The Best of Classical Florence

Your morning or afternoon tour starts with the Italian Gothic-style church of the Dominicans Santa Maria Novella . Besides the Basilica the square houses other important buildings: the long portico of the Hospital of San Paolo and the adjacent monks' pharmacy , the ancient laboratory for herbs and medicinal plants distilled by monks to cure the sick and the pilgrims. Other highlights of the tour are Palazzo Strozzi , a splendid example of civil architecture inspired by the Palazzo Medici and Piazza della Repubblica , the ancient center of the Roman town . It became later the Jewish Ghetto and, in the 19th Century, on the occasion of Florence capital of Italy, turned into an elegant area. Then Piazza del Duomo , with the grandiose Dome by Brunelleschi, Giotto's Belltower and the Baptistery with the famous bronze doors. The tour continues with Piazza della Signoria , spectacular outdoor museum dominated by the imposing Palazzo Vecchio and enriched by its statues to end with the Old Bridge or Ponte Vecchio , the oldest of Florence's six bridges, with its characteristic overhanging shops housing gold- and silversmiths, tradesmen.