Piazza della Signoria

Square Florence, Italy

Piazza della Signoria is the central square of Florence, the seat of civil power and the heart of the city's social life. L-shaped, it is located in the central part of medieval Florence, south of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. In the past it has taken on various names, such as Piazza dei Priori or Piazza del Granduca.

It is important to mention the Loggia della Signoria, at the right corner of Palazzo Vecchio, built between 1376 and 1382 to house the assemblies of the people and public ceremonies. Under its three elegant arches already almost Renaissance, the Loggia today displays a series of classical and Mannerist statues (the beautiful Rape of the Sabine Women, Hercules fighting with the centaur Nessus and Perseus with the head of Medusa, an extraordinary bronze masterpiece by Benvenuto Cellini) and an important work of the nineteenth century, the Rape of Polissena.