Considered one of the most beautiful cities in the world, Florence has an immense wealth of masterpieces and most of it is preserved within the Uffizi Gallery.
The Uffizi Gallery has 90 rooms, situated on the first and second floors, housing some of the most relevant and famous sculptures and paintings in the world going from the Middle Ages to the Modern period. These include masterpieces by Giotto, Simone Martini, Piero della Francesca, Beato Angelico, Filippo Lippi, Botticelli, Mantegna, Correggio, Leonardo da Vinci, Raffaello, Michelangelo and Caravaggio, just to name a few.
The building was designed by Giorgio Vasari in the mid-16th century for Cosimo I de’ Medici to house the offices – uffizi – of the Florentine magistrates and built adjacent to the Piazza delle Signoria in the historic centre of Florence. The Uffizi was also intended to display the main art works of the family including jewels. When the Medici family died out, the last heiress, Anna Maria Luisa de’ Medici, bequeathed their whole art collection to the city of Florence and the Uffizi became one of the first modern museums. The gallery, in fact, has been open to visitors by request since the 16th century and officially to the public since 1765.
Today, the Uffizi is one of the most popular tourist attractions of Florence. With 4,391,895 visitors in 2019, it is also one of the most visited art museums in the world. We highly recommend you plan your visit in advance checking opening hours and days here and booking your visit, so as to skip the usually long lines, here. Take advantage of the combined tickets to visit other tourist attractions in Florence such as the Boboli Gardens, exhibitions at the Pitti Palace and much more.
Be forewarned, the collection is huge and the masterpieces on display are worth more than just a quick glance so calculate it can take from half a day to even a full day to visit the Uffizi depending on your love for art and its detail. Remember that no oversized bags are allowed in and must be left in the cloakroom, together with your photographic equipment since it is forbidden to take photos.
