Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your Florence shopping experience:

1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the Florence offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of Florence at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.

2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about

3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a Florence? Wrong! If the Florence is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.

4. Questions - Got a question about Florence then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....

5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling Florence? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about Florence and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.

6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your Florence wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.

7. Feedback - happy with your Florence then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.

8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the Florence site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site

9. Contact - got a question about Florence, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.

10. Payment - ready to pay for your Florence, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.

{{Infobox CityIT|color = purple|official_name = Comune di Firenze|img_coa = Firenze-Stemma.png|name = Florence|region = Tuscany (FI)|elevation_m = 50|area_total_km2 = 102|population_as_of = [2006-06-02, [Coordinated Universal Time+1|coordinates = |mapx = 43.603|mapy = 11.25|frazioni = Galluzzo, Settignano|day = [June 24 ([Democrats of the Left)]|Year = 1982|Session = 6th-->

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

From 1865 to 1870 the city was also the capital of the Italy. Florence lies on the Arno River and has a population of around 400,000 people, plus a suburban population in excess of 200,000 persons. The greater area has some 956,000 people. A center of medieval European trade and finance, the city is often considered 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.

The historic Center of Florence was declared a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO in 1982.

Language Florentine language (fiorentino), spoken by inhabitants of Florence and its environs, is a Tuscan dialect and an immediate parent language to modern Italian language. (Many linguists and scholars of Dante, Giovanni Boccaccio, and Petrarch consider modern Italian to be, in fact, modern Florentine.) Its vocabulary and pronunciation are largely identical to Italian, though the hard c , when it is between two vowels (as in ducato) is pronounced as a Voiceless glottal fricative , similar to an English h. This gives Florentines a distinctive and highly recognizable accent (the so-called gorgia toscana). Other traits include using a form of the subjunctive mood last commonly used in medieval times, frequent usage of the modern subjunctive instead of the present, which may be viewed as incorrect in comparison to standard Italian, and a reduced definite article in the pronounce.

History Florence began as a settlement established by Julius Caesar in 59 BC for his veteran soldiers. It was named Florentia (Flourishing) and built in the style of an army camp with the main streets, the cardo and the decumanus, intersecting at the present Piazza della Repubblica. Situated at the Via Cassia, the main route between Rome and the North, and within the fertile valley of the Arno River, the settlement quickly became an important commercial center. Emperor Diocletian made Florentia capital of the province of Tuscia in the 3rd century AD.

Saint Minias was Florence’s first martyr. He was beheaded at about 250 AD, during the anti-Christian persecutions of the Emperor Decius. After being beheaded, it is said that he picked up his disembodied head and walked across the Arno River and up the hill Mons Fiorentinus to his hermitage, where the Basilica di San Miniato al Monte now stands.

The seat of a bishopric from around the beginning of the 4th century AD, the city experienced subsequent turbulent periods of Ostrogothic rule, during which the city was often troubled by warfare between the Ostrogoths and the Byzantines, which may have caused the population to fall to as few as 1,000 living persons.

Peace returned under Lombards rule in the 6th century. Conquered by Charlemagne in 774, Florence became part of the duchy of Tuscany, with Lucca as capital. Population began to grow again and commerce prospered. In 854, Florence and Fiesole were united in one county.

Margrave Hugo chose Florence as his residency instead of Lucca at about 1000 AD. This initiated the Golden Age of Florentine art. In 1013, construction began on the Basilica di San Miniato al Monte. The exterior of the Battistero di San Giovanni (Florence) was reworked in Romanesque style between 1059 and 1128.

Pisa (defeated by Genoa in 1284 and subjugated by Florence in 1406), and the exercise of power by the mercantile elite following an anti-aristocratic movement, led by Giano della Bella, that resulted in a set of laws called the Ordinances of Justice (1293).

Of a population estimated at 80,000 before the Black Death of 1348, about 25,000 are said to have been supported by the city's wool industry: in 1345 Florence was the scene of an attempted strike by wool combers (ciompi), who in 1378 rose up in a brief revolt against oligarchic rule in the Revolt of the Ciompi. After their suppression, Florence came under the sway (1382-1434) of the Albizzi family, bitter rivals of the Medici. Cosimo de' Medici was the first Medici family member to essentially control the city from behind the scenes. Although the city was technically a democracy of sorts, his power came from a vast patronage network along with his alliance to the new immigrants, the gente nuova. The fact that the Medici were bankers to the pope also contributed to their rise. Cosimo was succeeded by his son Piero di Cosimo de' Medici, who was shortly thereafter succeeded by Cosimo's grandson, Lorenzo de' Medici in 1469. Lorenzo was a great patron of the arts, commissioning works by Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and Sandro Botticelli. Lorenzo was also an accomplished musician and brought some of the most famous composers and singers of the day to Florence, including Alexander Agricola, Johannes Ghiselin, and Heinrich Isaac.

Following the death of Lorenzo in 1492, he was succeeded by his son Piero II. When the French king Charles VIII of France invaded northern Italy, Piero II chose to resist his army. But when he realized the size of the French army at the gates of Pisa, he had to accept the humiliating conditions of the French king. These made the Florentines rebel and they expelled Piero II. With his exile in 1494, the first period of Medici rule ended with the restoration of a republican government.

