A series of historical and cultural events led Florence to be the center of a veritable cultural rebirth of the Western civilization through an extraordinary flowering of the fine arts and a general improvement in the standards of living. The educated middle class, became interested in individual achievement and emphasized life in this world. People started to believe strongly in the potential for individual accomplishment in the arts, literature, politics, and personal life. Philosophers and thinkers decried medieval life as outdated and primitive, and looked further back in history, to the time of the ancient Romans and Greeks, for inspiration.  So did Florence’s elite. The history and ideas of the ancient Greeks and Romans had remained closer to the surface of contemporary thought in Italy than elsewhere.

The Greek influence grew even more during the fifteenth century, when many Greeks intellectuals seeked refuge in Italy after the decline of the Byzantine Empire. Like other Italian cities, Florence benefited greatly from the treasures and knowledge these new immigrants were bringing with them. It became the foremost city in the rise of the intellectual Renaissance. Who were the men who made Florence the “cradle” of the Renaissance? What really is the “Renaissance”? Where did all that money come from? Who were the richest Florentines of their time? We’ll discover all this together during a Renaissance Florence walk tracing the steps of a crucial and unique historical moment. We will walk at a leisurable pace enjoying some of the most beautiful city monuments, piazzas and views.