Palazzo Medici Riccardi in Florence โ history, photo, description, opening hours, map
The historic center of Florence, the main streets of the ancient city are a whole scattering of luxurious Renaissance buildings of historical and cultural value. Among them is the famous Palazzo Medici Riccardi in Florence. Its history is inextricably linked with three legendary Italian dynasties at once: Medici, Riccardi and Sforza. Today, the palace is besieged by tourists: not only connoisseurs of history and architecture, but also fans of the computer game โAssassin's Creed IIโ and the cult television series โHannibalโ. In the computer game, the palazzo appears as one of the locations for an important mission, while for the series, the interiors of the Capponi Palace were filmed in the palazzo, where the main character Hannibal Lecter commits his next murder.
Construction history
The construction of the palazzo is preceded by a curious story. Deciding to build another family estate in the center of Florence, the first thing Duke Cosimo de Medici the Elder proposed to develop a plan for the palace of Filippo Brunelleschi, who was then in good standing with him. Not stingy, soon the famous architect brought the customer a model of a luxurious palace: with patterned reliefs, stucco and statues
But Cosimo unexpectedly refused: he wanted the building to symbolize not luxury and wealth, but strength and reliability. Brunelleschi was very offended: the evidence of that time says that the architect smashed the model he had made, and the exterior he invented was never brought to life.
After this happiness, another architect tried, also held in high esteem by the Medici family, Michelozzo di Bartolomeo. Without making the mistakes of his predecessor, he offered the Duke of Tuscany an image of the palace, modest and at the same time majestic, and Cosimo immediately accepted it with pleasure. After that, the construction of the palace began immediately.
The first stone of the future building was laid in 1444, and the construction itself lasted almost 20 years โ until 1460. All this time and for many years after, other Florentine architects who built houses for bankers and politicians were careful not to โovertakeโ the Medici family palace in size and grandeur, which would be bad form and disrespect towards a wealthy family. The building houses not only the chambers of the family, but also the headquarters of the Medici bank. Representatives of the legendary family and their descendants lived and worked here for almost two centuries.
Then the palace passed to another influential Florentine family โ Riccardi, who by that time had already organized their library famous throughout Italy here. In addition, it is known that Galeazzo Maria Sforza, at that time a fifteen-year-old boy, and then one of the most influential Dukes of Milan, stayed in the Medici Riccardi Palace for a short time. Today the palace is open to visitors. Not only is the exterior and interior amazing, but a lot of luxury items and works of art have also been preserved.
Courtyard
Despite the oppressive power and strict forms of the facade, Palazzo Medici-Riccardi hides something elegant and surprisingly harmonious inside, namely, a small cozy courtyard. It is called the courtyard of Michelozzo โ after the architect of the building โ or the courtyard with columns, because the columns surround it from all four sides.
The first level is just the same covered arched gallery, the second level is windows, the third is again a gallery. All elements of the courtyard are decorated with reliefs and stucco.
There are also many works of art, among which you can see:
The paths here are lined with multi-colored shiny mosaics, all the bushes are neatly and curly trimmed, and citrus trees exude an amazing sweet and sour tart aroma. In the heat it is cool here, as you can hide under a canopy and in the shade of massive columns, and in windy weather it is cozy, as the walls do not let in a single draft. Representatives of the Medici family loved to spend time here. Later, the tradition of making courtyards became obligatory in the construction of similar buildings throughout Italy.
Architecture
The facade of the building is simple and uncomplicated, as required by Cosimo de Medici the Elder. It is these qualities that give it grandeur and even some monumentality. The Palazzo is divided into three floors, and each floor is different in its design. The first floor is lined with rustication. Rust is a rough and unhewn stone, in those days only public buildings were faced in this way, and the Medici-Riccardi Palace became the first private one.
With such facing, Bartolomeo wanted to show how great the influence of the Medici was. The second floor is already more elegant: it is lined with smooth white rectangular slabs, and high lancet windows make it seem to be striving upwards. The windows, by the way, were designed by Michelangelo himself. The third floor is lined with red tiles, and is also distinguished by the presence of a loggia. Unfortunately, today the loggia is walled up and closed to tourists.
Coat of arms of the Medici
The coat of arms of the Medici is five red balls and one blue with three golden lilies, all on a yellow background. In the Palazzo Medici Riccardi, the coat of arms is located on the second floor. Scientists are still arguing about the exact meaning of the coat of arms of the famous family. There are a huge number of versions. One says that the yellow shield with red โbloodyโ balls is an image of the weapon of Averardo de Medici, with which he defeated the giant.
Another is that the balls are pills, because the Medici were a family of pharmacists and pharmacists, and it was in the production and sale of medicines that they made a fortune. The third is that the balls are coins, because the Medici were one of the most influential Florentine banking families, or they are gold bars (in those days they were just round in shape). Where is the truth โ it is impossible to say now. But, it is likely that in each version there is some truth and common sense.
Interior decoration
Most of the premises on the first floor have been preserved in the form in which they were originally. Among the luxury items and works of art here you can see:
But on the second and third floors, it's no longer worth looking for personal belongings from the Medici era: the interiors here have been rebuilt more than once in a modern way, and even the 20th century has made its own changes to the design of the interior decoration of the famous building.
Gallery of mirrors
The Gallery of Mirrors, also known as the Giordano Gallery, is famous for its frescoes by Luca Giordano. The frescoes were painted in the 17th century by order of the Riccardi family. They depict both allegorical motifs and specific images of members of the Medici family.
Chapel of the Magi
The small family chapel, which belonged to the Medici, seems like a magic box from the inside, it is so brightly and colorfully painted with frescoes. But here's what's interesting: the frescoes are not separate works, but, as it were, a single composition called โThe Procession of the Magi to Bethlehem.โ The author of the image is Benozzo Gozzoli, and in the depicted faces, if you look closely, the features of the faces of the Medici family are clearly visible. The altar of the chapel is also very beautiful. Above it is a copy of the โNativityโ by Filippo Lippi, installed already in the 20th century.
Four Seasons Room
From the chapel, you can move along the luxurious staircase to the Room of the Four Seasons, or the Four Seasons Hall. It is called so because the Florentine tapestries depicting the four seasons are located here.
Opening hours and ticket prices
The opening hours of the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi are as follows:
Be careful: the box office closes two hours before the palazzo itself. In addition, on holidays, the palace closes its doors to visitors at 18.00. There are several types of entrance tickets. General, suitable for most visitors, will cost 7 euros. A ticket for 4 euros can be purchased by small children, schoolchildren and students, as well as military personnel. For people with disabilities, a free admission is expected, and the accompanying person is also not required to buy a paid ticket.
Where is it located and how to get there
The address of the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi is: Via Cavour, 3. Translated into Russian, this is Clavour Street. However, it will hardly be difficult for a tourist to find the famous palace: it is located in the historical center of the city and is surrounded by many other attractions, and all walking routes and bus tours will certainly pass through it.
You can get there both on foot and by public transport by buses No1, No6, No11 and No17. You can also call a city taxi. If you rented a car in Florence or traveled to Europe on your own, you can park it in the central market located nearby, or at the train station, which is also within walking distance of the palazzo. But pay attention: parking is paid!