Rated Tourist Attractions in Florence, Italy

If you have begun to worry that Florence is just one giant open-air museum, it's time to meet some Florentines as they go about their daily routines. There's no better place to find them than in the enormous food market, Mercato Centrale.

In the late 19th century, artist and collector Stefano Bardini bought a group of buildings on a hillside in the Oltrarno, overlooking Florence. From these, which included a chapel and a former palazzo dating from the 14th century, he created a setting for his collections of art and priceless antiquities.

You would never guess by looking at the plain façade of Santa Maria del Carmine church that inside holds one of the great masterpieces of the 15th century. Frescoes on the walls and ceilings of the chapel depict the life of St. Peter and Old Testament scenes by Masaccio and Masolino, who were well-known artists in the early 1400s, friends of Brunelleschi and Donatello.

With the abundance of Renaissance painting, sculpture, architecture, and other masterpieces in Florence, it's easy to forget that the Renaissance was about more than art. Science was a major concern of the Humanists as they broke away from the confines of religion to explore their universe. And they saw art and science as connected and inseparable.

Fine leatherwork has been a tradition in Florence at least since Renaissance times, when leatherworkers had their workshops around Santa Croce, close to the tanneries along the river. That neighborhood is still the best place to shop for Florentine leather goods. To find the best quality, and at fair prices, shop at the leatherwork school or at an artisan's studio shop; some of the other shops, like the street market vendors, sell imported and imitation leather goods.

Michelangelo's best-known work, David, is copied all over Florence, but inside this art museum, you'll find the original. Unfortunately, as a result of an attack on the sculpture, it is now behind glass, but it still never fails to inspire.

This broad square has been the center of power in Florence since its 14th-century origins - and perhaps even before, as Etruscan and Roman remains have been found below its pavement. Today, it is the social center as well, a favorite meeting place filled with tourists and locals. At its center is the Neptune Fountain, at one side the Palazzo Vecchio, still housing the city's government.

Few would argue the Uffizi's place among the handful of world's top art museums. Its collections are simply staggering in their diversity and quality, and even if art is not your main interest, you should see the highlights of the paintings here.

So often misspelled as Piazzale Michelangelo that even city tourism material occasionally slips up, this terrace above the city is an obligatory stop for tour buses, and the spot from which all those postcard shots of the cathedral are taken. During busy tourist seasons, the best time to enjoy it in relative peace is late afternoon or early evening; it's especially lovely at sunset.

From any angle, inside or out, the 12th-century octagonal baptistery is a consummate work of art. Its marble façade, the intricate mosaics of its interior, and the art works it holds all merit a place high on your list.