If you’re an art enthusiast or you’re trying to pin down some of the famous places in Italy, Palazzo Pitti or Pitti Palace is definitely worth visiting. It is, after all, the largest museum complex in Florence.
The Pitti Palace is located south of the Arno River and a five-minute walk from Ponte Vecchio. It is the former residence of the Medici Family. Before the Medici’s bought the palace, Luca Pitti, who is described as an ambitious Florentine banker, owned it. The ordinary façade of the palace might fool you at first, but when you get inside the complex all your first impression will definitely be erased. Inside the palace you can view the Royal Apartment complex. During the rule of the Medici’s the palace functioned as a guesthouse for different royal families.
The Royal Apartment is composed of 14 rooms, all lavishly decorated fit for the guests and contains portraits of the Medici’s. Other than the Royal Apartment, you could also visit the Palatine Gallery, home to more than 500 Renaissance art works of Europe’s greatest painters. Famous among the collection is Raphael’s La Donna Velata or “Woman with a Veil.” You will see works of art by Boticelli, Reubens, Lerreggio and Pietro da Cortona. Other parts of the Palace are the Gallery of Modern Arts, which opened in 1928; the Silver Museum; Costume Museum, which showcases the evolution of Florentine fashion; and the Porcelain Museum.
After visiting the museums, you might want to take a break and take in everything that you saw in the palace. If that’s the case the Boboli Gardens is a perfect place then. Situated right behind the Pitti Palace, it is an Italian formal garden dating back from the 16th century. It is adorned with grottos, pools, fountains and corridors of clipped hedging. The Boboli garden is also one of the famous places in Italy because of the beautiful statues located all through out the garden. You can even spot some works by the famous Michelangelo.
So don’t forget to bring your camera and enough batteries if you’re going to visit the Pitti Palace! It will definitely be a humbling experience to stand before the creation of great Florentine artists.