Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Piazza della Signoria
y
The piazza is a unique outdoor sculpture gallery and, with the
Palazzo Vecchio
(see pp78-9)
, has been at the heart of Florentine
politics since the 14th century. Citizens gathered here when called
to a
parlamento
(a public meeting) by the Palazzo's great bell.
The statues, some copies, commemorate major events in the city's
history. Many are linked to the rise and fall of the Florentine
Republic
(pp52-53)
, during which the religious leader
Girolamo Savonarola
was burned at the
stake here.
Campanile
Salone dei Cinquecento
This vast council chamber,
built in 1495, is decorated
with Vasari's frescoes on
the history of Florence.
Palazzo Vecchio
The Marzocco
is a
copy. The original of
Donatello's heraldic
lion is in the Bargello.
.
Neptune Fountain
Ammannati's Mannerist
fountain (1575) of the Roman
sea god surrounded by water
nymphs commemorates
Tuscan naval victories.
Grand Duke Cosimo I
Giambologna's equestrian statue
(1595) celebrates the man who
subjugated all Tuscany under
his military rule
(see pp54-5)
.
