The History of Florence in 23 Chapters

59 BC

The Roman foundation

Florentia, a city born on the Arno

Florence began as a Roman military camp on the banks of the Arno, founded around 59 BC for the veterans of Julius Caesar. Its name, Florentia, means "the flourishing one". The city followed the typical Roman plan: two main streets crossing at right angles, with the forum at the center. That regular grid is still beneath your feet: Piazza della Repubblica stands exactly where the heart of the ancient city once beat. You are walking over two thousand years of history.

11th-12th c.

The Baptistery

The "bel San Giovanni", symbol of the city

For centuries Florentines believed that their Baptistery, dedicated to San Giovanni, was an ancient Roman temple. In fact it was built between the 11th and 12th centuries, on much older foundations. Clad in white and green marble, it was the only place where all the children of Florence were baptized, which is why Dante affectionately called it "my beautiful San Giovanni". Its gilded doors would later be described by Michelangelo as the "Gates of Paradise".

1115

The free Comune

Florence chooses its own destiny

After the death of Countess Matilde di Canossa in 1115, Florence effectively gained its independence and organized itself as a free Comune. Power no longer belonged to a lord, but to a city government made up of consuls and, later, elected magistrates. It was the beginning of a vocation that would mark the city forever: self-government, trade and civic pride. From here began the long race that would make Florence one of the richest cities in Europe.

13th c.

Guelphs and Ghibellines

The thirteenth century of factions and towers

For much of the Middle Ages Florence was divided between two great parties: the Guelphs, supporters of the Pope, and the Ghibellines, loyal to the Emperor. It was not only politics, but a war between families, fought street by street, tower against tower. The hundreds of towers rising over the city were also private fortresses. The conflict reached its height in 1260 at Montaperti, a battle so bloody that it entered the Divine Comedy. In the end the Guelphs won, but soon split into new rival factions.

1252

The gold florin

The coin that conquered Europe

In 1252 Florence minted a gold coin destined to make history: the florin, with the city's lily on one side and San Giovanni Battista on the other. Its purity and reliability soon made it Europe's most sought-after currency, accepted from London to the Mediterranean coasts. It was a little like the dollar of the Middle Ages. Behind this economic power stood Florentine bankers, who lent money to kings and popes. The city's wealth began here.

13th-14th c.

The Guilds and work

The corporations that governed Florence

Florence was organized into Arti, the craft guilds: wool, silk, doctors, judges, bankers and even humbler trades. They were not simple professional associations; they were the real political and economic engine of the city. Only those who belonged to an Arte could govern. The Arte della Lana, in particular, made Florence famous around the world for its fine textiles. Many palaces and churches you admire today were funded by these powerful guilds, each competing to leave the most beautiful mark.

1265-1321

Dante and the Italian language

The poet who invented a language

Dante Alighieri was born in Florence in 1265. With his Divine Comedy he did not write in Latin, the language of scholars, but in the Florentine vernacular spoken in the streets; for this reason he is considered the father of the Italian language. His life, however, was marked by exile: involved in factional struggles, he was expelled from the city in 1302 and never returned. Florence, which had banished him, now celebrates him as its greatest son. Look for his house-museum in the historic center.

1334

Giotto and the new art

The bell tower and the revolution in painting

Before Giotto, painted figures were stiff and symbolic. With him, at the beginning of the 14th century, art changed forever: figures gained volume, emotion and humanity. It was the dawn of everything that would lead to the Renaissance. Florence even entrusted him with directing the works of the Duomo, and in 1334 he began building the bell tower that still bears his name beside the cathedral. Tall and colorful, it is one of the city's most recognizable silhouettes.

1348

The Black Death and the Decameron

The city that told stories to survive

In 1348 a terrible plague struck Florence, killing perhaps half the population. It was a catastrophe that changed society. From that drama came one of literature's masterpieces: Giovanni Boccaccio's Decameron, in which ten young people fleeing the plague-stricken city tell one hundred stories over ten days. Between fear and the desire to live, Florence found in storytelling a way to resist. Paradoxically, after the plague its extraordinary cultural flowering also began again.

1436

Brunelleschi's Dome

The feat no one believed possible

The cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore had remained without a roof for decades: no one knew how to cover such an enormous opening without making it collapse. Filippo Brunelleschi solved the puzzle with a brilliant idea: a double-shell dome, built without central scaffolding, with bricks laid in a herringbone pattern. Completed in 1436, it is still the largest masonry dome ever built. Climbing its steps, you can almost touch the genius of a man who changed the history of architecture. It is the very symbol of Florence.

1434

The Medici in power

Cosimo the Elder and art as strategy

In 1434 Cosimo de' Medici, an immensely wealthy banker, returned from exile and effectively became the lord of Florence, though without any official title. He governed behind the scenes through money and alliances. He understood something essential: beauty is power. He financed artists, architects and scholars, turning the city into a workshop of masterpieces. The Medici family would dominate Florence, with ups and downs, for more than three centuries. Almost everything that makes the city famous bears, in some way, their signature.

1469-1492

Lorenzo the Magnificent

The golden age of the Renaissance

Cosimo's grandson, Lorenzo de' Medici, ruled Florence at its most dazzling moment. A poet, diplomat and refined patron, he gathered around him the greatest talents of the age: the young Michelangelo grew up almost like a son in his household, and Botticelli painted for his circle. His court was a crossroads of artists, philosophers and thinkers. Under him Florence became the cultural capital of Europe. It is no accident that he was called "the Magnificent": with him the city reached the height of its glory.

