Italy

Signoria Square

Signoria Square is the heart of Florence. The historical, political, and now the tourist center of the ancient "flower city". A beautiful ensemble of medieval buildings and unique statues. The history of the square In 1980, during the restoration of the square, fragments of ancient buildings were discovered: a term, an ancient Roman theater, and sewing workshops. Under the ruins of these Roman buildings were found even more ancient remains of residential settlements of the Stone Age ..

Signoria Square, photo by Jose-Miguel-Hernandez-Her

Signoria Square is the heart of Florence. The historical, political, and now the tourist center of the ancient "flower city". A beautiful ensemble of medieval buildings and unique statues.

History of the square

In 1980, during the restoration of the square, fragments of ancient buildings were discovered: the term, the ancient Roman theater, and sewing workshops. Under the ruins of these Roman buildings were found even more ancient remains of residential settlements of the Stone Age.

In the 10th century, 36 towers were erected in the northern part of Piazza Signoria for the family of Florentine Uberti gibellins. In the 13th century, Guelphs destroyed the towers of the Ghibellines. The freed up space of the square was laid out with paving stones, and Piazza Signoria acquired a peculiar shape of the letter L. At the end of the XIII century. the palace of Vecchio was created; in the 14th century, the Commercial Court building and the Loggia dei Lanzi were built.

Square architecture

Vecchio Palace

Vecchio Palace, photo by Massimo Todisco

The dominant feature of Piazza Signoria is the Palazzo Vecchio, the city hall built in 1299. The square existed long before the creation of this monumental fortress palace. She was known in ancient Roman times.

Loggia Lanzi

Loggia Lanzi, photo by Damiano Pappada

The Arcade Loggia of Signoria dei Lanzi (Loggia della Signoria o dei Lanzi) was intended for official government appeals to the people of Florence. At that time, a hanging garden was placed on the roof of the building. Subsequently, the loggia was used to receive foreign diplomats and to place Landsknechts - the personal guard of Cosimo I.

The design of this building was created by Andrea Orkanya; built a loggia from 1376 to 1382, the architects Talenti and Chione. The modern name Loggia dei Lanzi appeared in the 16th century. The architecture of the building is a synthesis of the classical style and Florentine Gothic.

At present, the Loggia has been given over to a sculptural exhibition - under its roof are on display statues from the collection of the Uffizi Gallery. Here you can see the famous composition "Perseus" by B. Cellini, two works by J. Dzhambolony: "Hercules, killing the Centaur" and "The Abduction of the Sabine women", the work of Pio Fedi - "The Abduction of Polyxena", a number of antique female sculptures. All fifteen statues of the Loggia Lanzi collection are sculptured from marble, only Perseus is cast in bronze.

Palace of the Commercial Court

Palace of the Commercial Court, photo by Leandro Neumann Ciuffo

The Palace of the Commercial Court (Tribunale della Mercanzia) stands on the site of an ancient Roman theater on the east side of the square. The upper tier of its facade is decorated with copies of the emblems of the Florentine guilds.

Uguccioni Palace

Uguccioni Palace, photo by Chris-Maroulakis

Palazzo Uguccioni on the north side of Sq. Signoria was built in 1550. This palace is attributed to examples of late Renaissance Roman architecture. The authorship of his project is unknown: according to various versions he is attributed to Raphael, Michelangelo or Bramante.

Sculptures of Signoria Square

Sculptural decoration of the square, photo by Jørgen Bjerring

Signoria Square is decorated with a magnificent plastic ensemble. The first statues by Donatello appeared here in the middle of the 15th century. On the left side of the palace of Vecchio is installed "Judith with the Head of Holofernes." The sculptor created this work for the Medici Palace, but after the coup in Florence "Judith" hit the square. Now this Donatello masterpiece has been replaced by a full-scale copy, like all the sculptures of Signoria Square, except for Perseus.

To the left of the town hall stands a full-size copy of "David" by Michelangelo (the original was on the square until 1873). The five-meter statue represents the desire of the Florentine people for independence. "The symbol of urban freedoms" is called the composition "Mardzoko", depicting a lion holding a shield in its paw with an iris flower.

Neptune Fountain, photo zacke82

In the center of Piazza Signoria is the Neptune Fountain, created by Ammanati and his students in 1563-65. It was the first Florentine fountain installed on a public square. Florentines considered this work of the sculptor extremely unsuccessful. Recognition of contemporaries was not received by the sculptural group of Bandinelli's work - Hercules and Cacus.

To the left of Vecchio you can see another work of Dzhambolony - a bronze equestrian statue of Cosimo I of Medici.

Equestrian statue of Cosimo I

Signoria Square (Piazza della Signoria)
Piazza della Signoria Firenze Italy

Take bus 02 to the Condotta stop

Watch the video: Signoria Square (November 2024).

Popular Posts

Category Italy, Next Article

Borghese Gallery is trying to save art masterpieces
Culture

Borghese Gallery is trying to save art masterpieces

The creations of such famous artists as Caravaggio, Titian and Rubens are at risk due to the heat that has enveloped the Eternal City. Employees of the Galleria Borghese Gallery, which is located in Rome, are seriously worried about the safety of valuable exhibits. The administration of the gallery decided to periodically open the windows in order to reduce the level of humidity that the building is saturated with due to high temperatures.
Read More
Museum of environmental crime opened in Rome
Culture

Museum of environmental crime opened in Rome

The museum, unique to Europe, reflects the Italians' consciousness regarding the consumption of animal and vegetable products. The only Macri environmental crime museum in Europe (Macri, museo dei crimini ambientali) has opened in Rome at the Bioparco. Immediately at the entrance to the museum, visitors will see a giant gaur, a wild bull from India.
Read More
Higher Education in Italy: Attracting Specialists
Culture

Higher Education in Italy: Attracting Specialists

At the Conference of Ambassadors (Conferenza degli Ambasciatori) will be presented a project to simplify the procedure for entry into Italy of qualified specialists. Italian universities can not be called the most popular in the world. In the latest ranking of 400 different educational institutions in the world, published a few weeks ago in the Times Higher Education University Ranking, the Italian name first appears only at 221 positions.
Read More
Vegan and vegetarian festivals will be held in Bologna
Culture

Vegan and vegetarian festivals will be held in Bologna

Organic foods, raw foods, vegetarians and vegans. A few years ago, these terms were not as widely known as they are today. But nowadays they are becoming more and more popular. Followers of vegetarianism and veganism are trying to keep up with the latest trends in proper nutrition in the hope of preserving not only their health, but also the world around us.
Read More