During this period the Dominican monk Girolamo Savonarola had become prior of the San Marco monastery in 1490. He was famed for his penitential sermons. He blamed the exile of the Medicis as the work of God, punishing them for their decadence. He seized the opportunity to carry through political reforms leading to a more democratic rule. His monomaniacal persecution of the widespread Florentine Pederasty#Western Europe{{cite book | last =Rocke | first =Michael | title =Forbidden friendships : homosexuality and male culture in Renaissance Florence | publisher =[Oxford University Press | date =1996 | pages = | url =http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/32893164?tab=details | id =ISBN 0195069757 --> and of other worldly pleasures both influenced and foreshadowed many of the wider religious controversies of the following centuries. But when Savonarola publicly accused Pope Alexander VI of corruption, he was banned from speaking in public. When he broke this ban, he was excommunicated. The Florentines, tired of his extreme teachings, turned against him and arrested him. He was convicted as a heretic and burned at the stake on the [Piazza della Signoria on [23 May [.

A second individual of unusual insight was Niccolò Machiavelli, whose prescriptions for Florence's regeneration under strong leadership have often been seen as a legitimisation of political expediency and even malpractice. Commissioned by the Medici, Machiavelli also wrote the Florentine Histories, the history of the city. Florentines drove out the Medici for a second time and re-established a republic on May 16, 1527.Restored twice with the support of both Emperor and Pope, the Medici in 1537 became hereditary dukes of Florence, and in 1569 Grand Duchy of Tuscany, ruling for two centuries. In all Tuscany, only the Republic of Lucca (later a Duchy of Lucca) and the Principality of Piombino were independent from Florence.

The extinction of the Medici line and the accession in 1737 of Francis Stephen, duke of Lorraine and husband of Maria Theresa of Austria, led to Tuscany's temporary inclusion in the territories of the Austrian crown. It became a secundogeniture of the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty, who were deposed for the House of Bourbon in 1801 (themselves deposed in 1807), restored at the Congress of Vienna; Tuscany became a province of the United Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

Florence replaced Turin as Italy's capital in 1865, hosting the country's first parliament, but was superseded by Rome six years later, after the withdrawal of the Second French Empire troops made its addition to the kingdom possible. After doubling during the 19th century, Florence's population tripled in the 20th with the growth of tourism, trade, financial services and industry. During World War II the city experienced a year-long German occupation (1943-1944) and was declared an open city. The Allied soldiers who died driving the Germans from Tuscany are buried in cemeteries outside the city (Americans about south of the city , British and Commonwealth soldiers a few kilometers east of the center on the north bank of the Arno )

A very important role is played in those years by the famous café of Florence Giubbe Rosse from its foundation until the present day. Piazza del Mercato Vecchio was destroyed (Old Market Square), and then was renamed Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II. It is known today as Piazza della Repubblica, and is the location of the Giubbe Rosse. In those years (the end of the l9th century) the city administration of Florence decided to raze the old neighborhood of Mercato Vecchio to the ground, in favour of a new square dedicated to Victor Emmanuel II. "Non fu giammai così nobil giardino/ come a quel tempo egli è Mercato Vecchio / che l'occhio e il gusto pasce al fiorentino", claimed Antonio Pucci (poet) in the fourteenth century, "Mercato Vecchio nel mondo è alimento./ A ogni altra piazza il prego serra". The area had decayed from its original medieval splendor".Nowadays the literary café Giubbe Rosse is publishing books of famous Italian authors such: Mario Luzi, Manlio Sgalambro, Giovanni Lista, Menotti Lerro, Leopoldo Paciscopi.

In November 1966, the The Flood of the River Arno in Florence, Italy parts of the center, damaging many art treasures. There was no warning from the authorities who knew the flood was coming, except a phone call to the jewelers on the Ponte Vecchio. Around the city there are tiny placards on the walls noting where the flood waters reached at their highest point.



Florence and the Renaissance The surge in artistic, literary, and scientific investigation that occurred in Florence in the 14th-16th centuries was precipitated by Florentines' preoccupation with money, banking and trade and with conspicuous consumption. With the money from the banking, the Medicis, very wealthy bankers, sponsored different artists such as Michelangelo.

Added to this, the crises of the Roman Catholic church (especially the controversy over the French Avignon Papacy and the Western Schism), along with the catastrophic effects of the Black Death, led to a re-evaluation of medieval values, resulting in the development of a Humanism culture, stimulated by the works of Petrarch and Giovanni Boccaccio. This prompted a revisitation and study of the classical antiquity, leading to the Renaissance. Florence benefited materially and culturally from this sea-change in social consciousness.

