Piazzale Michelangiolo

Walking Tours of Florence

A View from Piazzale Michelangiolo

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​Each day hundreds of people schlep up to the Piazzale Michelangiolo to enjoy the spectacular views over Florence. 

The piazzale was created in 1869 by the Florentine architect Giuseppe Poggi (1811-1901), who also designed the neo-classical loggia, which stands on the south side. The latter was built to house works by Michelangelo, but, sadly, this plan was never realised and the building became nothing more exciting than a cafe. Today, La Loggia is a restaurant. 

There is a large plaque to Poggi on the stone wall in front of the loggia, which was unveiled in 1911. In addition to proclaiming him as a Florentine architect, it adds: VOLGETEVI ATTORNO ECCO IL SUO MONUMENTO (Look around and here is his monument). 

The phrase reminds me of the plaque to Christopher Wren, who is buried in St Paul's Cathedral in London. The last line reads: LECTOR SI MONUMENTUM REQUIRIS CIRCUMSPICE (Reader, if you seek his monument, look around you).

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Plaque to Giuseppe Poggi