Piazza della Signoria

An open-air art gallery where you can admire Renaissance masterpieces

Piazza della Signoria is one of the most beautiful squares in Italy, photographed every day by millions of tourists, and venue of the city’s many historical, political and civil events. Here was where the Medici returned to the city after their exile, and where Girolamo Savonarola had sinful objects burned during the Bonfire of the Vanity. In 1498, the same Savonarola, accused of heresy, was condemned to the stake here, as recalled by the circular marble plaque in front of the fountain of Neptune, the latter sculpted by Bartolomeo Ammannati.

Palazzo Vecchio, seat of the Florentine government and one of the most important medieval buildings in Italy, overlooks the square. In front of its entrance, there is a copy of Michelangelo Buonarroti's David (the original is kept in the Accademia Gallery).  Opposite, visitors will find the Loggia dei Lanzi, an open-air sculptural museum, where you can admire Benvenuto Cellini's Perseus with the Head of Medusa and Giambologna's Abduction of a Sabine Woman sculpted from a single block of marble.