Geography Climate {| class="wikitable"! style="background: #99CCCC; color: #000080" height="14" | Month! style="background: #99CCCC; color:#000080;" | Jan! style="background: #99CCCC; color:#000080;" | Feb! style="background: #99CCCC; color:#000080;" | Mar! style="background: #99CCCC; color:#000080;" | Apr! style="background: #99CCCC; color:#000080;" | May! style="background: #99CCCC; color:#000080;" | Jun! style="background: #99CCCC; color:#000080;" | Jul! style="background: #99CCCC; color:#000080;" | Aug! style="background: #99CCCC; color:#000080;" | Sep! style="background: #99CCCC; color:#000080;" | Oct! style="background: #99CCCC; color:#000080;" | Nov! style="background: #99CCCC; color:#000080;" | Dec! style="background: #99CCCC; color:#000080;" | Year|-! style="background: #99CCCC; color:#000080;" | Avg high (°F)| style="background: #FFFF99; color:#000080;" | 10 (50)| style="background: #FFFF99; color:#000080;" | 12 (54)| style="background: #FFCC66; color:#000080;" | 15 (59)| style="background: #FFCC00; color:#000080;" | 19 (66)| style="background: #FFCC00; color:#000080;" | 23 (74)| style="background: #FF9900; color:#000080;" | 28 (82)| style="background: #FF9900; color:#000080;" | 31 (88)| style="background: #FF9900; color:#000080;" | 31 (87)| style="background: #FF9900; color:#000080;" | 27 (80)| style="background: #FFCC00; color:#000080;" | 21 (70)| style="background: #FFCC66; color:#000080;" | 15 (59)| style="background: #FFFF99; color:#000080;" | 11 (51)| style="background: #FFCC00; color:#000080;" | 20 (68)|-! style="background: #99CCCC; color:#000080;" height="15;" | Avg low temperature (°F)| style="background: #FFFFCC; color: black;" | 2 (35)| style="background: #FFFFCC; color: black;" | 3 (37)| style="background: #FFFFCC; color: black;" | 5 (41)| style="background: #FFFF99; color: black;" | 8 (46)| style="background: #FFCC66; color: black;" | 11 (52)| style="background: #FFCC66; color: black;" | 15 (59)| style="background: #FFCC66; color: black;" | 17 (63)| style="background: #FFCC66; color: black;" | 17 (63)| style="background: #FFCC66; color: black;" | 14 (58)| style="background: #FFFF99; color: black;" | 10 (50)| style="background: #FFFFCC; color: black;" | 6 (42)| style="background: #FFFFCC; color: black;" | 2 (36)| style="background: #FFFF99; color: black;" | 9 (49)|-! style="background: #99CCCC; color:#000080;" | Rainfall (millimeters)| style="background: #2288BB;" | 2.90 (73.60)| style="background: #2288BB;" | 2.70 (68.58)| style="background: #44AADD;" | 3.20 (81.28)| style="background: #44AADD;" | 3.10 (78.74)| style="background: #44AADD;" | 2.90 (73.66)| style="background: #66CCFF;" | 2.20 (55.88)| style="background: #66CCFF;" | 1.60 (40.64)| style="background: #66CCFF;" | 3.00 (76.20)| style="background: #66CCFF;" | 3.10 (78.74)| style="background: #44AADD;" | 3.50 (88.90)| style="background: #2288BB;" | 4.40 (111.76)| style="background: #2288BB;" | 3.60 (91.44)| style="background: #2288BB;" | 36.20 (919.48)|}

Although usually perceived to have a Mediterranean climate, under the Köppen climate classification Florence is sometimes classified as having a Humid subtropical climate (Cfa). It experiences hot, humid summers with little rainfall and cool, damp winters. Due to the geographical position of the city (surrounded by hills in a valley traversed by the Arno river), Florence can be hot and humid from June to August. Summer temperatures are higher than those along coastlines, due to the lack of a prevailing wind. The small amount of rain which falls in the summer is Convection rain in type. Relief rainfall dominates in the winter, with occasional snow.

Landmarks . For a complete list, see :category:buildings and structures in Florence.

The best-known site and crowning architectural jewel of Florence is the domed cathedral of the city, Santa Maria del Fiore, known as The Duomo. The magnificent dome was built by Filippo Brunelleschi. The nearby Campanile tower (partly designed by Giotto di Bondone) and the Battistero di San Giovanni (Florence) buildings are also highlights. Both the dome itself and the campanile are open to tourists and offer excellent views.

At the heart of the city in Piazza della Signoria is Bartolomeo Ammanati's Fountain of Neptune, which is a masterpiece of marble sculpture at the terminus of a still functioning Roman aqueduct.], which cuts through the old part of the city, is as much a character in Florentine history as many of the men who lived there. Historically, the locals have had a love-hate relationship with the Arno — which alternated from nourishing the city with commerce, and destroying it by flood.

One of the bridges in particular stands out as being unique — The Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge), whose most striking feature is the multitude of shops built upon its edges, held up by stilts. The bridge also carried Vasari Corridor linking the Uffizi to the Medici residence (Palazzo Pitti). First constructed by the Etruscans in ancient times, this bridge is the only one in the city to have survived World War II intact.

The Basilica di San Lorenzo di Firenze contains the Medici Chapel, the mausoleum of the Medici family - the most powerful family in Florence from the 15th to the 18th century. Nearby is the Uffizi Gallery, one of the finest art galleries in the world - founded on a large bequest from the last member of the Medici family.

The Uffizi ("offices") itself is located on the corner of Piazza della Signoria, a site important for three main reasons:

In addition to the Uffizi, Florence has other world-class museums:

The Bargello concentrates on sculpture, containing many priceless works of art created by such sculptors as Donatello, Giambologna, and Michelangelo.

The Accademia dell'Arte del Disegno (often simply called the Accademia) collection's highlights are Michelangelo's David and his unfinished Slaves.

Across the Arno is the huge Pitti Palace containing part of the Medici family's former private collection. In addition to the Medici collection the palace's galleries contain a large number of Renaissance works, including several by Raphael and Titian as well as a large collection of modern art, costumes, cattiages, and porcerlain. Adjoining the Palace are the Boboli Gardens, elaborately landscaped and with many interesting sculptures.

