PIAZZA DELLA SIGNORIA

The famous Piazza della Signoria has been the centre of Florentine politics since early in the republic's history. It was in 1268, when the Guelph party, once again gained control and decided to take down the houses of their Florentine rivals, the Ghibelline. Upon the ruins of the 36 houses that were demolished this famous square became history. No other buildings were ever constructed to take their place and this is also why the buildings around the square are unaligned.

The square's name actually derives from the Palace designed by Arnolfo di Cambio in 1298, where the government of the Republic (called the "Signoria") resided and continued to maintain its political function in Florence during the reign of the Medici and later under Duke Cosimo I. Later when the Grand Duke and his family decided to move to the new Pitti Palace in 1565, Palazzo della Signoria began to be known as Palazzo Vecchio.

Certainly it is not only the civil centre of Florence but one of the most visited open air attractions of the city where the Uffizi and Loggia dei Lanzi can be found, containing numerous works of art. There are six Roman statues against the wall in back representing heroines. There is also the Rape of Polissena, a 19th century work by Pio Fedi and Hercules and the Centaur is by Giambologna. To the sides of the loggia there are two masterpieces: Perseus with the head of Medusa by Benvenuto Cellini and the The Rape of the Sabines by Giambologna.

The statues in the square deserve a chapter all to themselves. Apart from the great sculptures lined up in front of the facade of Palazzo Vecchio, including probably the most famous which is the copy of David by Michelangelo, replacing the original in the late last century.

The square is bordered by a series of houses that date from the 14th-16th centuries, as well as the palace containing the Alberto Della Ragione collection, which the Genoan collector donated to the City Council (1970), that stands at number 5. In 1980 when the square was repaved, substantial remains of many of the buildings that stood here in antiquity were discovered; many remains of Roman Florence were found underneath the mediaeval houses, including some thermal baths and a workshop for the dying of cloth.