PALAZZO VECCHIO, Exterior

Hi, I'm Debbie, your personal guide. Together with MyWoWo, I'd like to welcome you to one of the wonders of the world.

Today I'll accompany you through Palazzo Vecchio, the most important civil building in Florence!

Palazzo Vecchio's construction began in 1299 and was completed in just three years. This building is the civil and secular heart of Florence, and was the stage for centuries of the city's proud history, as well as the perfect counterweight to the religious complex surrounding the Cathedral. As you already saw with the Cathedral, the civil administration building also had a very important symbolic role: its hard and impenetrable mass expresses strength and security; the statues you see in front of it recall virtuous and intelligent heroes (such as Judith, David, and Hercules) who triumph over the brutality of an apparently stronger enemy.

The palace's first nucleus dates back to the architect and sculptor Arnolfo di Cambio, who was the protagonist of Florence's renovation in the age of Dante Alighieri. The tall building with overlapping stone walls, square battlements, and wall-walks probably reminds you of a fortress. The slim tower you see in the front culminates in a small loggia open on four sides....