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Piazza della Signoria

 
Piazza Della Signoria

 
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Piazza della Signoria
 
 
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Piazza della Signoria is an L-shaped square in front of the Palazzo Vecchio
Palazzo Vecchio

The Palazzo Vecchio is the City hall of Florence, Italy. This massive, romanesque architecture, Crenellation fortress-palace is among the most impressive town halls of Tuscany....
 in Florence
Florence

Florence is the Capital city of the Italy Regions of Italy of Tuscany and of the provinces of Italy Province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany and has a population of 364,779 ....
, Italy
Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
. It was named after the Palazzo della Signoria, also called Palazzo Vecchio.

It is the focal point of the origin and of the history of the Florentine Republic and still maintains its reputation as the political hub of the city.






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Piazzasignoria
Piazza della Signoria is an L-shaped square in front of the Palazzo Vecchio
Palazzo Vecchio

The Palazzo Vecchio is the City hall of Florence, Italy. This massive, romanesque architecture, Crenellation fortress-palace is among the most impressive town halls of Tuscany....
 in Florence
Florence

Florence is the Capital city of the Italy Regions of Italy of Tuscany and of the provinces of Italy Province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany and has a population of 364,779 ....
, Italy
Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
. It was named after the Palazzo della Signoria, also called Palazzo Vecchio.

It is the focal point of the origin and of the history of the Florentine Republic and still maintains its reputation as the political hub of the city. It is the meeting place of Florentines as well as the numerous tourists.

The impressive 14th century Palazzo Vecchio is still preeminent with its crenellated
Crenellation

Crenellation is the name for the distinctive pattern that frames the tops of the walls of many medieval castles, often called battlements. Crenellation most commonly takes the form of multiple, regular, rectangular spaces cut out of the top of the wall to allow defenders spaces to shoot arrows from and other spaces to hide behind full c...
 tower. The square is also shared with the Loggia della Signoria, the Uffizi Gallery, the Palace of the Tribunale della Mercanzia (1359) (now the Bureau of Agriculture), and the Uguccioni Palace (16th Century, with a facade probably by Raphael
Raphael

Raphael Sanzio, usually known by his first name alone was an Italy Painting and architect of the High Renaissance, celebrated for the perfection and grace of his paintings and drawings....
). Located in front of the Palazzo Vecchio is the Palace of the Assicurazioni Generali (1871, built in Renaissance style).

Firenze
The various eye-catching statues in this square include:
  • At the entrance of the Palazzo Vecchio, a copy of David. The original by Michelangelo
    Michelangelo

    Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni , commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance Painting, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer....
     is being kept at the Gallery of the Academy of Fine Arts.
  • The "bronze equestrian statue of Cosimo I" by Giambologna
    Giambologna

    Giambologna, born as Jean Boulogne, also known as Giovanni Da Bologna and Giovanni Bologna , was a sculpture, known for his marble sculpture and bronze sculpture statuary in a late Renaissance or Mannerist style....
     (1594)
  • The Fountain of Neptune
    Fountain of Neptune

    The Fountain of Neptune is a fountain in Florence, Italy, situated on the Piazza della Signoria , in front of the Palazzo Vecchio.This work by Bartolomeo Ammannati and some assistants, such as Giambologna, was commissioned on the occasion of the wedding of Francesco I de' Medici with grand duchess Johanna of Austria in 1565....
     by Bartolomeo Ammannati (1575)
  • "The Lion", referred to as "il Marzocco
    Marzocco

    File:Marzocco di donatello.JPGThe Marzocco is the heraldry lion, sculpted by Donatello in 1418–20, that is a symbol of Florence.It was commissioned by the Republic of Florence for the apartment of Pope Martin V at Santa Maria Novella, where this traditional insegna of communal republican defense stood guard atop a column at...
    " with a copy of the "Florentine Lily", originally made by Donatello
    Donatello

    Donatello was a famous early Renaissance Italy artist and sculpture from Florence. He is, in part, known for his work in bas-relief, a form of shallow relief sculpture that, in Donatello's case, incorporated significant 15th-century developments in perspectival illusionism....
     (copy)
  • "Judith and Holofernes", by Donatello
    Donatello

    Donatello was a famous early Renaissance Italy artist and sculpture from Florence. He is, in part, known for his work in bas-relief, a form of shallow relief sculpture that, in Donatello's case, incorporated significant 15th-century developments in perspectival illusionism....
     (copy)
  • "Hercules and Cacus
    Hercules and Cacus

    The white marble sculpture Hercules and Cacus is to the right of the entrance of the Palazzo Vecchio in the Piazza della Signoria, Florence, Italy....
    ", by Bandinelli (1533)
  • "The Rape of the Sabine Women
    The Rape of the Sabine Women

    The Rape of the Sabine Women is an episode in the legendary history of Rome in which the first generation of Roman men acquired wives for themselves from the neighboring Sabine families....
    ", by Giambologna
    Giambologna

    Giambologna, born as Jean Boulogne, also known as Giovanni Da Bologna and Giovanni Bologna , was a sculpture, known for his marble sculpture and bronze sculpture statuary in a late Renaissance or Mannerist style....
  • "Perseus with the Head of Medusa", by Cellini (1554)


Perseussignoriastatue
This splendid open-air museum evokes centuries of greatness and power. It was already a central square in the original Roman town Florentia, surrounded by a theatre, Roman baths and a workshop for dyeing textiles. Later there was a church San Romolo, a loggia and an enormous 5th c. basilica. This was shown by the archaeological treasures found beneath the square when it was repaved in the 1980's. Even remains of a Neolithic
Neolithic

The Neolithic period was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 Before the Christian Era in the Middle East that is traditionally considered the last part of the Stone Age....
 site were found. The square started taking shape from 1268 on, when houses of Ghibellines were pulled down by the victorious Guelph
Guelphs and Ghibellines

The Guelphs and Ghibellines were Political factions supporting, respectively, the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor in central and northern Italy during the 12th and 13th centuries....
s. The square remained a long time untidy, full of holes. In 1385 it was paved for the first time. In 1497 Girolamo Savonarola
Girolamo Savonarola

Girolamo Savonarola , was an Italian Dominican Order priest and leader of Florence from 1494 until his execution in 1498. He was known for his book burning, destruction of what he considered immoral art, and hostility to the Renaissance....
 and his followers carried out on this square the famous Bonfire of the Vanities
Bonfire of the Vanities

Bonfire of the Vanities refers to the burning of objects that are deemed to be Occasion of sin. The most famous one took place on 7 February 1497, when supporters of the Dominican Order priest Girolamo Savonarola collected and publicly burned thousands of objects like cosmetics, art, and books in Florence, Italy, on the Shrove Tuesday fest...
, burning in a large pile books, gaming tables, fine dresses, and works of poets. In front of the fountain of Neptune, a round marble plaque marks the exact spot where Girolamo Savonarola
Girolamo Savonarola

Girolamo Savonarola , was an Italian Dominican Order priest and leader of Florence from 1494 until his execution in 1498. He was known for his book burning, destruction of what he considered immoral art, and hostility to the Renaissance....
 was hanged and burned on May 23 1498.

Firenze

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