Florence’s Palazzo Vecchio (Town Hall), an outstanding example of Florentine civic purpose, with superb rooftop views from the loggia. Vast, elaborately decorated public rooms, intimate private apartments and fine sculptures, including Victory by Michelangelo.
The palace stands on the site of the medieval Palazzo dei Priori, rebuilt to Arnolfo di Cambio’s design. Designers of palazzi comunali throughout Tuscany based their designs on its battlemented structure. Cosimo il Vecchio was imprisoned in the tower before his exile in 1433. Savonarola was also imprisoned here in 1498, but went on to be burned at the stake in Piazza della Signoria.
The Courtyard
Past the main entrance is the courtyard, reconstructed by Michelozzo in 1453. It was elaborately decorated by Giorgio Vasari in 1565 to celebrate the marriage of the son o fCosimo I to Joanna of Austria.
1st Level
The largest room is the Salone dei Cinquecento, a meeting room for the 500-member Consiglio Maggiore. Vasari painted the frescoes to celebrate Cosimo I’s triumphs over Pisa and Siena. The most notable sculpture is Michelangelo’s Victory. Next door, the tiny, windowless Studiolo di Francesco I has paintings by Vasari and small bronze statues by Giambologna and Ammanati. It was here that the son of Cosimo I pursued his interest in alchemy. On the same floor, Vasari and Cosimo I’s assistants decorated the Quartiere di Leone X with ornate illustrations of the history of the Medici family.
2nd Level
Access to the Quartiere di Eleonora di Toledo, the private apartments of Cosimo I’s wife, is via a balcony across the end of the Salone del Cinquecento, providing a close-up view of the ceiling. The chapel, decorated with frescoes of various saints, is one of Bronzino’s most important works. The Sala dei Gigli owes its name to the lily motif, a symbol of the city. Here also is Donatello’s bronze statue, Judith and Holofernes (1455). Niccolò Machiavelli used the Cancellaria next door as an office from 1498 to 1512, when he was a government secretary. The guardaroba, or wardrobe, contains a fascinating collection of 57 detailed maps of the world as it was then known.
You can visit Florence’s Town hall, amongst other places in this great Tuscan city, by booking your summer camping holidays in Tuscany and, with our help find the right campsite / holiday park at the best price.