1478

The Pazzi conspiracy

A murder in the cathedral

A rival banking family, the Pazzi, plotted to overthrow the Medici. On 26 April 1478, during mass in the crowded Duomo, the conspirators attacked Lorenzo and his brother Giuliano. Giuliano was stabbed to death beneath Brunelleschi's dome; Lorenzo, wounded, managed to escape. The revenge was harsh and immediate: the conspirators were hanged, some from the windows of the Palazzo della Signoria. The episode strengthened Medici power even further. It was one of the most dramatic days in the city's history.

1494-1498

Savonarola and the bonfire of the vanities

The friar who challenged Florence

After the Medici were temporarily expelled, a Dominican friar, Girolamo Savonarola, took power and preached against luxury, corruption and pleasure. He swept the city into a wave of religious fervor: in the famous "bonfires of the vanities" in Piazza della Signoria, mirrors, clothes, books and even artworks considered sinful were burned. But his severity eventually made enemies of everyone. In 1498 he was tried, hanged and burned at the stake in the very square where he had lit his fires. A plaque in the pavement still marks the exact spot.

1504

The triumph of the Renaissance

Leonardo, Botticelli, Michelangelo and the David

Between the 15th and 16th centuries Florence became the cradle of genius. Botticelli painted the Birth of Venus and Primavera; Leonardo da Vinci took his first steps here; in 1504 Michelangelo carved the David, symbol of the free and proud city, placed before the Palazzo della Signoria. In just a few decades, in just a few streets, an unmatched concentration of talent gathered. Many of those masterpieces are still here today, in the Uffizi and the Accademia. To walk through Florence is to cross the world's greatest open-air museum.

1513

Machiavelli and The Prince

The birth of modern political thought

Niccolò Machiavelli, a Florentine official and diplomat, withdrew to the countryside after losing all his posts and wrote The Prince, a small book destined to change forever the way people think about power. It analyzes, without hypocrisy, how the government of a state is won and maintained. Bold and crystal clear, it is considered the foundation of modern political science. From him comes the adjective "Machiavellian". It is another example of how Florence in those years produced not only great artists, but also minds capable of revolutionizing thought.

1569

The Grand Duchy of Tuscany

Cosimo I and the Uffizi

With Cosimo I de' Medici the city became the center of a true state: in 1569 he received the title of Grand Duke of Tuscany. Cosimo reorganized the administration and had the Uffizi built, originally government offices and now among the most famous museums in the world. He also created the Vasari Corridor, a secret raised passage linking Palazzo Vecchio to Palazzo Pitti over the Ponte Vecchio, so he could move without ever going down to the street. Much of the monumental face of Florence you see today is his work.

1610

Galileo at the Medici court

The seventeenth century and the birth of science

Galileo Galilei, father of the scientific method, was protected and honored by the Medici. When in 1610 he discovered the moons of Jupiter, he named them the "Medicean stars" in honor of his patrons. He spent his final years in Florence, even after the Church condemned him for supporting the idea that the Earth moves around the Sun. The city still preserves his instruments, and even a curious relic: one of his fingers, kept in a museum. Florence was not only a capital of art, but also of emerging science.

1737

The last of the Medici

The pact that saved Florence's treasures

After three centuries, the Medici dynasty came to an end. The last heir, Anna Maria Luisa, made an act of extraordinary foresight: with the "Family Pact" of 1737 she left the entire city the immense artistic heritage of the Medici, on one condition: that nothing should ever be taken away from Florence. Thanks to her, masterpieces that might have been scattered around the world remained here for everyone. If today you can admire the Uffizi and Palazzo Pitti as they are, you owe it to that woman. It was perhaps the first great act of heritage protection in history.

1865-1871

Florence capital of Italy

Six years that changed the face of the city

For a brief but intense period, from 1865 to 1871, Florence became the capital of the young Kingdom of Italy, before the role passed to Rome. The city transformed quickly to meet the moment: the old medieval walls were demolished, broad avenues were opened, and the great Piazza della Repubblica was created where the old market had stood. It was a profound change, not always loved by Florentines. Many of the wide streets and elegant 19th-century buildings you see today date from those feverish years of renewal.

1943-1944

Florence in the Second World War

The destroyed bridges and the Ponte Vecchio saved

After the armistice of 1943, Florence was occupied by the Germans and endured harsh months of curfews, roundups and the deportation of many of the city's Jews. The most dramatic moment came in August 1944: as they withdrew before the advancing Allies, the Germans blew up all the bridges over the Arno. All except one. The Ponte Vecchio was spared, but the old houses at its two ends were destroyed to block passage. On 11 August the bell of Palazzo Vecchio rang to call the partisans to insurrection, and the city was liberated street by street. Meanwhile thousands of artworks, hidden in country villas, were brought to safety. Florence emerged wounded, but alive.

1966

The flood of 1966

The submerged city and the mud angels

On the morning of 4 November 1966 the Arno broke its banks and flooded Florence: in some areas water and mud rose to more than five meters. It was a tragedy: people died, and thousands of artworks and ancient books were damaged. But something extraordinary also happened. Young volunteers arrived from all over the world to save the city's heritage, shoveling mud with their bare hands; they are remembered as the "mud angels". Florence rose again, and from that disaster came new restoration techniques still used today.

1982

World Heritage Site

Florence, the world's open-air museum

In 1982 the historic center of Florence was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is a recognition that says something simple: this city does not belong only to those who live here, but to everyone. In just a few square kilometers there is a concentration of art, architecture and history without equal. Every square, every bridge, every facade tells a piece of the long journey that began with Roman soldiers on the Arno. As you walk, remember: you are not visiting a museum. You are crossing a living city, made of two thousand years of stories.

The history of Florence in 23 chapters: from Roman camp to World Heritage Site