Piazza della Signoria

One of the best things we invested in for our trip was a great guide book. (It wasn't really an "investment" I guess, but it was well worth the cost of the book!!) And I don't mind putting in a plug for it here! We got a Rick Steves guidebook. He was recommended to me by a few people, and I understand why now! He gives his opinions and will tell you if it's worth it or not to do something. I appreciate that because I didn't have any other information to base my decisions on. Another thing I like about Rick is that you can download podcasts, (for free), from iTunes. We listened to 6 different podcasts on our trip, and they were so helpful and informative. It was as if we had our own personal tour guide who didn't mind if we wanted to stop and take pictures or go look at something else for a while before we continued with the tour. I definitely learned a lot more with the podcasts than I would have without them!! (And the history I mention here is from Rick's podcasts).

We walked through the Piazza della Signoria, which is the town square area in these pictures.


The building you see here is the Palazzo Vecchio, meaning old palace. In the 1400's, it was the Town Hall. Later it became the Medici's palace. (Do you see Laura?) You can also see a David statue, but it is just a replica of the real David statue. Michelangelo's original David did have its home here for quite some time. During a 1527 riot, a bench was tossed out of a window, and it broke David's left arm off! It was put back together, but in 1873 David was moved inside to be more protected.


The tower was a good look-out post.
I really enjoyed seeing all the clocks on the towers and churches.

Some details on the Palazzo Vecchio

Also in this square is the Loggia dei Lanzi, a covered platform with statues underneath. During the Renaissance, Florence prided itself on being a Republic; it was ruled by a city council of elected citizens. The Loggia is where ordinary citizens would stand up and speak out - about whatever was on their minds. Later, the Medici family, (who lived in the palace next door), thought it would be better to have art in the Loggia instead of free speech.


This is Benvenuto Cellini's Perseus, who slayed Medusa.


This is The Rape of the Sabine Women, by Giambologna. It was made from one piece of marble, and it was revolutionary at the time for a statue to be spiraled in this manner. It can be viewed from all angles; there is no one central point.