Piazza della Signoria
The Piazza della Signoria in Florence is one of the great central squares of the city and at the same time one of the most famous squares in Italy. At the time of the republic it was the political and social center of the city with the Palazzo Vecchio . The place was named after the Signoria , the republican government of the city.
history
Excavations from 1974 onwards have shown that the area around the piazza was inhabited as early as the Neolithic . In Roman times, the Piazza della Signoria was an important place with a theater, the remains of which were found under the Palazzo Vecchio. There was also a Roman thermal bath on the area of today's square. From the 10th century, the city was redesigned, the previously existing district was partially demolished in favor of the piazza.
Around 1268 the square got its current L-shape when the houses of the Ghibellines were destroyed by the victorious Guelfs. Only later was the square given a uniform design; in 1385 it was paved. While the Piazza del Duomo was the ecclesiastical and today's Piazza della Repubblica the economic center, the political center of the city was formed on the Piazza della Signoria. In the 14th century the Loggia dei Lanzi was built for public celebrations and receptions. The Tribunale della Mercanzia , a court for civil and commercial disputes, was also built during this period. From 1314 the Palazzo Vecchio housed the parliament.
The square was also the site of public executions, the most famous taking place on May 23, 1498, when Girolamo Savonarola was hanged and burned for heresy. Today, a sign in front of the Neptune Fountain reminds of this event.
In the following centuries not much was structurally changed on the square. Some monuments were erected and the Loggia dei Lanzi was converted into a kind of open-air museum with many statues.
Between 1865 and 1895, when Florence was the capital of Italy, the so-called Risanamento (clean-up) took place. The city center had to be adapted to the new conditions, public and private spaces had to be separated more, new apartments had to be built, and the new capital was to be given a modern face. The changes did not stop at the Piazza della Signoria. The Palazzo delle Assicurazioni in front of the Palazzo Vecchio was built in the Neo-Renaissance style.
Archaeologists have found remains of the Chiesa di Santa Cecilia and the Chiesa di San Romolo , both churches were demolished during the Risanamento.
location
The piazza is located in the medieval part of the city, south of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore and near the Ponte Vecchio on the Arno River . From the Piazza della Signoria you can reach the Piazza del Duomo with the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore and the Baptistery of San Giovanni in the north via Via dei Calzaiuoli , in the southwest to the Ponte Vecchio and in the east to the Church of Santa Croce .
building
The Piazza della Signoria is not based on a uniform conception, neither for the shape of the square itself nor for the framing architecture. It is dominated in the southeast by the eponymous Palazzo della Signoria, which has been called Palazzo Vecchio since the time of the Grand Dukes of Tuscany . Next to it is the Loggia dei Lanzi (also known as the Loggia della Signoria), with the adjacent, elongated Piazza degli Uffizi open in between with the Uffizi Gallery .
Palazzo Vecchio
The piazza is dominated in the southeast by the eponymous Palazzo della Signoria, which has been called Palazzo Vecchio since the time of the Grand Dukes of Tuscany . The construction is attributed to the architect Arnolfo di Cambio . In 1540, the Grand Duke Cosimo I de 'Medici decided to move his residence to the Palazzo. The renovation work mainly concerned the interior and the extension, the facade towards Piazza della Signoria was not affected.
Loggia dei Lanzi / Loggia della Signoria
The Loggia dei Lanzi was built between 1376 and 1381 for official ceremonies and receptions. During the 15th century the loggia lost this function and developed into an open-air museum.
Tribunale della Mercanzia
The building was erected in 1359 on the site of the old Roman theater. At the top of the facade are the coats of arms of the 21 arts.
Palazzo Uguccioni
The Palazzo Uguccioni was built by Giovanni Uguccioni from 1550. Above the entrance is the bust of the Grand Duke Francesco I.
Palazzo delle Assicurazioni Generali
The Palazzo delle Assicurazioni was built in 1871, for this the church of Santa Cecilia and the headquarters of the Arte del Cambio guild had to be demolished. Today the building houses the Cafè Rivoire.
Statues
In the piazza itself there is a copy of the bronze group Judith and Holofernes by Donatello (the original is in the Palazzo Vecchio), a copy of Michelangelo's David (the original has been in the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno for 200 years ), the marble group Hercules kills Cacus by Baccio Bandinelli , the Neptune Fountain by Bartolomeo Ammanati , the equestrian statue of Cosimos I by Giambologna and other works of art from the Renaissance .
Events
Every year on June 24th, the name day of San Giovanni, the patron saint of the city of Florence, the festival of gifts took place during the republic. The ethnic groups conquered by Florence passed the Grand Duke and offered gifts. In the evening there were fire spectacles, which are still the most spectacular part of the festival for the patron saint.
In the Middle Ages, the Giostra del Saracino , a military parade with knight fights, took place on the square . The game was created during the Crusades and was very popular in the 15th and 16th centuries, but was forgotten in Florence at the end of the 17th century.
All important Medici celebrations , such as weddings, took place in the Piazza della Signoria.
Every year on May 23, Fiorita Day takes place to commemorate the hanged penitential preacher Savonarola. After mass in the Cappella dei Priori in Palazzo Vecchio, the Dominican Brothers, politicians and residents of Florence come to the memorial plaque by the Fountain of Neptune to lay flowers there.
Image selection
Anonymous painting of the Piazza della Signoria, 1498
Piazza della Signoria Florence , Bernardo Bellotto , 1742, oil on canvas, 61 × 90 cm, Budapest Museum of Fine Arts , on the left the now defunct Church of San Remolo
Piazza della Signoria, Giovanni Stradano, La festa degli Omaggi in Piazza della Signoria, Palazzo Vecchio, Sala di Gualdrada
View of the Palazzo Vecchio
Renaissance sculptures
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Web links
- Florence Art Guide : Explanations on the history of the Piazza (Italian)
- Buildings, statues and events in the piazza on the website of the city of Florence (archive link, Italian)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Website of the Museo di Palazzo Vecchio Information on the excavations under the Palazzo Vecchio (Italian language)
- ↑ Elizabeth Shepherd: Concamarationes in ferro nitentes. Una regola vitruviana applicata nelle Terme Romane di Piazza della Signorina a Firenze. In: Communications of the German Archaeological Institute, Roman Department 96, 1989, pp. 419–431.
- ^ Book "Toscana", Dumont-Verlag, page 29, at books.google.de
Coordinates: 43 ° 46 ′ 11 ″ N , 11 ° 15 ′ 21 ″ E