Piazza della Signoria

In the shape of an ''L'', it is the central square of the city, which has always been the political heart of Florence. It was born symbolically in 1268, when the Guelphs regained control of the city, but archaeological finds prove the importance of the site since Roman times, with baths from the Hadrian age and a fullonica. It houses Palazzo Vecchio, the Loggia della Signoria (or dei Lanzi), the Court of Merchandise, and Palazzo degli Uguccioni. To decorate the square in an extraordinarily suggestive way, we find famous sculptures and statues such as Michelangelo's ''David'' (copy), Donatello's ''Marzocco'' and ''Judith and Holofernes'', the ''Perseus' ' by Benvenuto Cellini, ''Hercules and Cacus'' by Baccio Bandinelli, the ''Equestrian Statue of Cosimo I'' and the ''Fountain of Neptune''. On the corner of Palazzo Vecchio that leads to the Uffizi, there is a barely sketched male profile called ''l'importuno'' and legend has it that it is the work of Michelangelo, who would have sculpted it from the back. On a building near the café area, there is a 19th century sundial. In Piazza della Signoria, then, a festival called ''La Fiorita'' takes place, which commemorates, on May 23rd, the death at the stake of Girolamo Savonarola.