10 places to visit with the Tramway in Florence

Discover some of the must-see places along the city's green artery

Perhaps not everyone knows that Italy’s first electric tramway was installed in Florence in 1879. Its return has extended the downtown’s boundaries and opened up new horizons for those wishing to explore the unconventional and off-the-beaten-tourist side of Florence. A lesser-known side but full of charm, ranging from age-old to contemporary attractions. On the eve of the opening of the new section of T2 line - which connects Peretola airport to Piazza dell’Unità and which will soon go through Piazza San Marco and Piazza della Libertà and reach Sesto Fiorentino - we take you on a tramway tour of some of the city’s loveliest spots. To know more about it, please check the www.tramedartefirenze.it website.

• STAZIONE LEOPOLDA AND MAGGIO MUSICALE FIORENTINO THEATER
  T1 - Porta al Prato Leopolda

If you are sensible to the charm of the industrial and steampunk aesthetic, this place will touch your heart.Established in the late 1800s, the Leopolda train station was used for only about ten years and today it houses major Pitti Immagine events, such as Fragranze (in September) and Testo (in February), the former devoted to the art of perfume-making and the latter to publishing. The large square opposite the train station was redesigned by the great architect Gae Aulenti. Just a stone’s throw from it is the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Theater, one of Europe’s most important opera and symphonic foundations, inaugurated in 2011.

TEATRO DEL MAGGIO MUSICALE FIORENTINO

• HALL OF JUSTICE
  T2 - Novoli-Regione Toscana

A gigantic building designed by architect Leonardo Ricci, a pupil of the great Giovanni Michelucci. Just next to it is the Park of San Donato, very popular with the students of the nearby university.

PALAZZO DI GIUSTIZIA

• FORTEZZA DA BASSO
  T2 - Fortezza

A veritable masterwork of Florentine military architecture built between 1534 and 1535 by Alessandro de’ Medici. Today it houses the two Pitti Uomo biannual events (in January and June) and other major events. Along the Fortezza’s eastern side is a lovely park which, every third weekend of the month, fills up with stalls for a lively antiques market.

FORTEZZA DA BASSO

• RUSSIAN ORTHODOX NATIVITY CHURCH
  T1 - Strozzi-Fallaci

It is the first religious building on the Italian territory, built between the 19th and 20th centuries at the behest of the daughter of Tsar Nicola I.

CHIESA RUSSA ORTODOSSA DELLA NATIVITÀ

• NELSON MANDELA MURAL
  T1 - Leopoldo

Street art has become increasingly part of Florence’s urban landscape. Among the most beautiful works is the large mural in Piazza Leopoldo painted by Jorit Agoch on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth of the famous South-African leader.

MURALE NELSON MANDELA

• HORTICULTURE GARDEN
  T1 - Strozzi-Fallaci

A beautiful 19th-century garden with a lovely Renaissance loggia and spectacular Art-Nouveau style tepidarium designed around 1880. The garden’s highest and most panoramic spot houses the Garden of Parnassus, also called the ‘Dragon’s’ Garden, because of its strange fountain. You get a unique view of Brunelleschi’s dome from here.

GIARDINO DELL’ORTICOLTURA

• STIBBERT MUSEUM
  T1 - Muratori-St. Statuto

It was the house of Frederick Stibbert, an eclectic collector, and his collections, mostly military-themed, led to the creation of an amazing museum. One of the halls houses a parade of Italian, German and Turkish-Ottoman knights, not to mention the extraordinary collection of Japanese weapons and suits of armour, the most extensive outside of Japan.

Museo Stibbert

• ROGER CENTER
  T1 - Resistenza

We get a glimpse of Florence’s contemporary architecture by moving to the opposite side of the city to see the multipurpose center designed by the famous Florentine architect Richard Rogers. It hosts various events.

CENTRO ROGER

• ACCIAIOLO CASTLE
  T1 - Resistenza

A historic aristocratic mansion called “castle” because of its imposing look with embattled walls, nestled in a huge public park.

CASTELLO DELL'ACCIAIOLO

• CHURCH OF SAN GIUSTO A SIGNANO
  T1 - Nenni-Torregalli

A small church dating back to the year 1000, which guards over a gem: an altar-piece depicting the Madonna with Child among Saints Peter and Paul and Angels attributed to Bernardo Daddi.

CHIESA DI SAN GIUSTO A SIGNANO