Florence › Places and landmarks
Palazzo Vecchio
Florence’s fortress-like town hall since 1299, with its tall tower off to one side.
The Palazzo Vecchio was begun in 1299 as the seat of the city’s government, a stone fortress with a battlemented top and a tower 94 metres high. The Medici lived here before moving across the river to the Palazzo Pitti.
It is still the town hall. Inside, the vast Hall of the Five Hundred was painted by Vasari.
More in Florence
DuomoFlorence’s cathedral, crowned by Brunelleschi’s dome, still the largest brick dome ever built.
Giotto’s Bell TowerThe slender bell tower beside the cathedral, clad in white, green and pink marble.
BaptisteryThe octagonal baptistery with Ghiberti’s bronze doors, which Michelangelo called the Gates of Paradise.
Piazza della SignoriaThe square of the Palazzo Vecchio, with a copy of Michelangelo’s David at its door.
Loggia dei LanziAn open arcade on the square, full of statues, among them Cellini’s Perseus with the head of Medusa.
UffiziThe Medici’s offices turned into one of the world’s great museums, with Botticelli’s Birth of Venus.
Ponte VecchioThe bridge of goldsmiths over the Arno, the only one the retreating Germans left standing in 1944.
Piazza della RepubblicaWhere the Roman forum was, now a square with a carousel and old cafés under a triumphal arch.
Santa CroceThe great Franciscan church where Michelangelo, Galileo and Machiavelli are buried.
Santa Maria NovellaThe Dominican church with its white and green marble front by Alberti, by the station that bears its name.
Il PorcellinoThe bronze boar at the Mercato Nuovo: rub its nose and you will come back to Florence.
Bistecca alla fiorentinaA huge T-bone steak, grilled over coals and served rare, by the kilo.