Florence and the Medici Family, My Europe Memories 4.4 佛罗伦萨与美第奇家族（上）- 欧洲记忆之四

Florence is my favorite city in Italy. Walking in the city is just like wandering in an open history and art museum.

Michelangelo Square / Piazzale Michelangelo / 米开朗琪罗广场

After taking a hundred photos with the Leaning Tower in Pisa, we drove all the way to the Michelangelo Square.

As you can tell from the name, this plaza was built to memorize the Renaissance giant Michelangelo. A copy of the famous sculpture David is right in the center of the square.

Most importantly, you can have a panoramic view of Florence from the Michelangelo Square.

What an amazing first impression of Florence!

佛罗伦萨是我最喜欢的意大利城市。行走在佛罗伦萨就像是漫步于一座开放的博物馆和美术馆。

跟斜塔拍了无数照片后，吃了个饭（当年还没有给食物拍照的习惯），我们便驱车直奔米开朗琪罗广场。

顾名思义，这座广场是纪念文艺复兴巨匠米开朗琪罗的。广场中央矗立着大卫像的青铜复制品。最重要的是，这里可以俯瞰佛罗伦萨全景。
一眼望去，老桥、圣母百花大教堂、旧宫等都尽收眼底。

这就是我们对佛罗伦萨的第一印象，惊艳到不行。

We then went to the hotel and concluded our day with watching one random TV episode happily. Neither of us knew Italian. We just guessed what was going on like the guys in Friends did when they watched an Spanish-speaking TV together.

We got a busy schedule for the next day. But since the attractions are close to each other, and Italy just has the magic power to let you feel so relaxed that we didn’t feel tired at all.

看了夜景，回旅馆看了一会儿意大利电视剧，不懂意大利语的一群人猜了猜情节——参考老友记里众人看西语电视剧的场景，便结束了这一天。

第二天看上去行程密集，但是因为离得都很近，而且意大利有一种让人放松的迷之环境，所以走下来并不觉得累。

But first, the Medici family / 美第奇家族

Source: wikimedia

I highly recommend you read about the Medici family before you visit Florence. The Medici had massive impact to the city between the 15th – 18th century. The Medici’s are the Godfathers of the Renaissance. Florence may not be the way it is without them.

There’s a Netflix show called Medici. Some criticize that it does not follow the history. At least you can get a rough idea on the family if you don’t like reading.

In short, the Medici family proliferated from banking, then expanded their influence in politics, religions, and art.

You should know at least three people from the family:

• Giovanni de’ Medici, founder of the Medici Bank
• Giovanni's son Cosimo, who supported the building of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore
• Cosimo’s grandson Lorenzo, who ruled the city during the peak of the Renaissance and was called Lorenzo the Magnificent (Lorenzo il Magnifico).

我觉得去佛罗伦萨之前了解下美第奇家族还是很有必要的，毕竟在长达三个世纪的巨大影响力之下，这个城市角角落落都留着这个家族的痕迹。甚至可以说没有美第奇家族，就没有佛罗伦萨的今天。

Netflix上有个剧叫美第奇家族，剧情略狗血，不过可以了解个大概。有时间看看书故事还是很精彩的。

简言之，美第奇家族的发迹于经商，通过美第奇银行飞黄腾达。从银行家开始，逐步扩大自身影响力到政治、宗教、艺术等领域，成为佛罗伦萨，意大利乃至欧洲的名门望族。

历史很长，大概知道三个人就不至于看到名字也不知庐山真面目了——

• 乔凡尼，第一个进入银行业务的美第奇家人，从他开启了家族影响力。
• 乔凡尼的儿子科西莫。科西莫家族分支一直统治佛罗伦萨，科西莫本人促成了圣母百花大教堂穹顶的建造。
• 科西莫的孙子洛伦佐。他是文艺复兴时期佛罗伦萨的实际统治者，被称为“伟大的洛伦佐”。

OK, let's continue our journey in Florence.

那么就继续我们的佛罗伦萨之旅吧。

San Lorenzo Square / Piazza San Lorenzo / 圣洛伦佐广场

The Basilica di San Lorenzo on the San Lorenzo Square is one of the largest churches of Florence, located at the center of the city’s main market district. All the principle members of the Medici family were buried here.

圣洛伦佐大殿（Basilica di San Lorenzo）是佛罗伦萨最大的教堂之一，位于市中心商业区，是美第奇家族主要成员的安葬地。

Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore / Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore/圣母百花大教堂

The Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore is one of the most beautiful cathedral I’ve ever visited. The colorful exterior decorations in white, green and pink marbles make it unique.

The construction started in 1296 and finished in 1436 with the dome. The Netflix show was trying to tell the long story behind how the dome was built.

Make sure you arrive early in the morning if you want to go inside. The line waiting to enter the cathedral can be very looooooooong.

圣母百花大教堂的主教座堂始建于1296年，历经波折于1436年随着穹顶的完工而最终落成。Netflix的美第奇家族一剧就试图讲述穹顶建造背后的故事。

圣母百花大教堂是我见过最美的教堂之一（米兰篇里讲了最美的教堂是米兰大教堂，其实现在想想好像圣母百花大教堂更美点）。跟其他教堂不同的是圣母百花大教堂色彩斑斓的外表，由色调深浅不同的白、绿和粉红多色的大理石块铺砌而成，非常独特。

如果你想进去教堂内部参观请务必赶早，不然队伍很长很长很长很长很长。

TBC. I'll talk about the Republic Square, the Signoria Square, Ponte Vecchio, the Bardini Gardens and the Boboli Gardens in next post.
待续。下篇将讲到共和广场、领主广场、老桥和阿诺河左岸的两座花园。