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Pitti Palace

  • Florence, Tuscany, Italy

Last updated: 21 July, 2024

Florence’s most imposing building was once home to the Medici court and later to the Savoy kings. Now this vast former palace houses multiple museums, the largest – and most important – of which is the Palatina Gallery.

The Palatina is laid out in a series of grand rooms on the first floor with fabulous frescoed ceilings under which hang masterworks by the likes of Raphael, Rubens, Botticelli and Van Dyck in elaborate gilded frames.

The other museums include the Treasury of the Grand Dukes, the Gallery of Modern Art and the Museum of Costume and Fashion. A new ground-floor gallery opened in late 2021 housing the oldest collection of Russian icons in Western Europe.

Don’t miss

Look out for Raphael’s Madonna of the Grand Duke and Holy Family (his last work) in the Sala di Saturno; paintings by Rubens, Tintoretto and Van Dyke in the Sala di Marte; the magnificent ceilings in the five ‘planet rooms’.

While you're there

Pair it with a visit to the Boboli Gardens next door. This shady green oasis in the centre of Florence is one of the most beautiful gardens in Italy.

Logistics

Price from: £9
Minimum age: 0
Age suitable: 18+
When: All year around

Getting there & doing it

The Pitti Palace lies south of the river, a 20-minute walk from Santa Maria Novella train station. Buses C3 and C4 stop in Piazza Pitti.

To avoid the summer queues, book in advance online or on a guided tour. See our recommendations below.

The entry ticket is also valid for the Gallery of Modern Art (exhibiting mainly Italian works from the late 18th century until WWI). A second ticket is required for the Costume Gallery, the Museum of Porcelain, and the Museum of Silver. Audio guides are available in 6 languages.

When to do it

The museums are open all year round, Tuesday to Sunday. Closed Monday. To avoid the crowds, visit at lunchtime or just before closing time.

Who to go with: organised tours

5

Our selection of the best Viator tours of this attraction or activity

  • Florence

See masterpieces by Raphael, Titian and other artists during a max 2-hour guided tour of the Palatine Gallery in Florence’s Pitti Palace (Palazzo Pitti). Breeze past the queues with your skip-the-line ticket and enter the royal abode, which was once home to the powerful Medici grand-dukes. Hear about the history of the Medici family and admire the stunning Renaissance collection of paintings, which are hung in elaborately decorated frescoed and stucco rooms. Numbers on this tour are limited to 16, ensuring you receive personalized attention.

Price €64

Min age 0

Rating 4.64 / 5 [194 ratings]

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  • Florence

In the company of an expert fluently English speaking, licensed guide, you will visit first the breathtaking Palatina Gallery, with splendid paintings by Raffaello, Tiziano, Artemisia Gentileschi, Van Dyck, Rubens, Caravaggio and then, after a short break, the wonderful Boboli Gardens, one of the first examples of socalled Italian Renaissance garden. Pitti Palace is the most splendid example of a Renaissance private palace. Enlarged through the centuries, it has maintened its external aspect absolutely unchanged, while the inner rooms do show different styles, depending on the families living in it: from the Pitti and Medici families to the Habsburg and Savoy family. An extraordinary hub of rooms so richly decorated with priceless paintings, furniture, frescoes and statues, revealing the immense passion for arts all members of the Medici family cultivated, whwere we can truly sense how power and imagination can interact.

Price €98

Min age 6

Rating 4.80 / 5 [165 ratings]

Tour supplied by:

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  • Florence

Pitti Palace at the time was the largest residence in Florence and also the most magnificent. Its ceilings are Amazing, with frescoes and stuccos, its rooms are rich in famous paintings, sculptures and secret corners.  Boboli monumental gardens are the best example in the world of an Italian garden.

Price €230

Min age 0

Rating 4.55 / 5 [34 ratings]

Tour supplied by:

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  • Florence

The Pitti Palace - Palazzo Nuovo as opposed to the Palazzo Vecchio, Old Palace - is where the Medici, and later the Lorraine Grand-Dukes made their homes. If we include the Kings of Italy, three reigning dynasties lived here. Impressive interiors, state rooms and bright frescoes are waiting for you at the Pitti Palace. You will find here one of the best painting collections of Florence, with masterpieces by Raphael, Rubens, Titian and Caravaggio. The Palatine Gallery at the Pitti Palace still has the character of a private collection. Items are in the same places they occupied during the Lorraine Period. The placement reflects their personal tastes rather than the now usual chronological museum disposition. The tour includes a walk through the Royal Apartments and the Museum of the Treasure of the Grand-ducal family. Big and small, all extremely precious, the objects on display are in such quantities that it might be even overwhelming!

Price €200

Min age 0

Rating 4.44 / 5 [9 ratings]

Tour supplied by:

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  • Florence

Guided Tour to the Palatine Gallery and the Royal Apartments, the private art collection of the Medici family inside of their last somptuos residence including remarkable masterpieces by Botticelli, Titian, Rubens, Caravaggio and many other Italian and European painters from the XVth to the XVIIth centuries. At the end of the guided tour, you will have the possibility to enter and visit by yourself the most famous renaissance gardens of the Town - the Boboli Gardens.

Price €149

Min age 0

Rating 5 / 5 [5 ratings]

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