One of the symbols of Florence, Palazzo Vecchio o Palazzo della Signoria was projected by Arnolfo di Cambio around 1299 as residence of the Priori delle Arti, the palace was completed in 1314. The tower of Palazzo Vecchio, 94 metres high, and called Tower of Arnolfo, was built in 1310, along with the Palazzo itself. It is probably supported by an even more antique tower called torre de’ Foraboschi. The tower was finished in the 1453 with the erection of a cuspid, a bronze sphere and the Marzocco (the lion symbol of Florence). The palace overlooking the Piazza della Signoria.
Palazzo Vecchio was the residence of the Signoria during 15th century and later was restructurated by Vasari when, in 1540, Cosimo I de' Medici moved into the palace with his family. In 1865, when Florence was the capital of the kingdom of Italy it became the seat of United Italy's government from 1865-71, and housed the Chamber of Deputies (the Senate sat next door in the Uffizi). It was to return to its original function as the seat of the City Council in 1872.
Although the palace today contains the offices of the City Council, much of it can still be visited. Beautiful it is the decorated courtyard of access to the palace. Between the rooms to not be missed are the Salone dei Cinquecento, the Studiolo di Francesco I and the four monumental appartments: the Quartiere degli Elementi, the Quartiere di Eleonora, the Residenza dei Priori and the Quartiere di Leone X. The Salone dei Duecento is being used for the meetings of the City Council and therefore not always open to the public. Inside the Palace are frescoes carry out by artists as the Ghirlandaio, Francesco Salviati, the Bronzino, Vasari. There are also masterpiece of sculpture's renaissance as the Genio della Vittoria by Michelangelo and the Donatello's bronze of Giuditta e Oloferne.
Next to Palazzo Vecchio is the beautiful Loggia dei Lanzi or Loggia della Signoria with several beautiful sculptures the most famous is the Perseus of Benvenuto Cellini.
We enter now in the Palace and we begin our visit in the Courtyard.
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Palazzo Vecchio, Florence |
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Palazzo Vecchio with in the background, the snowy mountains of the Apennines |
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Detail of windows and coats of arms of the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence |
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The Tower of Arnolfo of Palazzo Vecchio, Florence |
Palazzo Vecchio, Florence |
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The entrance of the Palazzo Vecchio. Are the statues of Hercules and Caco (1534) work of Bandinelli, Michelangelo's David (copy), the fountain of Neptune or Biancone by Ammannati. Palazzo Vecchio, Florence |
Palazzo Vecchio, Florence |
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A copy of Michelangelo's David is located to the left of the Palazzo Vecchio, it was here that the original was originally placed, it is now at the Gallery of the Academy (it was transferred in 1873) |
Copy of Judith and Holofernes (1455-60) by Donatello. The original is in the Sala dei Gigli (Hall of the Lilies) in the Palazzo Vecchio |
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Side of the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence. On the far left of the photo is the building where is the Salone dei Cinquecento |
The two lions surmounting the main entrance of Palazzo Vecchio, Florence |
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Palazzo Vecchio seen from Piazzale degli Uffizi, Florence |
Palazzo Vecchio, Florence |
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