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Galileo Museum Tour with Santa Croce

Learn how the Medici family's patronage contributed to scientific discovery
From US$425 privately
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Tour Details
Duration
3 hours
Product Type
Tour
Venues
  • Museo Galileo
  • Basilica of Santa Croce - Pazzi Chapel
Photos & Highlights
  • Focus on the growth of scientific progress and humanism during the Renaissance
  • Led by a social or art historian
Select a date
Tour Description
The rule of the Medici family in Renaissance-era Florence led to an explosion of scientific progress and the rise of humanism. This Galileo and science in Renaissance Florence tour, led by a social or art historian, will introduce you to sites around the city, including the Galileo Museum, that stand as testament to this era of intellectual progress. The Medicis Cosimo I and Ferdinand I were fervent patrons of the sciences, especially astronomy. Under their rule, Florence became a shining beacon for experimentation, which the Roman church was frantically trying to suppress with the Inquisition. At the same time, humanism, stemming from the study of ancient Greek and Latin texts, was a new way of thinking about a man’s place in the world, and became a recurring theme in Renaissance literature, art and society.

Galileo Museum Florence Tour

We begin our walk at the Museo Galileo, where the most important Medicean collections of scientific instruments are preserved (for more on the great family, see our Florence Medici tour). The greatest among these collections include some of the original instruments that Galileo Galilei, one of the most outstanding figures of the scientific revolution, used for his groundbreaking experiments. Our encounter with Galileo will shed some light on the Medicean systems of patronage, and on the way in which scientists shaped their own image inside a court.

Hitting the Streets

After visiting the museum, we will head to the center of town in order to trace the role of humanism in Renaissance Florence; be it through the poetry of Dante and Petrarch, a discussion of the drastic changes in the art of the period, or of the growing interest in the study of the traditional liberal arts.

To further explore the life of the great author, try our Dante Tour.

Take Aways

This walk is intended, in true humanist ideology, to present an in-depth and well-rounded view of these groundbreaking intellectual developments and the various Florentine characters who played a large role in spurring on this change.

If you are interested in further exploring Renaissance-era Florence, you will enjoy our Renaissance Tour Florence, a look at the daily lives of average Florentines during the era.

Where You'll Start
96 Reviews (4.49)

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Martino was great. He was knowledgeable and made the tour very interesting. I enjoy science and history and so found this to be a nice change of pace from the Ufizzi. Martino was not put off by any of my questions and handled questions well. However my companion was not as interested in the subject matter and so this was for her the least interesting tour of the all of the tours that we took in Florence.
Martino was great. Very dry sense of humor which we appreciated.
It was fantastic. Martino did a fantastic job. We learnt so much. Thank you