Italy Blog #38: Florence: Palazzo Vecchio

Front entrance with David and Hercules Statues

In today's blog, #38 of our Italy trip, we'll take you to the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. It's the town hall of  Florence since medieval times.

HOW OLD IS IT? Construction began in 1299 and it was completed in the 1300s.

Palazzo Vecchio

WHAT IS UNDERNEATH IT? The entire construction also rests on top of the ancient theater of the Roman colony of Florentia (dating back to the first century A.D.), whose ruins can be admired in the underground level.

WHERE IS IT?: It's in the "Piazza (Plaza) della Signore"  just north of the Arno River. It's next to the Museum Gucci and Uffizi Gallery. Earlier we showed you some of the statues that were outside of Palazzo Vecchio, which included our favorites.

The Hall of 500

WHAT WAS IT BUILT FOR? It was build for the Grand Duke of Florence, Cosmo de Medici.The main section of Palazzo Vecchio was destined to host the city council which was composed of chief members the Guilds of Florence (the Priori) who governed the Republic of Florence. Around 1540, Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici and his wife Eleonora of Toledo decided to turn the palace into their residence.

WHAT IS IN IT NOW? There are a number of masterpieces in this building including some by Michelangelo and Vasari. , There are also frescoed walls and ceilings throughout. There are about 1,450 tapestries. One Room on the 3rd floor ceiling has the story of Hercules.

Hall of Maps

WHAT IS THE "HALL OF 500"? - The Salone dei Cinquecento (Hall of the Five Hundred) was built from 1494 during the Republic of Fra’ (friar) Girolamo Savonarola. The Hall is the largest and most important room in terms of artistic and historical value inside the palace. This impressive hall has a length of 54 meters, a width of 23 and a height of 18 meters. Paneled ceilings and large wall frescoes, golden decorations and imposing sculptures

The Studiolo that belonged to Francesco I

HALL OF MAPS - this is a large room where the most relevant documents were kept together with the Mappa Mundi, a six-foot-tall sphere which had been the largest rotating globe of its era, and dozens of geographic maps painted on leather, showing the world as it was known in 1563.

Tom and Rob at the top of the building

WORKS OF FAMOUS ARTISTS - I  All the rooms (the so-called Quartieri Monumentali) are magnificently decorated by artists such as Michelangelo, Giorgio Vasari and Donatello.

NEXT: Italy's U.S. World War 2 Memorial and Cemetery