Florence history

Florence owes much of her wealth to the Middle Ages when banking boomed on the back of the city's profitable wool trade. In 1235, Florence minted the florin, the first gold coin to become standard currency across Europe.

These bankers commissioned some of the finest art and architecture in the city. The names Strozzi, Rucellai and Pitti can be found all over Florence, but it was the Medici family (who led the city for over 300 years, off and on) that nurtured the greatest flowering of Renaissance art, including the paintings of Botticelli, the sculptures of Michelangelo and the palaces of Michelozzo.

Then, as now, most of the action in Florence took place between Piazza del Duomo and Piazza della Signoria, the city's civic heart. Here, in the historic centre, Dante (acknowledged father of the Italian language) first glimpsed his muse, Beatrice, and Savonarola's Bonfire of the Vanities blazed.

Florence is no stranger to destruction. In 1944, all her bridges, save the Ponte Vecchio, were destroyed by the Nazis, in an attempt to stall the Allied advance. In 1966, the banks of the River Arno burst, devastating homes and artworks. Today, the only violence most tourists are likely to witness is during the rough and tumble of the medieval football match on 24 June (Florence's patron saint day).