Summary: Lavishly decorated and fully furnished, Pitti Palace remains one of the most extraordinary residences in the world, undoubtedly the grandest of all Renaissance palaces. Today its countless rambling rooms house several museums, the most important of which is the Palatine Gallery, whose beautiful salons are filled from floor to ceiling with paintings from the Medici private collection. It is one of the largest and most important museums in the world containing works of Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian, Botticelli, Lippi, Tintoretto, Peter Paul Rubins, and others. The palace and its courtyard were the focus for dazzling public royal events and celebrations, including the weddings, baptisms and funerals of the Grand Dukes of Tuscany and the Kings of Italy. Despite the fact that the Pitti Palace has hosted all of the ruling families of Florence, Tuscany, and Italy from the 16th century on, the Medici’s, Lorraine’s, Bourbon's, Bonaparte’s, and Savoy’s, the Florentines who are conservative by nature have always refused to call it a royal palace. This is track one of a multi-track tour, to download the complete tour, visit www.tourcaster.com.
