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DESTINATION FLORENCE, TUSCANY AND UMBRIA
As long as Florence, Tuscany, and Umbria stand, the Renaissance will remain with us. Everywhere in this incomparable corner of Italy, that epochal flowering of humanism and art lives on in pigment and stone. You need only look at the dome of Florence’s cathedral, a creation of Brunelleschi’s and a revolution in both engineering and aesthetics (as befit a Renaissance man). Florence is and always has been at the heart, but great art resides throughout the region. The terrain itself — rolling hills with rows of cypresses and perched villages with towers — evokes a Renaissance canvas. When you come here, you go back in time to as beautiful an age as ever was.
FLORENCE AND NORTH
Life wouldn’t be the same without Florence — literally. The city gave birth to the Renaissance and, with it, to the spirit of the modern Western world. At every turn, treasures of art and architecture are on display, most notably at
Palazzo degli Uffizi. Once a Medici office building, it now houses works by important artists, a Fra Angelico madonna and child among them. Across the street in this very walkable city,
Piazza della Signoria serves up art alfresco; great statues, including Giambologna’s Cosimo I, ring the lively square. Cross the Arno through the shopping arcade of
Ponte Vecchio (the
second most beautiful bridge in town, say Florentines, who favor Ponte Santa Trinita), and you’re on course for the
Giardini Boboli, the city’s elegant backyard; the grand Palazzo Pitti, with its multiplex museums; and an artwork special even by Florentine standards. Masaccio’s fresco
The Expulsion of Adam and Eve, in
Santa Maria del Carmine, was a watershed in painting that helped launch the High Renaissance. Amid these riches, you’ll find superb dining, shopping, and the chance to dance the night away. If civilization peaks in Florence, nature peaks to the north, where rugged mountains offer stunning views graced by old towns and castles. Downslope on the Ligurian Coast are resorts including
Forte dei Marmi, with world-class people-watching, and its less budget- straining neighbors.
Il dolce far niente—-the sweetness of doing nothing—-is big here, and easy to learn.
CHIANTI
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There is such a thing as culture overload. Doctors call it Stendhal Syndrome, panic due to a surfeit of art and history. And guess what? It was discovered in the emergency rooms of Florence. A good antidote is Chianti, both the region and the wine bearing its name. Perched towns and castles such as
Castello di Brolio, a gem, overlook undulating slopes of olive groves, vineyards, and Tuscany’s signature cypress trees. Dirt roads take you to monasteries and charming villas. A designated driver should lead you to
Castello Vicchiomaggio, in the delightful town of Greve. But countless tasting opportunities await in this enchanted heart of Tuscany.
SIENA AND THE HILL TOWNS
Nowhere in Italy is pure medieval ambience richer than in central Tuscany. The facades of Siena take you back centuries, as do the interiors of the
Palazzo Pubblico; the Duomo; the Pinacoteca Nazionale; and other treasures matching those of Florence, Siena’s ancient adversary. Old rivalries within Siena bring passion to the Palio, a wild, no-stirrups horse race preceded by days of pageantry. Small medieval towns crown the hilltops of the region, with
San Gimignano the finest of them. To venture deeper into Italy’s past, explore the hill town of Volterra and its Etruscan roots.
PERUGIA AND NORTHERN UMBRIA
Stretching east of Florence to the Adriatic, Northern Umbria and the region called the Marches are a land of rolling hills ablaze with flowers, the perfect matrix for a jewel like
Perugia. Elegant and affluent — a designer-label town — Perugia is also rich in museums, galleries, churches, and extraordinary beauty along its “ordinary” medieval streets. A college hub, it buzzes in a way that most Italian hill towns haven’t for a few hundred years. The clincher, if you need one: it’s home to Perugina chocolate. The texture of
Gubbio is wholly other. Where jazz riffs sweeten Perugia’s summer days, an almost mystic serenity cools Gubbio’s; the silence truly is golden here. There are sights to see, but the keenest pleasure may simply be to walk the quiet streets. Forty twisty miles to the north, in the magical hill town of Urbino, the Palazzo Ducale is one of the grandest buildings of the Renaissance. It takes some getting to, but it repays the effort.
ASSISI, SPOLETO, AND SOUTHERN UMBRIA
For centuries
Assisi, home of St. Francis, marked the end of the pilgrimage trail — and for millions, it still does. Yet (and here may lie a quiet miracle) the town maintains its grace for all the humanity flowing through it. The
Basilica di San Francesco houses masterworks, including Giotto’s 28-panel homage to the saint. To the southwest, Orvieto’s cathedral is matchless—one of the greatest ever built. More worldly, but also filling for the spirit, the Festival dei Due Mondi in
Spoleto elevates the arts. The town also has its share of venerable sights. And by the way: you’re in the heart of truffle country.
