florence were employed to further enhance that image with sculpted heraldic, allegorical and mythical representations for carefully designed nooks and crannies.

The Boboli Gardens were designed for Cosimo I de' Medici and his Spanish wife, Eleonora de Toledo, when they bought Palazzo Pitti in1549, and were enlarged over successive centuries. They are a welcome breath of fresh air after hours inside the over-the-top galleries of the palace itself but don’t expect masses of flowers: gardens from this era were focused on shrubs and clipped hedges, trees, lawns and water features. You may find the rose gardens in bloom at Casino del Cavaliere (which houses the Porcelain Museum) at the top of a long, long climb up the hill rising behind the palace: well worth it for some nice overlooks of Florence and Tuscan countryside. Otherwise, just enjoy a walkabout to rest your eyes before heading off to another round of churches and museums.

Good things to know:

• To stress again, these are not the definition of gardens that many tourists expect so if florals are your thing, you’ll probably find those of the Pitti sort of, er, pitiful?

• This is also not a good choice for persons with mobility issues: lots of steps and uphill slopes involved

• Please note the ticket structure on the website carefully as the gardens are not included with those ONLY for the Palatine/Royal Apartments/Modern Art Gallery combo.

• Entrance is covered under the Firenze Card and Friends of the Uffizi Pass

• Find a map here
http://www.planetware.com/map/boboli-gardens-map-i-lmn.htm

• Closed on the 1st and the last Monday of each month, New Year's Day, May 1st and Christmas Day. See the website for hours as they vary during different seasons.

The Palazzo Pitti was originally built for the banker Luca Pitti. The huge scale of the building, begun in 1457, illustrated Pitt's determination to outrival the Medici family. Ironically, they later purchased the palazzo when building costs bankrupted Pitti's heirs. In 1550 it became the main residence of the Medici, and subsequently all the rulers of the city lived there. Today the richly decorated rooms exhibit treasures from the Medici collections.

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We enjoyed our tour of the Gardens far more than we thought we would. Amazing scenery, sculptures; and we met some really nice people along the way. Amazing views of the city of Florence from here. Be prepared to walk! You'll need different tickets for different tours at Pitti Palace- pay attention at the ticket counter. There's also a lovely little cafe across the street and an internet cafe next to the cafe that offered decent rates.

This grand palace is home to several museums, Palatine Gallery; Appartamenti Monumentali; Museo degli Argenti; Galleria del Costum and Carriage museum. The entrance to the museums is right in the center of the Palace.

This palace originally was commissioned by Luca Pitti in the 1450s intent on outdoing his arch rivals, the Medici’s, and he created a truly grand palace. Ironically a Medici purchased the place in 1549 when Pitti heirs went broke in large part due to construction costs. The Medici substantially enlarged the palazzo, which then became the official home of Florence's rulers. When Medici bought the Palace they laid out the Boboli Gardens. There you can also venture into the Gardens where you will find rare trees and bushes arranged in geometric patterns an amphitheater, several fountains with sculptures, the orangery, Forte di Belvedere and the Porcelain museum in the Rose garden.

Today along with the Uffizi it houses many treasures of the Medici family bequeathed by the last of the Medici clan, who died in 1743, to Florence. Most of the paintings in the collection of the Palatine Gallery are from Medici collections with paintings by Raphael; Titian; Bartolomeo; Botticelli; Rubens; Tintoretto; Veronese; Caravaggio; Van Dyck; Perugino; Sustermans; Ghirlandaio; Reni; Lippi,; Sodoma; Velazquez and many others. The rooms also have ceilings with frescoes painted by Pietro di Cortona that show the education of Medici by gods. The apartments have all their original wall coverings, tapestries, and beautiful chandeliers of Murano glass. All the rooms also have various tables with inlays of different types and color of wood showing exotic birds and ornaments. Galleria del Costume as its name suggests shows the history of costumes through the time starting with late 18th century and through the 1940’s. It has a very interesting collection that you can easily cover in 10 minutes.