Ultimate Romance in Florence

Encountering Music Under Frescoes in a Monastery 🎶 Super lucky to catch a concert at the San Marco Monastery! Violin performances under the frescoes, with music echoing through the monastery, create an extremely romantic atmosphere. 🌟 When visiting Florence, compared to the Uffizi and the Accademia, the San Marco Monastery is a bit more niche. But choosing it for my short one-day visit to Florence turned out to be one of the most memorable half-days of my entire European trip. The sense of tranquility and sanctity lingered for a long time. 🕊️ Maybe I’ve seen too many oil paintings, but the delicate brushstrokes of the frescoes have won my heart completely. At the corner of the second-floor staircase is the Annunciation depicted on the ticket stub, which is considered the best work of Fra Angelico. However, I find every biblical story in the 44 cells deeply moving. 🖌️ Artist Chen Danqing once said in a documentary that frescoes are not individual paintings; they are entire walls. I previously saw “The Last Supper” in Milan and was amazed by the true meaning of a “mural”—how it integrates perfectly with the architecture and light. This time, at San Marco, I felt that power again. The paintings in textbooks are just “parts.” That’s why frescoes can’t be moved; for thousands of years, they have stayed there, waiting for you to step inside and feel the gentle yet firm colors and the light of the moment. 🌅 ⚠️ To visit, look for the San Marco Museum (or the San Marco Church, which is free to enter). The entrance is next to the church door, and the admission fee is 8 euros. Be sure to plan your visit carefully, as the schedule is quite complex and even Google might not always show the correct information! [Open from Monday to Sunday, 8:15–13:50 (closed on the 2nd and 4th Mondays and the 1st and 3rd Sundays of the month)]. As for the concert, we stumbled upon it on a Monday morning when all museums were closed. It was pure serendipity! If anyone knows how to check the concert schedule, feel free to leave a comment. 🎟️ #travel #europe #travelguide #italy #florence #museum #sanmarcomonastery #frescoes #art #travelwithmom