Discover Empoli: Art, History and Glass
Accommodation in Empoli
Empoli combines sacred art, urban history, glass and the traces of the painter Pontormo to create a diverse cultural destination.
File:Turritella tricarinata, Empoli, Italia, 2021-01-15, DD 641-680 FS.jpg
Photo: Diego Delso via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Art and urban history in the centre of Empoli
Empoli’s historic centre is grouped around Piazza Farinata degli Uberti. The Museo della Collegiata di Sant’Andrea offers an important gateway to the city’s older art history. It was founded in 1859 and is one of the oldest ecclesiastical museums in Italy. The museum preserves several masterpieces from the churches of the Empoli Piviere, dating from the 13th to the 17th century.
Another chapter of the city’s history is told by the Museo del vetro di Empoli. It is housed in the Magazzino del Sale, one of the oldest buildings in the city, whose construction dates back to 1365. The exhibition focuses on the glass industry, which has strongly shaped Empoli’s cityscape and local economic development. In Empoli, sacred works and industrial history thus represent two different sides of the place.
The Museo Civico di Paleontologia expands the cultural spectrum to include natural history. Fossils and rocks from around the world are preserved and displayed there, together documenting the past two billion years of Earth’s history. This gives you a choice between art, local development and the vast timescales of the Earth’s history.
Pontormo in Pontorme
Casa del Pontormo is located in Pontorme, a district of Empoli. Jacopo Carucci, known as Pontormo, was born there in 1494 and spent his youth there. The house uses the multimedia installation “Quiete, silenzio e solitudine” to present Pontormo’s biography and artistic development as an immersive experience.
In addition, Casa del Pontormo displays facsimiles of preparatory drawings for the Pala dei Santi Giovanni Evangelista e Michele Arcangelo. Those interested in Renaissance art and the connection between life story, working process and artwork can trace Pontormo’s early ties to Empoli on several levels.
Empoli between cycling route and landscape
The Grand Tour della Toscana in bicicletta route – from Siena towards Pisa and Florence – already uses completed sections of the Ciclovia dell’Arno and passes through Empoli.
In the immediate surroundings of Empoli are Palazzo Pretorio, a palace, and the Santuario Madonna Del Pozzo, a church. Further afield is La Cupola, a peak. I Fornelli, Sasso Regina and Poggio Papinta are hills in the area around Empoli. The wider regional area also includes the ancient site of Da Bobo All'acciaiolo and Fiorelli Palace. These varied landscape and cultural destinations make it clear that Empoli can be viewed not only through its museums but also through its surroundings.
Which accommodation suits your travel plans
When choosing your accommodation, you can use your preferred travel focus as a guide. For a culture-focused stay, the museums, historic centre and Casa del Pontormo are the main attractions. If you are also planning a cycling tour, the Grand Tour della Toscana in bicicletta is one of the reviewed themes. For excursions, the destinations in the immediate and wider surroundings complement the urban perspective. This allows you to align your hotel choice with the interests that truly matter for your trip to Italy.
You can also include Osteria Bianca in your further selection of places.
For the higher-level travel overview: Florence.
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