Palazzo Vecchio

Before you rises Palazzo Vecchio, the political heart of Florence for more than seven hundred years. It is still the city hall today.

1A fortress for the republic

Work began in 1299, traditionally credited to Arnolfo di Cambio, the same architect who started the cathedral. The republic wanted a safe seat for the priors, the magistrates who governed the city and who, during their two-month term, lived shut up inside. That is why it looks like a castle: rough stone walls, battlements and a tower about 94 metres high, built on top of an older tower and therefore off-centre.

2From republic to duke

The city's political fate was decided in this square. In 1494 the Medici were driven out and the friar Girolamo Savonarola imposed a stern, moralising republic. Four years later, on 23 May 1498, he was hanged and burned right here. The Medici returned, and in 1540 Duke Cosimo I moved into the palace with his family. Vasari then remodelled its rooms, including the gigantic Hall of the Five Hundred. When the Medici moved to the Pitti Palace, this one started being called 'Vecchio', old.

Between 1865 and 1871, with Florence as capital of Italy, the Hall of the Five Hundred housed the Chamber of Deputies of the new kingdom.

3What to look for

• The copy of David: Michelangelo's original stood here from 1504 to 1873.
• The painted coats of arms under the battlements, bearing the arms of the republic.
• The round plaque in the pavement by the fountain, marking where Savonarola died.