La Pietra, NYU's center for study abroad in Florence, is situated on a hillside just north of Florence. A magnificent Renaissance 57-acre estate with five villas, La Pietra houses a notable Early Renaissance art collection, and one of the most beautiful and authentically restored Renaissance gardens in Italy. This extraordinary campus environment features newly renovated on-site classrooms, computer labs, email and internet access, and other facilities. Students are lodged in villas at La Pietra or in private apartments and households in residential areas.

There may be no better place in Italy, the birthplace of the Renaissance, to study art, language, literature, and history than La Pietra. Courses include intensive study of Italian at the beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels, fine arts, contemporary culture, and literature. In this atmosphere of unparalleled beauty, learning is personal, meaningful, and enduring. Sample courses include the Sir Harold Acton Seminar, which focuses on the issues related to a unified Europe; a Renaissance humanities course, which draws on the vast resources of the city of Florence; Masters and Monuments, a course that focuses on art and architecture of the Renaissance; Dante and his World; Italian Cinema and Literature; Modern Italy Since 1815; Masterpieces in Italian Literature; Family and Gender in Late Medieval and Early Renaissance Italy; and Photography. Additional courses in various disciplines are also offered.