9. Florence

Florence (Italian: Firenze) is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area. Florence is famous for its history. A centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of the time, Florence is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance, and has been called the Athens of the Middle Ages. A turbulent political history includes periods of rule by the powerful Medici family, and numerous religious and republican revolutions. From 1865 to 1871 the city was also the capital of the recently established Kingdom of Italy.
Source: http://goitaly.about.com/od/florenceattractions/a/piazza-signoria.htm

The Piazza della Signoria is top among Florence's most important squares. In the heart of the city, dominated by city hall - the Palazzo Vecchio - and skimmed by one wing of the Uffizi Gallery, the Piazza della Signoria is Florence's primary meeting place for both locals and tourists. Several concerts, fairs, and rallies are held in the Piazza della Signoria throughout the year.

Florence's most famous square started to take shape in the mid- to late-13th century when the Guelphs defeated the Ghibellines for control of the city. The piazza's L shape and the lack of uniformity of its surrounding buildings is the result of the Guelphs leveling many of their rivals' palazzi. The piazza gets its name from the towering Palazzo Vecchio, whose original name is the Palazzo della Signoria.

Numerous statues designed by some of the most famous Florentine artists decorate the square and the adjacent Loggia dei Lanzi, which serves as an outdoor sculpture gallery. Almost all of the statues located on the square are copies; the originals have been moved indoors, including to the Palazzo Vecchio and the Bargello, for preservation.
  • The most famous of the piazza's sculptures is a copy of Michelangelo's David (the original is in the Accademia), which stands watch outside the Palazzo Vecchio. 
  • Other must-see sculptures on the square include Baccio Bandinelli's Heracles and Cacus, two statues by Giambologna - the equestrian statue of Grand Duke Cosimo I and Rape of a Sabine – and Cellini's Perseus and Medusa. At the center of the piazza is the Neptune Fountain designed by Ammanati. 
Besides the statues and the buildings that circle it, Piazza della Signoria is perhaps best known as the site of the infamous Bonfire of the Vanities of 1497, during which followers of the radical Dominican friar Savonarola burned thousands of objects (books, paintings, musical instruments, etc.) deemed sinful. A year later, after stirring the ire of the Pope, Savonarola himself was sentenced to die in a similar bonfire. A plaque on the Piazza della Signora marks the spot where the public execution took place on May 23, 1498.

Ponte Vecchio Bridge 
The Ponte Vecchio ("Old Bridge", Italian pronunciation: [ˈponte ˈvɛkkjo])[1][2] is a Medieval stone closed-spandrel segmental arch bridge over the Arno River, in Florence, Italy, noted for still having shops built along it, as was once common. Butchers initially occupied the shops; the present tenants are jewellers, art dealers and souvenir sellers.

The bridge spans the Arno at its narrowest point where it is believed that a bridge was first built in Roman times, when the via Cassia crossed the river at this point. The Roman piers were of stone, the superstructure of wood. The bridge first appears in a document of 996. After being destroyed by a flood in 1117 it was reconstructed in stone but swept away again in 1333 save two of its central piers. It was rebuilt in 1345.

The bridge consists of three segmental arches: the main arch has a span of 30 meters (98 ft) the two side arches each span 27 meters (88 ft). The rise of the arches is between 3.5 and 4.4 meters (11½ to 14½ feet), and the span-to-rise ratio 5:1.


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