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Florence, Italy

Florence, the heart of a civilization, a nucleus of the world's artistic patrimony, was founded in the pre-Roman era, along the banks of the Arno; the river which near Arezzo makes a wide turn northward, flowing through Florence and onward toward the sea, toward the routes of commerce, adventure, and knowledge.

The Romans called it Florentia, paying homage to the goddess Flora, given it's lush hillsides, as well as to evoke, even if symbolically, the flourishing of the city (the lily is still the symbol of the city's flag and shield).

Florence, from as far back as 1200 was the stage for numerous radical and profound cultural revolutions. We have Dante Alighieri to thank for the birth of the Italian language as well as the history of modern prose through his poetry and the work of Giovanni Boccaccio. Humanism was founded here and affirmed the vastness of its panorama of knowledge. Leonardo da Vinci established here his laboratories of artistic and scientific experimentation. Sandro Botticelli translated poetry into pictorial visions. Michelangelo Buonarroti became an authentic example of the formal and philosophic significance of the Renaissance. Lorenzo de'Medici succeeded in attributing economic and political value to art and culture, inviting and sending abroad, as if ambassadors, the most brilliant talents and minds of Europe. In the rooms of the Pitti Palace, the tradition of the melodrama or opera, found its beginnings.

Today, Florence has remained coherent to its past and has not become an industrial city, as have Milan or Turin. Instead it has remained a point of reference for good taste and new design (along with Paris, Florence is still a European fashion capital, hosting numerous fashion shows throughout the year.) Proof is easily found, just by walking around the city; from Porta Romana to Via de'Bardi, from Santa Maria Novella to Santa Croce, from Via Roma to the Ponte Vecchio, from the San Frediano quarter to Borgo Ognissanti: the lines of conjunction are the meridians and parallels of a city that offers everything from antiques to the most modern design and imposes a dimension of life and of thought that is unique in Italy, and can be likened to the incredible flavor of its simple, rustic cuisine, or to the elegant sobriety of the façade of Florentine palazzo.

Tourist Guide Elon Students Fall 2009

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The City