Italy - justin spratt

Florence - Florence is the capital of the region of Tuscany, on Italy's north-west coast. Florence was founded as a colony of the Etruscan city of Fiesole in about 200 BC, later becoming the Roman Florentia, a garrison town controlling the Via Flaminia. In the early 12th century the city became a free commune and by 1138 it was ruled by 12 consuls, assisted by the Council of One Hundred, a bunch of rich merchants. In 1207, due to intractable problems with faction fighting, the council was replaced by a foreign (and thus allegedly unbiased) governor, the podestà.

In the 13th century the pro-papal Guelphs and pro-imperial Ghibellines started a century-long bout of bickering, which wound up with the Guelphs forming their own government in the 1250s. By 1292 Florence had had it with the obstreperous nobles, excluding them from government. The city became increasingly democratised, eventually becoming a commercial republic controlled by the Guelph-heavy merchant class.

The great plague of 1348 cut the city's population by almost half and really messed with people's heads. In the latter part of the 14th century the Medicis began consolidating power, eventually becoming bankers to the papacy. Cosimo Medici -patron of artists such as Donatello, Brunelleschi, Fra Angelico and Filippo Lippi -became ruler of Florence. Perhaps the most famous Medici was Lorenzo, grandson of Cosimo, who took power in 1469. His court fostered a great flowering of art, music and poetry, and Lorenzo sponsored philosophers and artists such as Botticelli, da Vinci and Michelangelo.

In 1494 the Medicis went broke and lost their hold on power. The city fell under the control of Girolamo Savonarola, a Dominican monk who led a puritanical republic until he fell from public favour and was burned as a heretic in 1498. The Medicis returned to Florence in the 16th century, having united themselves by marriage with Emperor Charles V, and ruled for the next 200 years. In 1737 the Grand Duchy of Tuscany passed to the House of Lorraine, which was incorporated into the Kingdom of Italy in 1860. Florence became capital of the Kingdom, and remained so until Rome took over in 1875.

Team Florence - at the Boboli gardens

Team dinner in Florence

Just arrived - just ahead, is Ponte Vecchio

Ponte Vecchio - the sign

Ponte Vecchio - famous hoping destination in Europe. The bridge was the only one in the city to escape destruction during WWII.

The Boboli Gardens

The boys and their friend at the Gardens ;)

Renaissance Porn

The Duomo - The building took almost two centuries to build (and even then the façade wasn't completed until the 19th century), and is the fourth-largest cathedral in the world. The enormous dome was designed by Brunelleschi, and its interior features frescoes and stained-glass windows by some of the Renaissance-era's best: Vasari, Zuccari, Donatello, Uccello and Ghiberti. Take a deep breath and climb up to take a closer look, and you'll be rewarded by fantastic views of the city and an insight into how the dome was so cleverly constructed - without scaffolding

The Medussa

Florentine Skyline

View from Ufizzi - Some of the most famous pieces Botticelli's Birth of Venus, Titian's Venus of Urbino, Michelangelo's Holy Family and Piero della Francesca's Duke & Duchess of Urbino.

Rhys and Bjort...again

The Streets of Florence

Statue of David - one

Statue of David - two

General

Roman Pub crawl- boys

Webby singing for the crowds at one of the clubs

Webby doing his East End impersonation

I Don't remember this photo or the Front Line candidate next to me

Some Romans

Port Stefano, at dusk, filling up and on the way to Pisa

The look bemusement - are bored of the Chickspeak, Rhys? :)

Hmmm

This site is intended for Justin's friends and family.