Top 50 best museums in Florence

The Uffizi Gallery in Florence holds a huge collection of valuable works mostly from the Italian Renaissance. The building was designed by Giorgio Vasari in 1560 for Cosimo I de' Medici, the second Duke of Florence, to house administrative offices and the state archive. Over the time, the Medici fam

Giotto's Bell Tower, located in Duomo Square in Florence, Italy, is a standalone bell tower that forms part of the complex complementing the Florence Cathedral. This architectural marvel is a significant part of Florence's Gothic architecture and is worth a visit for its rich plastic arts decoration and colorful marble plating.

The Accademia Gallery in Florence was founded in 1784 and holds Michelangelo's masterpiece - the statue of David. Apart from this famous sculpture, it holds other artworks by Michelangelo and a collection of Renaissance paintings. The marble statue of the Biblical hero David was created between 1501

Museo Nazionale del Bargello is a museum in Florence that is housed in a 13th-century palace which is the oldest public building in Florence. It opened as a national museum in 1865 after it was used as barracks, a prison, and finally the residence of the Bargello, the head of the police. The art gal

Located just behind the cathedral, the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo was founded in 1891 to hold the works of art that were originally decorating the Baptistry of San Giovanni, the Duomo and Giotto's Bell Tower. There are over 750 medieval and Renaissance statues and reliefs situated over three floors

Museo Galileo is a museum in Florence where visitors can learn about the history of science. Housed in Palazzo Castellani, the museum boasts a great collection of scientific instruments from the Medici Collection dating back to the 15th century. The permanent exhibition is devoted to Galileo, even G

Museo di San Marco is an art museum in Florence that is housed in a medieval Dominican convent designed in the 15th century by a notable Italian architect Michelozzo, one of the pioneers of Renaissance architecture in Florence. The extensive collection of artworks contains paintings and frescoes by

The Vasari Corridor in Florence is an enclosed passageway that was built in 1565 by Cosimo I de' Medici. Linking the Palazzo Pitti and the Palazzo Vecchio, this corridor is decorated with paintings by Raphael, Bernini, Rubens, and Rembrandt. There are windows in the middle of Ponte Vecchio that off

The Galleria Palatinain Florence is the main gallery of the Pitti Palace that contains more than 500 Renaissance paintings from the private art collection of the Medici family. It was first opened to the public by the House of Lorraine in 1828. The collection includes masterpieces by Raphael, Titian

The Stibbert Museum in Florence holds and exhibits a collection of over 36,000 artifacts, including a large collection of armour from Eastern and Western civilizations. The museum is housed in a villa that was once the home of English art collector and businessma Frederick Stibbert. It has 57 rooms

Located in the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine, the Brancacci Chapel is notable for its outstanding frescoes made by Masaccio and Masolino, great Italian Renaissance painters. The work on the chapel was finished by Filippino Lippi. Some of the highlights include The Temptation of Adam and Eve and

Built in the 14th century by the wealthy Davizzi family, the Palazzo Davanzati is layered with history. The palace houses the Museum of the Old Florentine House and is the best-preserved medieval home in Florence and was furnished with art and furniture from that period. After restoration in 2012, i

La Specola - Museum of Zoology and Natural History is a natural history museum in Florence. The name is a reference to the astronomical observatory founded here in 1790. The museum's collection is based on the Medici Natural History Collection and is best known for its collection of anatomical wax m

As there were a lot of abandoned babies in the 1400s, Florence needed to establish an institution which would take care of them. This Renaissance complex, the Spedale degli Innocenti, was built in the 1440s to serve as a children's orphanage and operated as one until the 19th century. It was designe

The Renaissance palace Palazzo Medici Riccardi was built by Michelozzo di Bartolomeo for Cosimo de' Medici between 1444 and 1484. He moved to Palazzo Vecchio in 1540, but part of the Medici family stayed here until 1659 when Ferdinando II sold it to the Riccardi family, a rich family of bankers who

The Opificio delle Pietre Dure is a public institute of the Italian Ministry for Cultural Heritage in Florence. The operating and research activities of the Opificio are focused on the fields of restoration, preservation of works of art and the teaching of restoration. The museum is housed in the ro

The Museo Salvatore Ferragamo is dedicated to the renowned shoe designer Salvatore Ferragamo. Ferragamo emigrated to the United States and ended up in Hollywood where he worked with many stars in the 1920s. After that, he returned to Italy and founded a company selling unique handmade shoes and othe

Established in 2011, the Gucci Museum - Gucci Garden is devoted to the renowned Florentine fashion house founded in 1921. It's housed in a 14th-century palace and showcases plenty of goods including bags, clothes, and jewelry. The museum also contains contemporary art installations, a library, a caf

The Museo Bardini (Bardini Museum) is a musuem in FLorence that houses a collection of more than 3600 works, including paintings, sculptures, armor, musical instruments, ceramics, coins, medals and antique furniture. Two rooms on the ground floor are dedicated to Florence and its history, with some

The Museo Archeologico Nazionale (The national Archaeology Museum) in Florence is housed in a 17th-century palace, containing collections of Etruscan, Roman, Greek, Egyptian artworks and everyday items. The Egyptian Museum is housed on the first floor, recently expanded with two halls dedicated to C

The Florence Charterhouse is a charterhouse or Carthusian monastery in Florence, a walled complex located on Monte Acuto. It was founded in 1341 by the Florentine noble Niccolò Acciaioli. Florence Charterhouse now holds lunettes from the cloister, frescoed by Pontormo.

