The building has been the Institute of Applied Arts since the 1920s and in 2011 became a liceum of art. The yellow building, currently undergoing restoration, was commissioned, not by the Medici as Brown writes in the book, but by the king of Italy when Florence was capital from 1865 to 1871 as the riding stables for the royal court, housed right next door in the Palazzo Pitti.

Lots of green and benches make this a perfect area to have a picnic if weather allows. Further to the right is a large gate that leads to the State Institute of Art, a startlingly beautiful entry road with massive oak trees arched gently in to form a canopy that frames the yellow structure in the distance.

To the right side of Porta Romana, you'll find an entrance into the Boboli gardens definitely worth using instead of heading to Palazzo Pitti as there never is a line here. Six major roads converge in front of the doors, where a roundabout filters traffic while at its center is a massive statue by Pistoletto of a woman facing away from Porta Romana and another one on her head, facing back. While most of the city's perimeter walls were destroyed in the late 19th century, Porta Romana is one of several gates left standing around the city, and to this day, traffic enters the city passing through the deep tunnel gate. The itinerary the professor follows in Florence starts in Porta Romana, the stone gateway along the wall that surrounded Florence for centuries built in 1326. If you enjoyed Brown's ' Da Vinci Code' and ' Angels and Demons', you'll enjoy following the professor in ' Inferno' along with our visual itinerary below to visit some of Florence's main monuments.Īre you ready to come along? Start at Porta Romana and the Art Institute With Inferno, you'll delve into the mysteries of ancient Italy, Florence's medieval past during the times of Dante and of the Renaissance. This phrase in Dan Brown's most recent best-seller, Inferno, offers the key to visiting the city right alongside professor Robert Langdon as he sets off in search of the threat hidden within Botticelli's 'map of Inferno'. The entire cast and Ron Howard were in Florence October 6-8, 2016 as they officially presented the new film starring Tom Hanks & Felicity Jones, Inferno.

Dante's inferno dan brown