Pitti Palace: the grand dukes' palace and its Raphaels
A banker called Luca Pitti began this palace in 1458 to outdo the Medici. A century later the Medici bought it, moved in, and went on enlarging it for two hundred years. It is the largest museum complex in Florence, and far fewer people cross the river to see it than queue for the Uffizi.
- Tickets
- From €22.50
- Open
- Tue to Sun, 8:15 to 18:30
- Closed
- Mondays, 1 Jan, 25 Dec
- Allow
- 2 to 3 hours
Florence this week
What to see at the Pitti Palace
Raphael's Madonna of the Chair
A round painting of the Virgin holding the child tight, looking straight at you. With it hang La Velata, his portrait of a woman in a veil, and the portraits of Agnolo and Maddalena Doni.
Titian's portraits
La Bella, in a blue dress, a young man with grey eyes whose name nobody knows, and a Mary Magdalene covered only by her hair.
The rooms of the planets
Five rooms named for Venus, Apollo, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, with ceilings by Pietro da Cortona in fresco and gilded stucco. Look up before you look at the walls.
Rubens and Caravaggio
Rubens's Consequences of War, painted during the Thirty Years' War, and his Four Philosophers, with his own portrait at the left. Caravaggio's Sleeping Cupid is small and dark and easy to miss.
The royal apartments
Fourteen rooms as the House of Savoy left them, in silk, gilt and red velvet, with a throne room.
The Gallery of Modern Art
On the second floor: the Macchiaioli, the Tuscan painters of the 1860s who worked outdoors in patches of light before the Impressionists did. The windows look over the Boboli Gardens.
Tickets and tours for the Pitti Palace
Sold by GetYourGuide
Florence: Entrance Ticket to Pitti Palace + App Audioguide
Entry to the Pitti Palace and its museums at a set time, with an audio guide on your phone.
Included
- Entry to the Pitti Palace and its museums at a set time
- An audio guide on your phone
More tickets and tours in Florence
Visiting the Pitti Palace: hours and admission
Opening hours
- Tuesday to Sunday
- 8:15 to 18:30
- The ticket office closes one hour before the museum.
- Closed on Mondays, on 1 January and on 25 December.
- On the day this was read the palace had closed the Treasury of the Grand Dukes and, in the Palatine Gallery, the Room of the Iliad and the Music Room.
Who gets in free
- Everyone, on the first Sunday of each month. On free days entry by reservation is suspended.
Getting there
- On foot
- About twenty minutes from Santa Maria Novella station. Five minutes from the Ponte Vecchio, up Via de' Guicciardini.
- Tram
- Lines T1 and T2 stop at Santa Maria Novella station. T2 comes from the airport.
- By car
- The old centre is a restricted traffic zone, watched by cameras. Leave the car outside it.
Address
Palazzo PittiPiazza de' Pitti 1
50125 Florence, Italy
Entrances
The palace is entered from Piazza de' Pitti, through the central door into the courtyard. The cloakroom is on the right of the courtyard: umbrellas, large bags and backpacks must be left there. The Boboli Gardens are entered from the same courtyard, with their own ticket.
On the map
Before you go
- The palace is closed on Mondays. The gardens behind it have a separate ticket and different days.
- Start with the Palatine Gallery and give it an hour and a half. Do the other museums only if you have the energy.
- Parts of the palace close for works from time to time. The palace's own site lists what is shut on the day.
- Come after lunch, when the tour groups have gone back across the river.
- The square in front slopes like a beach, and people sit on it in the sun. Piazza Santo Spirito, five minutes away, is the place for lunch.
A banker's boast, a duke's home, a king's palace
The Medici bought the palace in 1549, and from then until the eighteenth century it was the home of the rulers of Tuscany. When Florence was the capital of Italy it housed the king, and in 1919 the crown gave the palace and everything in it to the nation.
