holidays in Florence HOTEL COLOMBA

In 1334 Giotto was declared " capomastro " ( main architect) of the Cathedral Yard. He designed the famous tower built in Piazza Duomo. holidays in Florence. The tower is now known as " The Giotto Tower ".The artist died in 1337 and he never saw the finished tower. In facts the Tower was only to the first stage when hedied. Andrea Pisano,Francesco Talenti and Neri Di Fioravanti worked to the tower after him, clinging to his project. In 1737 became the capital of the Absburgo Lorena family reign also comprehending the rest of Tuscany. When Tuscany was joinethe Sardegna Reign in 1860 the Absburgo-Lorena were driven out. During the following years Italy became an unique State and was the capital from 1865-1871. The remaining history of thcity follows the modern Italian history, through the two world wars arriving to nowadays. was not directly interested in the first world war but during the second war German soldiers destroyed a great part of the city while running back in retreat to German. German bombs, exploding over centuries of art and history. In 1944 democratic Florentine partisans revolted against the German and fascist conquerors, fighting for many days. At the endconquered freedom as the rest of Italy .(with the American and English military support). interesting museu Due to fresh-air and wonderful views on many famous writers and important people have been living in Fiesole: Boccaccio, Wright, Proust. The Roman amphitheater, the Etruscan monuments and the Dome are the principal attractions of the village panoramic walk runs through the village starting by the central place up to the higher panoramic garden.Prato is 20 Km. far from and it's an important industrial point for Tuscany. Textile factories are the most importan resource for this city. Many factories have been built during the last century near the historical center of Prato. The old walled city is still intact, the cathedral contains frescos by Filippo Lippi and the facade is by Della Robbia. In the old center of the city you can visit the Imperial Castle, a very interesting "open-air" museum about the Middle Age in Tuscany. The castle was built during the 12-13th centuries.Near there are a lot of monuments, villas and monumental gardens built by the Medici Family during their leadership. They used these places as summer or holiday homes. In Poggio a Caiano you can visit a splendid villa built in 15th-16th century featuring sweetens. Other important villas you can visit are: Castello Villa, in Castello, a small village 5 Km. far from the center of ;etraia Villa, a fine villa 2 Km. far from . was founded as a colony of the Etruscan city of Fiesole in about 200 BC, later becoming the Roman Florentia, a garrison town controlling the Via Flaminia. In the early 12th century the city became a free comune and by 1138 it was ruled by 12 consuls, assisted by the Council of One Hundred, a bunch of rich merchants. In 1207, due to intractable problems with faction fighting, the council was replaced by a foreign (and thus allegedly unbiased) governer, the podestà.In the 13th century the pro-papal Guelphs and pro-imperial Ghibellinesarted a century-long bout of bickering, which wound up with the Guelphs forming their own government in the 1250s. By 1292 Florence had had it with theobstreperous nobles, excluding them from government. The city became increasingly democratised, eventually becoming a commercial republic controlled by the Guelph-heavy merchant class.It was the only one bridge of the city until 1220 AD when the " Carraia Bridge" was built near the old one. The first bridge was so named " OLD BRIDGE" while the newest was called " Thee New Bridge". Other two bridges were built in that period as trading and commerce needed. A special office " Opus Pontis " was created by the Lordship of Florence in 1200 to control the bridge. Unfortunately in 1333 AD Florence was flooded again by the river Arno.