Florence

Florence is called Firenze in Italian, and the city is world famous for its many art treasures, museums, historic buildings and parks. It is also an important commercial and industrial city.

The silhouette of Florence is dominated by the spiers of its many churches and palaces. Most striking is the large dome of the cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore, designed by Brunelleschi.

Florence is the birthplace of the Renaissance, an art movement that emerged around 1400. One of its most famous representatives is Michelangelo, who created the statue 'David', among others. The statue, over 5 meters high, originally stood in front of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, but can now be seen in the Galleria dell'Accademia.

That Palazzo Vecchio is in Piazza della Signoria. It is the heart of the city, with a distinct medieval character. On the same square is the famous art museum Uffizi.

Many bridges over the Arno were destroyed in World War II, but the Ponte Vecchio from 1345 was spared. Above the shops on this bridge is a corridor that was built in 1565 for the exclusive use of the powerful De Medici family. That way they didn't have to mingle with the common people!

The importance of Florence as a trading city in earlier centuries is apparent from the naming of other coins. The Hungarian forint takes its name from the florin, and the Dutch guilder was initially called guilder (=golden florin). Hence the abbreviation for the guilder f. or fl. wash.