The Basilica di Santa Croce, Florence basilica, originally a Franciscan foundation, contains the monumental tombs of Galileo Galilei, Michelangelo, Niccolò Machiavelli, Dante (actually a cenotaph), and many other notables.

Other important basilicas and churches in Florence include Santa Maria Novella, Basilica di San Lorenzo di Firenze, Santo Spirito and the Orsanmichele.

The city's principal football team is AC Fiorentina.

Florence has been the setting for numerous works of fiction and films, including the novels and associated films Hannibal (movie), Tea with Mussolini and A Room with a View.

Other points of interest

Demography As of 2004, the greater Firenze (Florence) area had a population of 957,949 inhabitants, 93.30% being ethnic Italian people. Immigrants in the city number 6.70% of the greater Firenze area. Of the 64,421 immigrants living in the Firenze area, 27,759 are of European origins other than Italian people. The majority are of Albanian people, Romanian people, and Germans ethnicities. An increasing Asian population numbers 19,488, mostly recent immigrants of Han Chinese and Filipino people origins. The African population numbers 10,364, of which half are North African Arabs and the other half sub-Saharan blacks. The remaining numbers constitute immigrants from the Americas.

Age structure

The city is undergoing an aging process due to the low fertility rates among the women like much of Europe. As a result, the pensioner population outnumbers that of youths. However, in the past decade there has been an increase in the number of births contributing to the slow, continuing positive growth of the city.

Transportation The principal public transportation network within the city is run by the ATAF and Li-nea bus company, with tickets available at local tobacconists, bars, and newspaper stalls. Individual tickets or a pass called the Carta Agile with multiple rides (10 or 21) may be used on buses. Once on the bus, tickets must be stamped (or swiped for the Carta Agile) using the machines on board unlike the train tickets which must be validated before boarding. The main bus station is next to Santa Maria Novella train station. Trenitalia runs trains between the railway stations within the city, and to other destinations around Italy and Europe. The central station, Santa Maria Novella Station, is located about NW of Piazza del Duomo. There is also another important station, Campo Di Marte, but it is not as well-known as Santa Maria Novella.

Long distance buses are run by the SITA, Copit, CAP and Lazzi companies. The transit companies also accommodate travellers from the Peretola Airport, which is five kilometers (3.1 mi) west of the city center, and which has scheduled services run by major European carriers such as Air France and Lufthansa.

The centre of the city is closed to through-traffic, although buses, Taxicab and residents with appropriate permits are allowed in. This area is commonly referred to the ZTL (Zona Traffico Limitato), which is divided into five subsections. Residents of one section, therefore, will only be able to drive in their district and perhaps some surrounding ones. Cars without permits are allowed to enter after seven-thirty at night, or before seven-thirty in the morning. The rules shift somewhat unpredictably during the tourist-filled summers, putting more restrictions on where one can get in and out. This is enforced by cameras located on all the roads into the city, which photograph licence plates that pass by.

Future Developments Due to the high level of air pollution and traffic in the city, an urban tram network called the TramVia is currently under construction in the City. tramvia.fi.it It will run from Scandicci to the southwest through the western side of the city, cross the river Arno at the Cascine Park and arrive to the main station of Santa Maria Novella.

Economy and industry Tourism is the most significant industry within the center of Florence. On any given day between April and October, the local population is greatly outnumbered by tourists from all over the world. The Uffizi and Accademia museums are regularly sold out of tickets, and large groups regularly fill the basilicas of Santa Croce and Santa Maria Novella, both of which charge for entry.

Florence is also home to the legendary Italy fashion establishment Salvatore Ferragamo, notable as one of the oldest and most famous Italian fashion houses not located in Milan. Gucci, Prada, Roberto Cavalli, and Chanel also have large offices and stores in Florence or its outskirts.

Certain textile industries employing largely immigrant populations can be found to the north and north-west of the city, continuing its long tradition as a center of fine fabrics.

Food and wine have long been an important staple of the economy. Florence is the most important city in Tuscany, one of the great wine-growing regions in the world. The Chianti region is just south of the city, and its Sangiovese grapes figure prominently not only in its Chianti Classico wines but also in many of the more recently developed Supertuscan blends. Within twenty miles (32 km) to the west is the Carmignano area, also home to flavorful reds. More recently, the Bolgheri region (about southwest of Florence) has become celebrated for its Supertuscan reds like Sassicaia.

Cuisine Florentine food grows out of a tradition of peasant eating rather than rarefied high cooking. The vast majority of dishes are based on meat. The whole animal was traditionally eaten; various kinds of tripe, (trippa) and (lampredotto) were once regularly on the menu and still are sold at the remaining food carts stationed throughout the city. Antipasti include crostini toscani, sliced bread rounds topped with a chicken liver-based pâté, and sliced meats (mainly prosciutto and salami, often served with melon when in season). The typically saltless and butter-less Tuscan bread frequently features in Florentine courses, especially in its famous soups, ribollita and pappa al pomodoro, both usually served with local olive oil, and in the salad of bread and fresh vegetables called panzanella that is served in summer. The most famous main course is the bistecca alla fiorentina, a huge steak of Chianina beef cooked over hot charcoal and served very rare with its more recently derived version, the tagliata, sliced rare beef served on a bed of arugula, often with slices of parmesan cheese on top.

