Florence accommodations and reservations

Florence has great tourist resources and many high quality hotels, residences, bed and breakfast. Book your accommodation in Florence in selected Hotels from One, Two, Three, Four and Five Stars.

History of Florence

Chief town of the Tuscan region, Florence is surrounded by numerous hills and valleys, in which the Arno and some other small rivers, like Mugnone and Greve, flow.

The foundation of the city dates back to Roman times, and precisely to 59 B.C.. Known as "Florencia", the town was successively under the dominion of the Byzantines and Lombards.

In 1115, Florence gained the status of an independent city, and in the 1200's was afflicted by the continuous hostilities between the Ghibellini and the Guelfi.

Despite the incessant fighting, Florence not only became the most powerful city in Tuscany, but was one of the most beautiful and dominant place in the entire Europe.

Renaissance period in Florence

Among great Florentine personalities, there were Girolamo Savonarola, a Dominican prior who strongly supported a republican government for the city, and Niccolò Machiavelli.

During the Renaissance period, Florence assumed its crucial rule in European and world history; numerous artists found their inspiration from the beauty of the city, that became the center of literary culture, science, arts and human activities.

In 1861, absorbed into the united Italian state, Florence was the capital of the kingdom of Italy for 5 years.

And during the II world war, when the German troops occupied the city, the resistance against them was so strong and courageous that the city received the World War II Medal of Honor.

Florence: arts, culture, artists and monuments

In Florence there are numerous monuments and famous buildings. The most beautiful are Ponte Vecchio, with its goldsmith's shops, the Nettuno Fountain in the Boboli Garden, the Uffizi Gallery, Palazzo Vecchio, Pitti Palace, which was the residence of the Medici Grand Dukes, that is full of statues, fountains and greenery, Rucellai Palace and Strozzi Palace.

The churches to visit are numerous too: the Duomo, dedicated to Santa Maria del Fiore, the Cupola of Brunelleschi, Santa Maria Novella, and Santa Croce where many famous Italians are buried, like Michelangelo and Galileo.

The city has large, classic Italian squares in abundance and the more famous are Piazza della Signoria, Piazzale Michelangelo, Piazza San Lorenzo, Piazza Santo Spirito and Piazza Santa Trinità.

Worthy of note is the Uffizi Gallery, offering one of the greatest collections of paintings in the world. The collection includes many masterpieces painted by Botticelli.