The Palatine Gallery, on the first floor, is the reason to come. The paintings are not arranged by date or by school. They cover the walls in gilded frames, three high, the way the grand dukes lived with them, under ceilings that Pietro da Cortona painted in the 1640s with the planets and the gods.
Among them are eleven or so works by Raphael, more than in any other one place in Florence, and a wall of portraits by Titian. The same ticket takes you through the state rooms of three ruling houses, and upstairs to the Tuscan painters of the nineteenth century.
Pitti Palace: common questions
- What are the opening hours of the Pitti Palace?
- Tuesday to Sunday: 8:15 to 18:30. The ticket office closes one hour before the museum. Closed on Mondays, on 1 January and on 25 December. On the day this was read the palace had closed the Treasury of the Grand Dukes and, in the Palatine Gallery, the Room of the Iliad and the Music Room.
- Is the Pitti Palace ever free?
- Everyone, on the first Sunday of each month. On free days entry by reservation is suspended.
- What does the ticket include?
- Entry to the Pitti Palace and its museums at a set time. An audio guide on your phone. It is sold by GetYourGuide.
- What is inside the Pitti Palace?
- The Palatine Gallery, with Raphael, Titian and Rubens, the royal apartments, the Gallery of Modern Art, the Treasury of the Grand Dukes and the Museum of Costume and Fashion. One ticket covers them all.
- Does the Pitti Palace ticket include the Boboli Gardens?
- No. The gardens behind the palace have their own ticket. Combined tickets for the two are sold.
- How long do you need at the Pitti Palace?
- Two hours for the Palatine Gallery and the royal apartments, three if you add the modern gallery upstairs.
What visitors say about the Pitti Palace
Rating from Google
More to see in Florence
Uffizi Galleries
Accademia Gallery
Florence Cathedral
Palazzo Vecchio
Ponte Vecchio
Bargello National Museum
Medici Chapels
Basilica of Santa Croce
Artists to see at the Pitti Palace
The most famous artists with work on show here, and the works to look for.
- Filippo LippiMadonna and Child with Scenes from the Life of Saint Anne
- Pietro PeruginoLamentation over the Dead Christ
- RaphaelMadonna of the Chair, La Velata
- TitianLa Bella, Portrait of a Young Englishman
- CaravaggioSleeping Cupid
- Peter Paul RubensThe Four Philosophers, The Consequences of War
- Artemisia GentileschiJudith and her Maidservant
- Pietro da CortonaThe Planetary Rooms, The Four Ages of Man
- Antonio CanovaVenus Italica
Things to do near the Pitti Palace
The nearest of this site's best things to do in the city. Distances are in a straight line.
- 16Cross the river to the Oltrarno and the Brancacci Chapel250 m awayWalk, 2 to 3 hours, free to walk, ticket for the chapel
- 8Climb through the Boboli Gardens350 m awayGarden, 1.5 to 2.5 hours, ticket
- 5Cross the Ponte Vecchio at sunset400 m awayWalk, 20 to 45 minutes, free
- 1Stand in front of Botticelli's Venus at the Uffizi500 m awayMuseum, 2.5 to 4 hours, ticket
Where to eat near the Pitti Palace
The nearest of the famous tables this site lists in Florence. Distances are in a straight line.
- Trattoria Antico Fattore4.5Trattoria, Uffizi550 m away
- Rivoire3.8Café and chocolate maker, Piazza della Signoria650 m away
- Il Latini4.3Restaurant, Via de' Tornabuoni700 m away
- Giacosa 18154.7Café and cocktail bar, Via de' Tornabuoni700 m away
Hotels near the Pitti Palace
The five-star hotels closest to it, of those this site lists in Florence. Distances are in a straight line.
- Hotel Lungarno4.7Five-star hotel, Oltrarno350 m away
- Portrait Firenze4.8Five-star hotel, Ponte Vecchio450 m away
- Porta Rossa4.8Five-star hotel, Via Porta Rossa550 m away
- Helvetia & Bristol4.7Five-star hotel, Palazzo Strozzi750 m away