Top sights in Florence

The most popular museums, churches, and sights in Florence

If you only have limited to to spend in the Cradle of the Renaissance, here are the top, must-see sights of Florence.

The Uffizi Galleries - The world's premier gallery of the Renaissance, stuffed with paintings by Giotto, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Rapahel, Caravaggio, and Titian. » Full Story

The Duomo - The cathedral of Florence its ingenious and noble dome by Brunelleschi, the baptistery's Gates of Paradise, and a museum of statues by Michelangelo and Donatello. » Full Story

Piazza della Signoria - A lively, statue-studded square lined with cafés and home to the Gothically imposing, fortresslike Palazzo Vecchio, off which stretches the "U" of the Uffizi Galleries, Florence's great art museum. » Full Story

The Accademia Galleries - Home to Michelangelo's David; need I say more? » Full Story

The San Lorenzo leather market - The streets around the Medici family church are now filled with a daily outdoor leather market. » Full Story

The Ponte Vecchio - Hanging off either side of this ancient bridge over the Arno are strings of teensy shops selling gold and jewelry, some of them dating back to the Renaissance. » Full Story

The Bargello - Renaissance sculptures from Donatello, Michelangelo, Luca della Robbia, and more in a medeival prison. » Full Story

Pitti Palace - The Medici's private palace filled with sumptuous decorations and amazing works of Renaissance and baroque art and backed by the Boboli Gardens. » Full Story

Santa Croce - This big ol' Franciscan barn of a church sports Giotto frescoes, the tombs of Michelangelo, Galileo, and Machiavelli, and a fine leather school in the back. » Full Story

Santa Maria Novella - A church containing some of the seminal works of the early Renaissance, including Massacio's Trinità fresco, the first use of true perspective in Western art. » Full Story