Florence: An Ever-Blooming Retreat

In the first century BCE, the Romans appropriately renamed this former Etruscan town Florentia, or destined to flower. With this blessing, Florence (Firenze) remained faithful to its namesake to become the unrivaled authority of Renaissance art, literature and culture. The romantic narrow passages of the city's core hold timeless treasures that gracefully dissolve the rest of the world's troubled existence. Travel to Florence for a truly authentic Renaissance experience.

Soaring high above the city skyline, the Duomo Santa Maria del Fiore is the quintessential emblem of Florence's architectural prestige. The fourth largest cathedral in the world transcends all boundaries of Renaissance aesthetics and principles. Finally completed by Brunelleschi in 1436, the munificent red-tile dome with intricate interior frescoes rivals the glory of Michelangelo's St. Peter's Cathedral in the Vatican. Laden with white, green and red marble, Giotto's Bell Tower crowns the enormous fa