The Palazzo Medici-Riccardi

A Medici palace with a gorgeous early Renaissance frescoed chapel

* The Palazzo Medici-Riccardi
Via Cavour at Via de' Gori
tel. +39-055-276-0340
www.palazzo-medici.it
Thurs–Tues 9am–7pm
Adm

Tours of the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi
• Context: The Medici: Portrait of a Family

Sights nearby
* San Lorenzo [church]
*** San Lorenzo Leather Market [market]
*** Duomo group [church/museum]
Mercato Centrale [food market]
* San Marco [church/museum]
*** Accademia [museum]

Where to eat nearby
* Da Nerbone [snack]
* Da Mario [meal]
* Trattoria Za-Za [meal]
* La Mescita [light meal]

Hotels nearby
Hotel Europa [cheap/moderate]
Hotel Columba [cheap/moderate]
Reid Recommends Hotel Casci [moderate/premier]
Hotel Fenice Palace [cheap]
Relais Il Campanile del Duomo [super-cheap/cheap]
Bed and Breakfast Novecento [cheap]
First of Florence [moderate]
» More hotels near Palazzo Medici

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Intrepid Travel
Intrepid Travel 2011 Italy trips
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iExplore
iExplore Italy trips 2011
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• Magical Tuscany & Portofino Peninsula (10 days)
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Palazzo Medici-Riccardi
Palazzo Medici-RiccardiNot really a museum (though it hosts many temporary exhibits), but a nice stopover when you're in the neighborhood—which is likely; the main tourist office is right next-door.

This was the main Medici family palace in town, built in 1445–55 by early Renaissance genius Michelozzo for the founding patriarch of the Medici clan, Cosimo "Il Vecchio" de' Medici. (He's the one who raised the Medici from being one-among-many of the city's money-lenders to become bankers to the kings of Europe and the Papal curia in Rome and—the de facto rulers of Florence.)

The Gozzoli frescoes in the Magi Chapel and the Galleria frescoes

The palazzo is most famous these days for the small family Chapel of the Magi, frescoed in 1459 by early Renaissance great Benozzo Gozzoli with a vibrant, 360-degree depiction of the Procession of the Magi but populated by Medici and other famous Florentines of the age.

The Procession of teh Magi frescoes by Benozo Gozzoli in the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi.
The Procession of the Magi frescoes by Benozzo Gozzoli in the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi.Nearby is the Galleria, a much larger chamber (sporadically open), its ceiling frescoed by Luca Giordano with a self-aggrandizing Apotheosis of the Medici Family. It's impressive—in a busy, baroque way—and that's about it.

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