Notable residents

Administration

Twinning Sister cities include:{|style="width: 100%; align:top"|-|valign=top| |valign=top| |}

See also

References Bibliography Primary Sources

External links

{{Template group|list =-->



{{Infobox CityIT|color = purple|official_name = Comune di Firenze|img_coa = Firenze-Stemma.png|name = Florence|region = Tuscany (FI)|elevation_m = 50|area_total_km2 = 102|population_as_of = [2006-06-02, [Coordinated Universal Time+1|coordinates = |mapx = 43.603|mapy = 11.25|frazioni = Galluzzo, Settignano|day = [June 24 ([Democrats of the Left)]|Year = 1982|Session = 6th-->

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

From 1865 to 1870 the city was also the capital of the Italy. Florence lies on the Arno River and has a population of around 400,000 people, plus a suburban population in excess of 200,000 persons. The greater area has some 956,000 people. A center of medieval European trade and finance, the city is often considered 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.

The historic Center of Florence was declared a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO in 1982.

Language Florentine language (fiorentino), spoken by inhabitants of Florence and its environs, is a Tuscan dialect and an immediate parent language to modern Italian language. (Many linguists and scholars of Dante, Giovanni Boccaccio, and Petrarch consider modern Italian to be, in fact, modern Florentine.) Its vocabulary and pronunciation are largely identical to Italian, though the hard c , when it is between two vowels (as in ducato) is pronounced as a Voiceless glottal fricative , similar to an English h. This gives Florentines a distinctive and highly recognizable accent (the so-called gorgia toscana). Other traits include using a form of the subjunctive mood last commonly used in medieval times, frequent usage of the modern subjunctive instead of the present, which may be viewed as incorrect in comparison to standard Italian, and a reduced definite article in the pronounce.

History Florence began as a settlement established by Julius Caesar in 59 BC for his veteran soldiers. It was named Florentia (Flourishing) and built in the style of an army camp with the main streets, the cardo and the decumanus, intersecting at the present Piazza della Repubblica. Situated at the Via Cassia, the main route between Rome and the North, and within the fertile valley of the Arno River, the settlement quickly became an important commercial center. Emperor Diocletian made Florentia capital of the province of Tuscia in the 3rd century AD.

Saint Minias was Florence’s first martyr. He was beheaded at about 250 AD, during the anti-Christian persecutions of the Emperor Decius. After being beheaded, it is said that he picked up his disembodied head and walked across the Arno River and up the hill Mons Fiorentinus to his hermitage, where the Basilica di San Miniato al Monte now stands.

The seat of a bishopric from around the beginning of the 4th century AD, the city experienced subsequent turbulent periods of Ostrogothic rule, during which the city was often troubled by warfare between the Ostrogoths and the Byzantines, which may have caused the population to fall to as few as 1,000 living persons.

Peace returned under Lombards rule in the 6th century. Conquered by Charlemagne in 774, Florence became part of the duchy of Tuscany, with Lucca as capital. Population began to grow again and commerce prospered. In 854, Florence and Fiesole were united in one county.

Margrave Hugo chose Florence as his residency instead of Lucca at about 1000 AD. This initiated the Golden Age of Florentine art. In 1013, construction began on the Basilica di San Miniato al Monte. The exterior of the Battistero di San Giovanni (Florence) was reworked in Romanesque style between 1059 and 1128.

Pisa (defeated by Genoa in 1284 and subjugated by Florence in 1406), and the exercise of power by the mercantile elite following an anti-aristocratic movement, led by Giano della Bella, that resulted in a set of laws called the Ordinances of Justice (1293).

Of a population estimated at 80,000 before the Black Death of 1348, about 25,000 are said to have been supported by the city's wool industry: in 1345 Florence was the scene of an attempted strike by wool combers (ciompi), who in 1378 rose up in a brief revolt against oligarchic rule in the Revolt of the Ciompi. After their suppression, Florence came under the sway (1382-1434) of the Albizzi family, bitter rivals of the Medici. Cosimo de' Medici was the first Medici family member to essentially control the city from behind the scenes. Although the city was technically a democracy of sorts, his power came from a vast patronage network along with his alliance to the new immigrants, the gente nuova. The fact that the Medici were bankers to the pope also contributed to their rise. Cosimo was succeeded by his son Piero di Cosimo de' Medici, who was shortly thereafter succeeded by Cosimo's grandson, Lorenzo de' Medici in 1469. Lorenzo was a great patron of the arts, commissioning works by Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and Sandro Botticelli. Lorenzo was also an accomplished musician and brought some of the most famous composers and singers of the day to Florence, including Alexander Agricola, Johannes Ghiselin, and Heinrich Isaac.

Following the death of Lorenzo in 1492, he was succeeded by his son Piero II. When the French king Charles VIII of France invaded northern Italy, Piero II chose to resist his army. But when he realized the size of the French army at the gates of Pisa, he had to accept the humiliating conditions of the French king. These made the Florentines rebel and they expelled Piero II. With his exile in 1494, the first period of Medici rule ended with the restoration of a republican government.

