Former residence of the powerful Medici rulers, Pitti Palace sits south of the River Arno. Today it houses the Palatine Gallery, with its astonishingly lavish Royal Apartments, the Gallery of Modern Art and the Porcelain Museum, among many other attractions.
Commissioned by merchant Luca Pitti and designed by Filippo Brunelleschi around 1440, the mighty Palazzo Pitti is an interminably vast complex of more than 32,000 square metres. It was bought by the Medicis in 1550 and since then the history of architectural modifications to the place reads like a Who's Who of Italian architectural history.
The Palatine Gallery contains more than 1000 paintings by Europe's greatest painters, which can easily compete with the Uffizi in the quality of exhibited artworks. The Gallery of Modern Art has works from the 18th and 19th centuries and includes those of the Macchiaioli, a group of Florentine artists whose work was characterised by spots.
Crystal vases, reliquaries and handcrafted precious objects are preserved in the opulent Silver Museum, while the Costume Gallery details the Florentine fashion trends from the 17th century until the present day. The Carriage Museum, the Porcelain Museum and the botanically perfect Boboli Garden are also well worth a visit.