Tour Details
Duration
3.5 hours
Product Type
Tour
Venues
- Medici Chapels
- Museum of San Marco
- Palazzo Medici-Riccardi
- Magi Chapel
Photos & Highlights
- Experience Florence through the eyes of the Medici family
- Led by an expert art or social historian
Select a date
Tour Description
The name Medici immediately brings up images of power, intrigue, and artistic flourishing during the Renaissance.
During this Medici tour in Florence, led by an art or social historian, we'll follow along in the footsteps of the Medicis, visiting several key sites that the family has owned or sponsored, tracing their history from the republic to the duchy, from wealthy merchants to rulers of a kingdom.
We begin from the roots of the Medici family history, with Cosimo the Elder in the 1430s, visiting the quiet Convent of San Marco - the first example of the Medici’s great patronage of the arts and one of the first public libraries in the world. Proceeding with a visit to the museum, which hosts the greatest works of Fra Angelico, we will see the monks' former private cells, including the cell made specifically for Cosimo's own meditation.
From there, we will proceed to the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, the seat of Medici power in Florence for over a century, and make a special visit to the Chapel of the Magi, decorated by Benozzo Gozzoli, considered a Renaissance fresco masterpiece.
To conclude the tour, we will reach San Lorenzo Square, home to the iconic unfinished church, and enter the Medici Chapels to explore the pinnacle of the Medicis' art patronage and view the work of Michelangelo in the family’s chapel he designed, featuring the tombs of Lorenzo il Magnifico and his brother Giuliano.
This walk will provide you with a deep understanding of the Medici family's connection to the city of Florence and how the relationship between political power and art has played such an important role in the formation of Florence as we know it today.
Experts
- You have been to Florence, or you are a first-time visitor and want to better understand the connection between the past and the present of the city
- You are intrigued about the Medici family's past.
- You want to venture off the beaten path with a thorough exploration of the less-traveled routes.
- Church and Museum of San Marco
- Palazzo Medici Riccardi
- Magi Chapel
- Medici Chapel
Tickets
You are pre-paid for the tour and the entrance tickets.
Additional Trip-Planning Resources
- For more information on planning your travels to Florence, take a read through our Context Stories.
Do you reserve headsets for this tour?
Depending on your group size, we may be required by the venue to order headsets, in which case you’ll see a “Headset Fee” added to your order.
Is this tour wheelchair-friendly?
This tour can be adapted for clients with mobility difficulties or who use wheelchairs, with the only exception being the Magi Chapel.
Book with confidence — see Context's flexible cancellation policy here.
Where You'll Start
–
282 Reviews
Reviews can only be left by Context customers after they have completed a tour. For more information about our reviews, please see our FAQ.
Patti was super put us at ease and then gave us a great morning bringing to life the Medici' . She also gave us great recommendations of things to see elsewhere in Florence to further enhance our experience. Her knowledge was extensive and she had a great sense of humour.
Sean
Reviewed on:
Dec 20, 2016
Patty was terrific. Her sense of theatrical was just perfect as she described and showed us the Basilca San Marco and the Medici chapels. this is a good primer for folks to try to understand the vast contribution of the Medici Family in our current history. thank you
Jane
Reviewed on:
Dec 19, 2016
Our guide, Siro, was clear, interesting, knowledgeable, and well-rounded. He could answer more or less all of our questions thoroughly. He tied together art, history, religion, and politics. He showed interest in our group, finding out a bit about each person before getting started. And he did a great job summarising 300+ years of history in 3.5 hours. I would have loved to learn more about the Medici family's beginnings - how they went from farmers to merchants to bankers, how they gained such influence, and the ties that this family had with the aristocracy of Europe (we learned that two Medici women became queens of France, for example). But to cover this, we would have needed a couple extra hours, at least! So absolutely no complaints, but if we'd had more time, we would have arranged a private tour with Siro to find out even more.
Annie
Reviewed on:
Oct 24, 2016
