The imposing Pitti Palace, the last residence of the Medici Princes, houses several different museums. The most important is the Galleria Palatina (Palatine Gallery), an unbelievably rich collection of paintings, statues, decorations, frescos, and furniture (tables, chandeliers, vases). Behind the palace, you’ll enjoy a stroll through the splendid Boboli Garden – in effect, an enchanting open-air museum with grotto, ponds, fountains, and statuary. The Palatina Gallery is located in some of the most beautiful rooms of the “piano nobile”, the first floor of the Pitti Palace. The superb collection of paintings consists mainly of works dating from the 16th and 17th centuries, among them some of the most famous paintings by Raphael and Titian. This is considered to be one of the most important examples of a “quadreria” (paintings arranged according to the taste of the owner, rather than the criteria of a museum). The Lorena family which succeeded the Medici dynasty also lived in the palace and the present arrangement of the paintings has remained more or less unchanged. The Boboli Garden is a historic Florentine garden. Created as the grand duke’s private garden, it extends over an area of 45,000 square metres, behind the Pitti Palace. It is connected to the Forte di Belvedere, the upper fortress, a military structure built to defend the ruling family and the city. Every year more than 800,000 visitors admire this open air museum, considered one of the most famous “giardini all’italiana”, an Italian garden graced with statues of different centuries, ponds, orchards, fountains, grottoes and even a scenic amphitheatre.