During this period the Dominican monk Girolamo Savonarola had become prior of the San Marco monastery in 1490. He was famed for his penitential sermons. He blamed the exile of the Medicis as the work of God, punishing them for their decadence. He seized the opportunity to carry through political reforms leading to a more democratic rule. His monomaniacal persecution of the widespread Florentine Pederasty#Western Europe{{cite book | last =Rocke | first =Michael | title =Forbidden friendships : homosexuality and male culture in Renaissance Florence | publisher =[Oxford University Press | date =1996 | pages = | url =http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/32893164?tab=details | id =ISBN 0195069757 --> and of other worldly pleasures both influenced and foreshadowed many of the wider religious controversies of the following centuries. But when Savonarola publicly accused Pope Alexander VI of corruption, he was banned from speaking in public. When he broke this ban, he was excommunicated. The Florentines, tired of his extreme teachings, turned against him and arrested him. He was convicted as a heretic and burned at the stake on the [Piazza della Signoria on [23 May [.

A second individual of unusual insight was Niccolò Machiavelli, whose prescriptions for Florence's regeneration under strong leadership have often been seen as a legitimisation of political expediency and even malpractice. Commissioned by the Medici, Machiavelli also wrote the Florentine Histories, the history of the city. Florentines drove out the Medici for a second time and re-established a republic on May 16, 1527.Restored twice with the support of both Emperor and Pope, the Medici in 1537 became hereditary dukes of Florence, and in 1569 Grand Duchy of Tuscany, ruling for two centuries. In all Tuscany, only the Republic of Lucca (later a Duchy of Lucca) and the Principality of Piombino were independent from Florence.

The extinction of the Medici line and the accession in 1737 of Francis Stephen, duke of Lorraine and husband of Maria Theresa of Austria, led to Tuscany's temporary inclusion in the territories of the Austrian crown. It became a secundogeniture of the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty, who were deposed for the House of Bourbon in 1801 (themselves deposed in 1807), restored at the Congress of Vienna; Tuscany became a province of the United Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

Florence replaced Turin as Italy's capital in 1865, hosting the country's first parliament, but was superseded by Rome six years later, after the withdrawal of the Second French Empire troops made its addition to the kingdom possible. After doubling during the 19th century, Florence's population tripled in the 20th with the growth of tourism, trade, financial services and industry. During World War II the city experienced a year-long German occupation (1943-1944) and was declared an open city. The Allied soldiers who died driving the Germans from Tuscany are buried in cemeteries outside the city (Americans about south of the city , British and Commonwealth soldiers a few kilometers east of the center on the north bank of the Arno )

A very important role is played in those years by the famous café of Florence Giubbe Rosse from its foundation until the present day. Piazza del Mercato Vecchio was destroyed (Old Market Square), and then was renamed Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II. It is known today as Piazza della Repubblica, and is the location of the Giubbe Rosse. In those years (the end of the l9th century) the city administration of Florence decided to raze the old neighborhood of Mercato Vecchio to the ground, in favour of a new square dedicated to Victor Emmanuel II. "Non fu giammai così nobil giardino/ come a quel tempo egli è Mercato Vecchio / che l'occhio e il gusto pasce al fiorentino", claimed Antonio Pucci (poet) in the fourteenth century, "Mercato Vecchio nel mondo è alimento./ A ogni altra piazza il prego serra". The area had decayed from its original medieval splendor".Nowadays the literary café Giubbe Rosse is publishing books of famous Italian authors such: Mario Luzi, Manlio Sgalambro, Giovanni Lista, Menotti Lerro, Leopoldo Paciscopi.

In November 1966, the The Flood of the River Arno in Florence, Italy parts of the center, damaging many art treasures. There was no warning from the authorities who knew the flood was coming, except a phone call to the jewelers on the Ponte Vecchio. Around the city there are tiny placards on the walls noting where the flood waters reached at their highest point.



Florence and the Renaissance The surge in artistic, literary, and scientific investigation that occurred in Florence in the 14th-16th centuries was precipitated by Florentines' preoccupation with money, banking and trade and with conspicuous consumption. With the money from the banking, the Medicis, very wealthy bankers, sponsored different artists such as Michelangelo.

Added to this, the crises of the Roman Catholic church (especially the controversy over the French Avignon Papacy and the Western Schism), along with the catastrophic effects of the Black Death, led to a re-evaluation of medieval values, resulting in the development of a Humanism culture, stimulated by the works of Petrarch and Giovanni Boccaccio. This prompted a revisitation and study of the classical antiquity, leading to the Renaissance. Florence benefited materially and culturally from this sea-change in social consciousness.

