Florence.

Vista dal Piazzale Michelangelo, Florence. Photograph © by leo1383

A center of medieval European trade and finance, the city of Florence is often considered to be the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance and was long ruled by the Medici family. Florence is also famous for its magnificent art and architecture. It is said that, of the 1,000 most important European artists of the second millennium, 350 lived or worked in Florence. The city has also been called the Athens of the Middle Ages.

Florence (Italian: Firenze) is the capital city of the region of Tuscany, Italy.

From 1865 to 1870 the city of Florence was also the capital of the Kingdom of Italy. The citylies on the Arno River and has a population of around 400,000 inhabitants, plus a suburban population in excess of 200,000. The greater area has some 956,000 inhabitants.

Florence is a city of many incomparable churches, monasteries, museums, galleries and palaces. The sights that you should not miss include the Uffizi Gallery (one of the most prominemnt art museums in the world), the Duomo, Santo Spirito church and Ponte Vecchio.

To obtain an overview of the city, you can climb the "Cupolone" of the Duomo or the Giotto Tower, head for Piazzale Michelangelo in Oltrarno (South or literally "other" side of river Arno) or the church of San Miniato.