Museo del Cenacolo di Andrea del Sarto in Florence boasts a remarkable piece called 'The Last Supper' which covers more than 40 square meters. The painter Andrea del Sarto worked over eight years on his masterpiece. Some of his other artworks are on display as well.

The Tesoro dei Granduchi (Treasure of the Grand Dukes) is part of the Palazzo Pitti complex in Florence. Established in the second half of the 19th century, it is housed in the northern side wing of the main building and extends over 14 rooms on the ground floor and 13 rooms at the mezzanine floor a

The Basilica di Santa Croce is one of the most important churches of Florence and is considered one of the most beautiful Gothic basilicas of Italy. It is the largest Franciscan church in the world and because of all the burial monuments inside, the church functions as the pantheon of Florence. In t

Casa Buonarroti is an estate in Florence that was once owned by the great sculptor Michelangelo, but who never lived here. The property was given to his nephew and later turned into a museum devoted to Michelangelo's early artworks - most notably the relief sculptures Madonna of the Steps and the Ba

Museo di Casa Martelli in FLorence is housed in Palazzo Martelli, a former residential palace. This civic museum exhibits in situ the remains of the original family's valuable art collection, as well as its frescoed rooms. The collection includes works by di Cosimo, Francia, Morandini, Rosa , Giorda

The Novecento Museum (Museo Novecento) is located in Florence, inside the ancient Spedale delle Leopoldine. It is dedicated to 20th century Italian art and has about 300 works on display in 15 rooms.

If you want to see lesser known artworks of Florence, visit the Chiostro dello Scalzo and discover its hidden gems. This cloister served as the entrance to the chapel of the Confraternity of St. John the Baptist in the 14th century. Highlights are the beautiful frescoes depicting the life of St. Joh

The Leonardo Da Vinci Museum in Florence displays a collection of interactive machines based on the original sketches of Renaissance artist Leonardo Da Vinci.

The Museo Horne is a museum that is housed in the former Palazzo Corsi in Florence that holds a collection that mainly consists of art and furnishings of the 14th and 15th centuries. The collection includes ancient artifacts, sculptures, painted chests and a notable collection of manuscripts and pai

University of Florence Natural History Museum - Geology and Paleontology is the part of the University of Florence Natural History Museum that holds around 200,000 specimens from the collections of noted geologists and paleontologists. A highlight in the museum is the vertebrate fossil collection (2

The Museo Marino Marini museum in Florence is devoted to Marino Marini, a 20th-century Italian sculptor born in the Tuscan town of Pistoia. Spread over four floors in a former 9th-century church, the museum exhibits about two hundred pieces of his artworks organized in a thematic order. The collecti

The Cenacolo di Fuligno is a museum in Florence that is dedicated to the great Last Supper by Pietro Perugino, in the refectory of the former convent of Sant'Onofrio, also known as the nuns of Foligno. In addition to The Last Supper of Perugino on the back wall of the refectory, the museum is dedica

The The Costume Gallery in Florence is part of the Pitti Palace complex, located in the wing called the Palazzina della Meridiana. Devoted to fashion, its exhibitions illustrate the evolution of fashion from the 16th to the early 20th century. The collection contains more than 6,000 items, including

The Museum of Anthropology and Ethnology (Museo Nazionale di Antropologia ed Etnologia) is a museum in FLorence that is housed in Palazzo Nonfinito. The museum holds around 15,000 ethnological pieces and 6,100 anthropological pieces and a photographic collection with 26,000 prints and 7,000 negative

Museo Casa Rodolfo Siviero is a museum in Florence that is dedicated to Rodolfo Siviero, who was an Italian secret agent and art historian who was most notable for his work in recovering artworks stolen from Italy during the Second World War. Rodolfo Siviero left his house and all the assets contain

The Porcelain Museum is located in the Boboli Gardens in Florence. The museum holds a great collection of porcelain that was once in possession of the ruling families - the Medici, Lorraine, and Savoy. The items on display originate from different periods and are not only from Italy, but also from A

The Santo Stefano al Ponte is a Romanesque-style, Roman Catholic church in Florence. The church is used as a concert hall and features various artworks, while the Diocesan Museum of Sacred Art, housed in the rectory and adjacent spaces to the church of Santo Stefano al Ponte houses a collection of w

The Museo del Calcio is a sports museum in Florence that is dedicated to the history of the Italy national football team. The museum is housed in a builidng of the Centro Tecnico Federale di Coverciano, the central training ground and technical headquarters of the Italian Football Federation. The co