14 Iconic Buildings to Explore in Tuscany

Casa Buonarroti is one of the most extraordinary Florentine museums. It was also a place to remember and celebrate the greatness of Michelangelo and at the same time a pompous and Baroque exhibition of the art collections of the family. ts collections include two of Michelangelo's earliest sculptures, the Madonna of the Stairs and the Battle of the Centaurs. A ten-thousand book library and so more.

The Brolio castle is located in Brolio, near San Regolo, in the municipality of Gaiole in Chianti, in the province of Siena. The imposing building is positioned on the back of a hillock that branches off from a western spur of the high Chianti mountains between Monte Fienali and Monte Luco Berardenga, flanked by the Malena and Dudda streams, tributaries of the Arbia.

This tall structure halfway down Via dei Calzaiuoli looks more like a Gothic warehouse than a church—which is exactly what it was, built as a granary/grain market in 1337. On the ground floor of the square building are the 13th-century arches that originally formed the loggia of the grain market. The second floor was devoted to offices, while the third housed one of the city's municipal grain storehouses, maintained to withstand famine or siege.

The Torre Guinigi is a tower in Lucca, Tuscany, central Italy. It is a typical example of local Romanesque-Gothic architecture. The height of the tower is 45 meters with a total of 232 steps to reach the top. This tower was built in the 1300s by the Guinigi family. They planted Holm oaks on its summit to represent rebirth and renewal. It was built in or around 1384 by wealthy silk merchants, and, although no one knows exactly how old the rooftop garden is.

The Hospital of Innocents is a building located in Piazza Santissima Annunziata in Florence. The hospital was born thanks to a bequest of a thousand florins from the Prato merchant Francesco Datini to the Hospital of Santa Maria Nova to create a place of welcome for abandoned children. The term "hospital" derives from the ancient Florentine dialect, while the name should be understood as "hospital for abandoned children", referring to the biblical episode of the massacre of the innocents.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is one of the most remarkable architectural structures from medieval Europe. It is one of the four buildings that make up the cathedral complex in Pisa, Italy, called Campo dei Miracoli or Piazza dei Miracoli, which means Field of Miracles. The height of the tower is 55.86 meters from the ground on the low side and 56.67 meters on the high side. It was one of the notable architectural wonders in this area and it attracts a lot of tourists here.

Palazzo Controni-Pfanner is located on the edge of the Walls of Lucca, with access from Via Degli Asili 33. The courtyard of Palazzo Pfanner seems to be tailor-made for hosting events. The residence of Palazzo Pfanner, the only part of the building currently open to visitors, contains a large central hall frescoed in the 1920s by the quadraturist Pietro Paolo Scorsini, from which side rooms embellished with period furniture, fine furnishings, and objects branch off.

The Palazzo Vecchio is the main symbol of the civil power for the city of Florence, whose original project is attributed to Arnolfo di Cambio. Construction on the solid fortress began in 1299 above the ruins of the destroyed Uberti Ghibelline towers, the testimony of the final victory of the Guelph faction. From 1865 to 1871 it housed the Chamber of Deputies of the Kingdom of Italy, and since 1872 it has been the town hall.

Piazza Dei Cavalieri, is an important landmark in Italy, being one of the squares of Pisa. A political center in medieval times, the place holds significance due to the fact that it used to be the headquarters of the Order of the Knights. The Knights of St. Stephen built this society in the middle of the 16th century. Now it is a centre of education, being the main house of the Scuola Normale di Pisa, a higher learning institution part of the University.

Palazzo Pitti is an imposing Renaissance palace in Florence. It is located in the Oltrarno area, a short distance from Ponte Vecchio. The original core of the building dates back to 1458, as the urban residence of the banker Luca Pitti. The palace was then purchased by the Medici family in 1549 and became the main residence of the Grand Dukes of Tuscany, first Medici and from 1737 Habsburg-Lorraine.

The Palazzo Medici is a Renaissance palace located in Florence, Italy. It is the seat of the Metropolitan City of Florence and a museum. It was well known for its stone masonry, which includes architectural elements of rustication and ashlar. The palazzo is divided into different floors. The ground floor contains two courtyards, chambers, anti-chambers, studies, lavatories, kitchens, wells, secret and public staircases and on each floor there are other rooms meant for family.

Torre Dei Lamberti is the tallest tower in Verona and an important piece of Verona’s incredible urban structure. Standing 84 meters high the Lamberti Tower is the best place to get a full panoramic view of the UNESCO Listed city of Verona. Climb the 368 steps to the top of the 12th-century tower on a clear day and you’ll be able to make out the mountains of the Lessinia Regional Park off to the north.

Torre del Mangia is a magnificent tower in the Tuscan city of Siena, Italy. The tower took a whole decade to be constructed and became the stronghold of many governors in its time. It was built between the years of 1338 and 1348. The place holds a scenic charm to it, which adds to the city’s magnificent architecture and is situated in Piazza del Campo.

Villa Bardini, formerly Villa Manadora, is located on the San Giorgio 2 coast in Florence. Today it is an exhibition center that hosts temporary exhibitions, the Capucci Museum and the Annigoni Museum. The garden of the villa is the spectacular Bardini garden, which can now be visited separately with the same ticket as the Boboli Gardens. Furthermore, there is the Bardinicontemporanea space always open with free admission, which offers exhibitions of contemporary art and visual art in combinatio