The iris are blooming at the English Cemetery in Florence

This is the season in which the iris blooms.  Alas, we are at the beginning of Phase 2 here in Italy and can’t enter spaces like the English cemetery or the Boboli Gardens yet.  Still, I wanted to have a look, even from the outside.

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Bye, sweet place.  I’ll be back to see you soon from the inside as well!

Florence, wonderful Florence!

Oh, how I have missed you! Your hidden secrets and outward beauties!

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The Albizi family headquarters; they were the mortal enemies of the Medici family:

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The Valori Altoviti Palace was built in the 15th century by the Albizzi family. The palazzo was taken away from the family after the exile of Rinaldo Albizzi, who had opposed Cosimo il Vecchio in a frantic struggle for power.

The palazzo was purchased by the Valori, and the humanist Baccio Valori had a new palace constructed at the end of the 16th century, bringing together this palace, a Strozzi palace, and another residence.

On the new façade, Baccio Valori had the stelae painted by Giovan Battista Caccini with the busts of 15 illustrious men, but little known by the people, who called it the Palazzo Visacci  (nasty faces). The palazzo was restored in the 18th century, and later became the property of the Altoviti family.

 

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Vault of the blind.