Apartments accommodation in Florence

Florence’s growth and importance started in the 10^th century extending to the 16^th century. More than five centuries of economic growth, political changes and the unmatched flowering of artistic talent. The city founded by the Etruscans and colonised by the Romans dates principally from the medieval times. The story starts in the 1115 when a free community was founded. In the following centuries bloody conflicts between the Guelfie families against the Ghibellini and continuous struggles between the nobility and the people, increased the growth in Florence’s prestige and power. Victory in the wars against its rivals lead to the economic expansion of the Florentine Republic, assuming its Supremacy in Tuscany and central Italy. During this period many important religious and civil monuments mixing the romantic and gothic were created. Establishing the classic Florentine Art which characterised the Renascimento/Rennaisance.

Along with this intense period of creativity in physical structures, arrived the renewal of Painting with the grand artists of Cimabue and especially the great Giotto and numerous others. In the 15^th Century owing to the growth in commerce and entrepreneurial skills of its bankers, Tuscany flourished and extended its trade with all of Europe. Amongst the many powerful families most notable were the Medici linked to the most important artistic and architectural development of the Renascimento/Rennaisance. Under their patronage architects and artists created a city which was a beacon for all of Europe. Architecture:Brunelleschi (cupola del Duomo, Spedale degli Innocenti, cappella Pazzi, S. Lorenzo, S. Spirito), L.B. Alberti(facciata di S. Maria Novella, palazzo Rucellai), Michelozzo (palazzo Medici-Riccardi), Giuliano Sangallo, Benedetto da Maiano (palazzo Strozzi). Painting: Masaccio, l’Angelico, Filippo Lippi, Paolo Uccello, Andrea del Castagno, Botticelli, Ghirlandaio, etc. Sculture: Donatello, Ghiberti, Luca della Robbia, Verrocchio, Pollaiolo, etc.In the 1500 the advancement of democracy initiated the decline in the fortunes of Florence’s powerful families and slowly its artists migrated to the other cities of Italy (Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci). The reign of the Medici (Granducato di Toscana) passed to the Austrian house of Lorena in 1737 and with it came the decline of the Florentine aristocracy.

Piazza della Signoria

Founded in the late 13^th Century it is the political centre of Florence. The heart of all the principal events from medieval times until today.Large and solemn it dominates the majestic Palazzo Vecchio and links to the arched promenades of the Loggia della Signoria. It was used for the various ceremonies of the Signoria and its sculptures convey an impressive animation of the Piazza. Palazzo VecchioThis is the most important monument of civil works in Florence and one of the most significant Medieval public Palaces in Italy. It was built between 1298 and1314 by Arnolfo di Cambio and was enlarged in the 15^th century under the guidance of the architects of B. Buontalento and de Vassari. Its two elegant gothic levels is crowned by the “Torre d’Arnolfo”. The Palace was the political seat of the Republic until the end of the 15^th Century. From 1872 it has become the centre of the Municipal Government.