Unusual things to do in Florence: a unique itinerary to 5 hidden gems in Florence to experience like a local

Do you want to visit Florence but you want to avoid the crowds?

Do you want to visit the city and discover the lesser-known places and Florence hidden gems?

I have good news for you: it is possible to visit Florence and not battle with thousands of other visitors or wait in long lines at the museums. In Florence there are many unusual places, little-known corners that are full of charm and have fascinating stories to tell.

Here is a guide to discover 5 unusual places while visiting Florence.

5 hidden gems in Florence that tourists don’t know

What to see in Florence and be surprised?

What are the Florence hidden gems that an average tourist doesn’t even know about?

Here are some suggestions for a visit away from the crowds.

1. Cloister of the Scalzo

A few steps from Piazza San Marco you will find the small oratory of the ancient Compagnia dei Disciplinati di San Giovanni Battista, also known as the Cloister of the Scalzo (called the barefooted one).

At the beginning of the sixteenth century the confraternity of the Scalzo started works to create spaces for meetings and for prayer. The small building was designed by Giuliano da Sangallo, while the walls of the cloister of the new site of the confraternity were decorated by one of the brothers, the painter Andrea d’Agnolo, also known as del Sarto. Del Sarto worked there from 1506 to 1526, dedicating himself to the project free of charge in between doing other jobs. Between 1518 and 1519, while del Sarto was in France working for King Francesco I, the work was continued by Franciabigio, del Sarto’s collaborator.

The two painters decorated the cloister with stories from the life of the patron saint of the brotherhood, St. John the Baptist. To emphasize the idea of ​​the humility of the members of the brotherhood, the frescoes were painted in monochrome, using shades of a single colour, in this case ochre.

The cycle tells the life of the saint through a sequence of events codified in the narrative tradition. Indeed, in Florence, the life of Saint John was also told on the first bronze door of the Baptistery, created by Andrea Pisano in the 1330s. The same story appears in the mosaics that cover the dome of the Baptistery. Del Sarto drew inspiration mainly from the frescoes painted in the Tornabuoni Chapel by Domenico Ghirlandaio.

On the cloister walls you can see the following scenes:

• The Annunciation to Zechariah
• The Visitation
• Naming of the Baptist
• Young Saint John leaving for the desert (painted by Franciabigio)
• The Meeting of Saint John and Christ
• Christ’s Baptism
• The Sermon of the Baptist
• The Baptism of the Gentiles
• The Capture of the Baptist
• Salome’s Dance
• The Beheading of the Baptist
• Herod’s Banquet

The entrance to the Cloister of the Scalzo is free!

This precious pearl in the heart of Florence is a must see.

Cloister of the Scalzo
Via Camillo Cavour, 69
Opening hours: Tuesday-Saturday, from 8:15 am to 2 pm, the second and fourth Sunday of the month, the first and third Monday of the month, from 8:15 am to 2 pm.

2. The Last Supper of Sant’Apollonia

A few steps from the Cloister of the Scalzo is another masterpiece of Florentine painting, the Last Supper of Sant’Apollonia. The museum, with access from Ventisette Aprile 1, preserves the beautiful refectory of the old female convent of Sant’Apollonia. In the years 1445-1450 the Florentine painter Andrea del Castagno decorated the nuns’ refectory with the scene of the Last Supper. Above the main fresco he depicted the three events that followed the Pesah supper: the Crucifixion, the Deposition, and the Resurrection.

This fresco is one of the many representations of the Last Supper found in various Florentine convents. I have already mentioned it in this article. In his vision of the scene, Andrea del Castagno concentrated on the effect of the optical illusion of depth, obtained through the use of perspective. Another peculiarity of the painting is the coloured marbles that decorate the wall of the cenacle, which symbolically depict the presence of God.

This little gem is free to visit, so don’t miss it!

The Last Supper of  Sant’Apollonia
Via 27 Aprile, 1
Opening Hours: Monday- Friday 8:00 am to 1:50 pm; the second and fourth weekend of every month 8:00 am to 1:50 pm.

3. The Rucellai Chapel

Did you know that there is a copy of Christ’s tomb in Florence?

I am referring to the tomb of Giovanni Rucellai, designed in 1467 by Leon Battista Alberti for the Rucellai Chapel in the Church of San Pancrazio. Today, to visit the chapel you have to go to the Marino Marini Museum located in the former church. It is certainly worth a visit as the unusual Rucellai tomb is one of the most interesting, and at the same time lesser-known, monuments of the Florentine Renaissance.

Giovanni Rucellai was a wealthy Florentine merchant. Having lost his father, he had to fight to reaffirm his position within the family. He began to invest in important artistic commissions to demonstrate his wealth and to show his interest in the new art. Rucellai became one of the first patrons to promote the Renaissance style, allowing Alberti to experiment with new ideas and solutions. Alberti designed the beautiful facade of the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella for Rucellai, the Palazzo Rucellai with the loggia, which you can admire in via della Vigna Nuova; and finally, he took on the unusual project of the tomb.

