The Medici: arts and power

The Medici are certainly not the only Florentines that are known to history as outstanding personalities. However, no other family has its destiny so inextricably and unequivocally intertwined with the city. Our guided tour will take you to the places where they revealed themselves as cunning bankers, shrewd rulers and ardent patrons.

Built by money and genius

• Medici Palace: a testimony to the achievements of Cosimo the Elder, the wealthy banker who assumed power in Florence, and subsequently the home of Lorenzo the Magnificent, the magnanimous patron of Verrocchio and Michelangelo
• San Lorenzo: the church that established the Medici as the undisputed trendsetters of the period  the period and ushered in the innovations of Renaissance architecture.  
• The Medici Chapels: the place where the rise and fall of the Medici family have been eternalized by the genius of Brunelleschi, Donatello and Michelangelo

Cunning, shrewd and ardent

The history of the Medici family is a compellingly and shockingly human one, a roller coaster of failure and success marked by formidable highs and infamous lows. The family can boast of some of the shrewdest masterminds of the Renaissance, such as Cosimo the Elder, but is equally shamed by some of the most inept personalities of the period, such as Piero the Unlucky. More than one of them became a Pope or a Queen of France, whereas others can be remembered, if at all, as petty criminals or loan sharks. Some of its grand dukes were born to rule, such as Cosimo I, while others were crushed under the weight of their own power, such as Gian Gastone. It is no surprise that with such dramatic twists and turns, the history of the family has attracted the attention of generations of historians and enthusiasts, while more recently becoming the subject of a successful television series worldwide. Visiting the places where the Medici lived, loved and died is a unique opportunity to experience their destiny first-hand and gain a truthful understanding of their moving history, going beyond the myths and false narratives the family have also attracted. 

Practical information

• The tour includes visits to the Palazzo Medici, the church of San Lorenzo and the Medici Chapels
• Availability: the details of the tour will be to some extent defined by a museum’s opening hours, but please feel free to ask any questions you may have on the programme
• Length: 3 hours are recommended; 2 hours are the minimum duration
• Rates: the basic, 3-hour tour is 240€; the compact, 2-hour tour is 180€. Rates are per tour and not per person
• Tickets and reservations are not included in our rates
• The tours are suitable for those using a wheelchair or with impaired mobility