Geography Climate {| class="wikitable"! style="background: #99CCCC; color: #000080" height="14" | Month! style="background: #99CCCC; color:#000080;" | Jan! style="background: #99CCCC; color:#000080;" | Feb! style="background: #99CCCC; color:#000080;" | Mar! style="background: #99CCCC; color:#000080;" | Apr! style="background: #99CCCC; color:#000080;" | May! style="background: #99CCCC; color:#000080;" | Jun! style="background: #99CCCC; color:#000080;" | Jul! style="background: #99CCCC; color:#000080;" | Aug! style="background: #99CCCC; color:#000080;" | Sep! style="background: #99CCCC; color:#000080;" | Oct! style="background: #99CCCC; color:#000080;" | Nov! style="background: #99CCCC; color:#000080;" | Dec! style="background: #99CCCC; color:#000080;" | Year|-! style="background: #99CCCC; color:#000080;" | Avg high (°F)| style="background: #FFFF99; color:#000080;" | 10 (50)| style="background: #FFFF99; color:#000080;" | 12 (54)| style="background: #FFCC66; color:#000080;" | 15 (59)| style="background: #FFCC00; color:#000080;" | 19 (66)| style="background: #FFCC00; color:#000080;" | 23 (74)| style="background: #FF9900; color:#000080;" | 28 (82)| style="background: #FF9900; color:#000080;" | 31 (88)| style="background: #FF9900; color:#000080;" | 31 (87)| style="background: #FF9900; color:#000080;" | 27 (80)| style="background: #FFCC00; color:#000080;" | 21 (70)| style="background: #FFCC66; color:#000080;" | 15 (59)| style="background: #FFFF99; color:#000080;" | 11 (51)| style="background: #FFCC00; color:#000080;" | 20 (68)|-! style="background: #99CCCC; color:#000080;" height="15;" | Avg low temperature (°F)| style="background: #FFFFCC; color: black;" | 2 (35)| style="background: #FFFFCC; color: black;" | 3 (37)| style="background: #FFFFCC; color: black;" | 5 (41)| style="background: #FFFF99; color: black;" | 8 (46)| style="background: #FFCC66; color: black;" | 11 (52)| style="background: #FFCC66; color: black;" | 15 (59)| style="background: #FFCC66; color: black;" | 17 (63)| style="background: #FFCC66; color: black;" | 17 (63)| style="background: #FFCC66; color: black;" | 14 (58)| style="background: #FFFF99; color: black;" | 10 (50)| style="background: #FFFFCC; color: black;" | 6 (42)| style="background: #FFFFCC; color: black;" | 2 (36)| style="background: #FFFF99; color: black;" | 9 (49)|-! style="background: #99CCCC; color:#000080;" | Rainfall (millimeters)| style="background: #2288BB;" | 2.90 (73.60)| style="background: #2288BB;" | 2.70 (68.58)| style="background: #44AADD;" | 3.20 (81.28)| style="background: #44AADD;" | 3.10 (78.74)| style="background: #44AADD;" | 2.90 (73.66)| style="background: #66CCFF;" | 2.20 (55.88)| style="background: #66CCFF;" | 1.60 (40.64)| style="background: #66CCFF;" | 3.00 (76.20)| style="background: #66CCFF;" | 3.10 (78.74)| style="background: #44AADD;" | 3.50 (88.90)| style="background: #2288BB;" | 4.40 (111.76)| style="background: #2288BB;" | 3.60 (91.44)| style="background: #2288BB;" | 36.20 (919.48)|}

Although usually perceived to have a Mediterranean climate, under the Köppen climate classification Florence is sometimes classified as having a Humid subtropical climate (Cfa). It experiences hot, humid summers with little rainfall and cool, damp winters. Due to the geographical position of the city (surrounded by hills in a valley traversed by the Arno river), Florence can be hot and humid from June to August. Summer temperatures are higher than those along coastlines, due to the lack of a prevailing wind. The small amount of rain which falls in the summer is Convection rain in type. Relief rainfall dominates in the winter, with occasional snow.

Landmarks . For a complete list, see :category:buildings and structures in Florence.

The best-known site and crowning architectural jewel of Florence is the domed cathedral of the city, Santa Maria del Fiore, known as The Duomo. The magnificent dome was built by Filippo Brunelleschi. The nearby Campanile tower (partly designed by Giotto di Bondone) and the Battistero di San Giovanni (Florence) buildings are also highlights. Both the dome itself and the campanile are open to tourists and offer excellent views.

At the heart of the city in Piazza della Signoria is Bartolomeo Ammanati's Fountain of Neptune, which is a masterpiece of marble sculpture at the terminus of a still functioning Roman aqueduct.], which cuts through the old part of the city, is as much a character in Florentine history as many of the men who lived there. Historically, the locals have had a love-hate relationship with the Arno — which alternated from nourishing the city with commerce, and destroying it by flood.

One of the bridges in particular stands out as being unique — The Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge), whose most striking feature is the multitude of shops built upon its edges, held up by stilts. The bridge also carried Vasari Corridor linking the Uffizi to the Medici residence (Palazzo Pitti). First constructed by the Etruscans in ancient times, this bridge is the only one in the city to have survived World War II intact.

The Basilica di San Lorenzo di Firenze contains the Medici Chapel, the mausoleum of the Medici family - the most powerful family in Florence from the 15th to the 18th century. Nearby is the Uffizi Gallery, one of the finest art galleries in the world - founded on a large bequest from the last member of the Medici family.

The Uffizi ("offices") itself is located on the corner of Piazza della Signoria, a site important for three main reasons:

In addition to the Uffizi, Florence has other world-class museums:

The Bargello concentrates on sculpture, containing many priceless works of art created by such sculptors as Donatello, Giambologna, and Michelangelo.

The Accademia dell'Arte del Disegno (often simply called the Accademia) collection's highlights are Michelangelo's David and his unfinished Slaves.

Across the Arno is the huge Pitti Palace containing part of the Medici family's former private collection. In addition to the Medici collection the palace's galleries contain a large number of Renaissance works, including several by Raphael and Titian as well as a large collection of modern art, costumes, cattiages, and porcerlain. Adjoining the Palace are the Boboli Gardens, elaborately landscaped and with many interesting sculptures.

