Piazzale Michelangelo (Michelangelo Square) is a square with a panoramic view of Florence.  It was designed by the architect Giuseppe Poggi and built in 1869 on a hill just south of the historic center

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Turn your back on the bevy of ticky-tacky souvenir stalls flogging David statues and boxer shorts and take in the spectacular city panorama from this vast square, pierced by one of Florence's two David copies. Sunset here is particularly dramatic. It's a 10-minute uphill walk along the serpentine road, paths and steps that scale the hillside from the Arno and Piazza Giuseppe Poggi; from Piazza San Niccolò walk uphill and bear left up the long flight of steps signposted Viale Michelangelo. Or take bus 13 from Stazione di Santa Maria Novella.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Torre San Niccolò

0.14 MILES

Built in 1324, the best preserved of the city’s medieval gates stands sentinel on the banks of the Arno. In summer, with a guide you can scale the steep…

2. Basilica di San Miniato al Monte

0.2 MILES

Five minutes' walk uphill from Piazzale Michelangelo is this wonderful Romanesque church, dedicated to St Minius, an early-Christian martyr in Florence…

3. Clet

0.28 MILES

Should you notice something gone awry with street signs in Oltrarno – on a No Entry sign, a tiny black figure stealthily sneaking away with the white bar…

4. Palazzo de' Mozzi

0.41 MILES

Pope Gregory X stayed at this early-Renaissance palazzo (palace) when brokering peace between the Guelps and Ghibellines in the 13th century.

5. Basilica di Santa Croce

0.46 MILES

The austere interior of this Franciscan basilica is a shock after the magnificent neo-Gothic facade enlivened by varying shades of coloured marble. Most…

6. Museo Horne

0.46 MILES

One of the many eccentric Brits who made Florence home in the early 20th century, Herbert Percy Horne bought and renovated this Renaissance palazzo, then…

7. Villa e Giardino Bardini

0.48 MILES

This 17th-century villa and garden was named after 19th-century antiquarian art collector Stefano Bardini (1836–1922), who bought it in 1913 and restored…

8. Piazza di Santa Croce

0.49 MILES

This square was cleared in the Middle Ages to allow the faithful to gather when the church itself was full. In Savonarola's day, heretics were executed…