The Rucellai funerary monument is unique. Following his client’s wishes, Alberti designed a small temple to be placed in the centre of the Rucellai Chapel. This unusual structure imitates the shrine of Christ’s tomb in Jerusalem, inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Around the crown of the aedicule you find the Latin inscription “Yhesum queritis nazarenum crucifixum surrexit non est hic. Ecce locus ubi posuerunt eum“. The text takes a verse from the Gospel of Saint Matthew “Seek the crucified Jesus of Nazareth. He has risen; he is not here. Behold the place where they laid him“.

This unusual monument demonstrates the multifaceted nature of Florentine culture in the 15th century. On the one hand, we have a monument strongly linked to the medieval tradition of pilgrimages to the Holy Land and the cult of the Passion of Christ. On the other hand, it is one of the most interesting Renaissance projects, structured according to precise symmetries and geometric proportions.

If you spend a weekend in Florence, don’t miss this gem!

Rucellai Chapel/Marino Marini Museum
Piazza San Pancrazio
Opening hours: From September 13, 2024, on the occasion of the exhibition “Il Tesoro di Terrasanta al Museo Marino Marini. La bellezza del sacro: l’Altare dei medici e i doni dei Re”.
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday: 10:00 am-7:00 pm (last entrance at 6:00 pm).
Tickets (on occasion of the exhibit):
full price: 15€
reduced: 12 €
youth price: (from 6 to 18 years old): 8€
children under 6 years: free.

4. Michelangelo’s Crucifix in the Basilica of Santo Spirito

Florence indeed spoils us… In fact, those who know the city, know that to see Michelangelo’s masterpieces, you don’t have to wait in long lines or visit the most crowded museums. One of the treasures, created by the young artist, is kept inside the Basilica of Santo Spirito in Oltrarno.

Santo Spirito is an Augustinian convent, a religious and cultural centre that played a crucial role in the development of the culture of humanism and the Renaissance. Francesco Petrarca discovered the texts of Saint Augustine in the convent library and, inspired by these readings, composed his Secretum. Santo Spirito was also an important place for Michelangelo. The friars, in fact, made the artist’s anatomy lessons possible, giving him access to the bodies of the poor who died in the hospital run by the Augustinian community. Perhaps, to thank the friars for these concessions, around 1493, at the age of 18, Michelangelo sculpted a wooden cross for the Basilica. Over the centuries, they lost track of this early work by the master until the 1960s, when the crucifix was recognized by art historian Margrit Lisner.

Today the crucifix is ​​exhibited in the sacristy of the Basilica. In this work, Michelangelo expressed the ideas of Renaissance art. In fact, the crucified Christ is naked, and his body is inscribed in a square. Divine nudity is a concept inspired by classical culture, as well as geometric rigor and the search for perfect proportions.

This little-known work is definitely worth seeing during your visit to the city.

Basilica di Santo Spirito
Piazza Santo Spirito
Opening Hours: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday: 10:00 am-1:00 pm, 3:00 pm-6:00 pm.
Ticket to see the Crucifix: 2€.

5. Galileo Museum

If you think there are only paintings and sculptures in the museums of Florence, you are wrong!

Florence has rich collections related to the history of science. If you are interested in mathematics, physics, astronomy, and cartography, you must absolutely visit the Galileo Museum.

This vast collection has its origins in the Medici family’s collecting. The Grand Dukes of Tuscany, in fact, collected not only ancient sculptures and paintings by the best painters of every era, but also various scientific instruments. These collections symbolically represented the Medici’s power in the world and their control over territories and nature.

At the museum you can admire the astonishing armillary sphere built in 1593 for Ferdinando de’ Medici by Antonio Santucci for the Hall of Cosmography in the Uffizi Gallery. You will be amazed by the representations of the constellations painted on the seventeenth-century celestial globes.

Finally, in the collection you will also find some objects related to Galileo. Aside from the “relic” of his finger, the museum also preserves the scientist’s geometric and military compass, one of his armed magnets, two telescopes, and the objective lens of the telescope with which Galileo discovered Jupiter’s satellites.

The Galileo Museum is a must-see for all lovers of science!

Museo Galileo
Piazza dei Giudici, 1
Opening hours: every day from 9:30 am to 6:00 pm (ticket desk closes at 5:30 pm)
Tickets:
full price € 13.00,
reduced 6-18 years € 7.00,
children under 6: free.

Hidden gems to see in Florence: tips and itinerary (+ MAP)

To visit these 5 unusual places in Florence it isn’t necessary to book tickets, but before leaving check here their opening hours.

Unfortunately, “minor” museums may have reduced opening hours based on staff availability.

By following this itinerary you will discover Florence hidden gems; you will visit museums without crowds, without queues, and admire some of the greatest masterpieces of the Renaissance.

Here is the map for you:

Are you looking for a guide in Florence? Contact us! We are happy to organize your visit.