Join your guide on a special tour of Florence that reveals the dark history of the city. Look for esoteric symbols and discuss all things magic and alchemy. See the basilicas of Santa Croce and Santa Maria Novella, the Florence Baptistery, Piazza San Marco, the Museum of Masonic Symbols, and more.
See the facades of the basilicas of Santa Croce and Santa Maria Novella for evident signs of science mixed with esoteric symbols. Spot the Latin palindrome engraved in the Florence Baptistery that remains to be a mystery.
Study the deeds of Pazzino de' Pazzi, a crusader knight from 1050. Learn about the stones of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem, which are still used for lighting the famous Brindellone, during the Florentine tradition of the Explosion of the Chariot on Easter day.
Furthermore, analyse the arsenic poisoning that killed Pico della Mirandola and Agnolo Poliziano in 1494, intriguing intellectuals from the circle of Lorenzo the Magnificent, who rest together in the Church of San Marco in Florence.
Then, listen as your guide sheds light on the Neoplatonic Florentine Academy, founded by Cosimo de' Medici, and its impact on the literary and artistic culture of Florence. Talk about the Florentine Studio, a place that once teemed with philosophers, theologians, and magicians.
Get ready for more tales of killings, crimes, and punishments. Hear of Girolamo Savonarola, a Dominican preacher, who was hanged and burnt at the stake in 1498 in Piazza della Signoria. Uncover the history of the Templars and Cathars in Florence and the city's first Masonic lodge.
Get goosebumps as you learn about a dark period during which babies born crippled were rejected by families and killed in secret—never to be found— because the general belief suggested that they were children of the devil.
Next, walk to Piazza Santissima Annunziata and try to count the bees on the statue of Ferdinand I. End the tour with a visit to the Museum of Masonic Symbols, the first Italian museum devoted to Masonic ideology. See a display of ritual objects with etched, embroidered, printed, and engraved symbols.