The Basilica di Santa Croce, Florence basilica, originally a Franciscan foundation, contains the monumental tombs of Galileo Galilei, Michelangelo, Niccolò Machiavelli, Dante (actually a cenotaph), and many other notables.

Other important basilicas and churches in Florence include Santa Maria Novella, Basilica di San Lorenzo di Firenze, Santo Spirito and the Orsanmichele.

The city's principal football team is AC Fiorentina.

Florence has been the setting for numerous works of fiction and films, including the novels and associated films Hannibal (movie), Tea with Mussolini and A Room with a View.

Other points of interest

Demography As of 2004, the greater Firenze (Florence) area had a population of 957,949 inhabitants, 93.30% being ethnic Italian people. Immigrants in the city number 6.70% of the greater Firenze area. Of the 64,421 immigrants living in the Firenze area, 27,759 are of European origins other than Italian people. The majority are of Albanian people, Romanian people, and Germans ethnicities. An increasing Asian population numbers 19,488, mostly recent immigrants of Han Chinese and Filipino people origins. The African population numbers 10,364, of which half are North African Arabs and the other half sub-Saharan blacks. The remaining numbers constitute immigrants from the Americas.

Age structure

The city is undergoing an aging process due to the low fertility rates among the women like much of Europe. As a result, the pensioner population outnumbers that of youths. However, in the past decade there has been an increase in the number of births contributing to the slow, continuing positive growth of the city.

Transportation The principal public transportation network within the city is run by the ATAF and Li-nea bus company, with tickets available at local tobacconists, bars, and newspaper stalls. Individual tickets or a pass called the Carta Agile with multiple rides (10 or 21) may be used on buses. Once on the bus, tickets must be stamped (or swiped for the Carta Agile) using the machines on board unlike the train tickets which must be validated before boarding. The main bus station is next to Santa Maria Novella train station. Trenitalia runs trains between the railway stations within the city, and to other destinations around Italy and Europe. The central station, Santa Maria Novella Station, is located about NW of Piazza del Duomo. There is also another important station, Campo Di Marte, but it is not as well-known as Santa Maria Novella.

Long distance buses are run by the SITA, Copit, CAP and Lazzi companies. The transit companies also accommodate travellers from the Peretola Airport, which is five kilometers (3.1 mi) west of the city center, and which has scheduled services run by major European carriers such as Air France and Lufthansa.

The centre of the city is closed to through-traffic, although buses, Taxicab and residents with appropriate permits are allowed in. This area is commonly referred to the ZTL (Zona Traffico Limitato), which is divided into five subsections. Residents of one section, therefore, will only be able to drive in their district and perhaps some surrounding ones. Cars without permits are allowed to enter after seven-thirty at night, or before seven-thirty in the morning. The rules shift somewhat unpredictably during the tourist-filled summers, putting more restrictions on where one can get in and out. This is enforced by cameras located on all the roads into the city, which photograph licence plates that pass by.

Future Developments Due to the high level of air pollution and traffic in the city, an urban tram network called the TramVia is currently under construction in the City. tramvia.fi.it It will run from Scandicci to the southwest through the western side of the city, cross the river Arno at the Cascine Park and arrive to the main station of Santa Maria Novella.

Economy and industry Tourism is the most significant industry within the center of Florence. On any given day between April and October, the local population is greatly outnumbered by tourists from all over the world. The Uffizi and Accademia museums are regularly sold out of tickets, and large groups regularly fill the basilicas of Santa Croce and Santa Maria Novella, both of which charge for entry.

Florence is also home to the legendary Italy fashion establishment Salvatore Ferragamo, notable as one of the oldest and most famous Italian fashion houses not located in Milan. Gucci, Prada, Roberto Cavalli, and Chanel also have large offices and stores in Florence or its outskirts.

Certain textile industries employing largely immigrant populations can be found to the north and north-west of the city, continuing its long tradition as a center of fine fabrics.

Food and wine have long been an important staple of the economy. Florence is the most important city in Tuscany, one of the great wine-growing regions in the world. The Chianti region is just south of the city, and its Sangiovese grapes figure prominently not only in its Chianti Classico wines but also in many of the more recently developed Supertuscan blends. Within twenty miles (32 km) to the west is the Carmignano area, also home to flavorful reds. More recently, the Bolgheri region (about southwest of Florence) has become celebrated for its Supertuscan reds like Sassicaia.

Cuisine Florentine food grows out of a tradition of peasant eating rather than rarefied high cooking. The vast majority of dishes are based on meat. The whole animal was traditionally eaten; various kinds of tripe, (trippa) and (lampredotto) were once regularly on the menu and still are sold at the remaining food carts stationed throughout the city. Antipasti include crostini toscani, sliced bread rounds topped with a chicken liver-based pâté, and sliced meats (mainly prosciutto and salami, often served with melon when in season). The typically saltless and butter-less Tuscan bread frequently features in Florentine courses, especially in its famous soups, ribollita and pappa al pomodoro, both usually served with local olive oil, and in the salad of bread and fresh vegetables called panzanella that is served in summer. The most famous main course is the bistecca alla fiorentina, a huge steak of Chianina beef cooked over hot charcoal and served very rare with its more recently derived version, the tagliata, sliced rare beef served on a bed of arugula, often with slices of parmesan cheese on top.

Notable residents

Administration

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See also

References Bibliography Primary Sources

External links

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