Welcome to Florence

About the City

Florence, in the region of Tuscany, is the main city after which the province is named. It rises on the banks of the Arno in a vast plain surrounded by the Careggi, Fiesole, Settignano, Arcetri and Bellosguardo hills. Divided into two parts by the river, the city of Florence is home to some of the most outstanding art collections in the world.

For three centuries, Florence was the European centre of modern civilization and paved the way for a cultural movement, which later became known as the Renaissance.




Florence is the city where the Italian genius has flourished with the greatest display of brilliance. The communion of great minds, with their varied facets and fields of interest, found in Florence an ideal center for their artistic and intellectual development. The city's artists, merchants, able administrators and its princely patrons of the arts all contributed to the creation of just the right conditions for nursing such an intellectual and artistic community, which for centuries was to influence human creativity. Its 600 years of extraordinary artistic creativity can be seen above all in its 13th- century Cathedral, the Santa Maria del Fiore,
the Santa Croce Church, the Uffizi Palace and the Pitti Palace which are the work of artists like Giotto, Brunelleschi, Botticelli and Michelangelo.

Ever since the 19th century revival of interest in the art of the Renaissance, Firenze has been a shrine to the cult of the beautiful. Instantly captivating, the city attracts thousands of tourists each year.