The Medici: from the rise to power to the end of the dynasty

Our tour will begin with a walk through the main squares of the historic center to know more about the history of the city, its most significant buildings and the Medici family that maintained its undisputed power over Florence for centuries. Historic houses, Gothic churches and Renaissance sculptures enrich all the squares of Florence historic center, transforming it into a real open-air museum. Much of this artistic and architectural heritage comes from the legacy of the Medici, not only men of power, but also great art collectors and lovers, who commissioned incredible works of art to the best artists of the time and made the city the cradle of the Renaissance.

We will continue the tour in the halls of Palazzo Medici Riccardi, the first Medici private residence in Florence built in the 15th century in Renaissance style, which served as an example for all the next civil buildings of the historic center. Cosimo the Elder and Lorenzo the Magnificent lived here, and the greatest Renaissance artists of all time worked here as well. This is the place where the Medici began to impose their hegemony destined to last for centuries and where the history of Florence and the Renaissance began!

In the sixteenth century, when the Medici supremacy had almost reached its peak, the family began to express the need to be even more at the center of Florence political life, and therefore decided to move to Palazzo Vecchio in Piazza of the Signoria, the heart of the city. The palace was the first seat of the Florentine republic, and then became a Medici private residence, who enlarged and modified it according to their taste and needs. We will start from the amazing 16th century hall frescoed by Vasari, we will cross the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess apartments, and we will discover secret rooms and passages that the Medici built to carry out their private activities away from prying eyes.

We will end the tour with a visit to the Medici Chapels, the largest mausoleum of the Medici family, partly designed and decorated by Michelangelo with statues and sarcophagi full of hidden meanings and symbolism. The Medici knew that the fame and power obtained in life was destined to vanish after death, so they wanted to create a unique and suggestive place where their souls and deeds were handed down for eternity, symbolically represented by their tombs, which are incredible works of art.