Piazza della Signoria

The Piazza della Signoria is Florence's principal civic square, occupying the ground in front of Palazzo Vecchio, the fortress-like town hall whose crenellated tower has defined the city's skyline for more than seven centuries. The square took its present form during the medieval and Renaissance periods, when the Florentine republic used it as the stage for political assemblies, proclamations, and, on occasion, executions. It remains an open-air gallery of sculpture, with Ammannati's Neptune Fountain, a copy of Michelangelo's David marking the original position of the statue, and the Loggia dei Lanzi sheltering works by Giambologna and Cellini.

At the centre of the square stands Palazzo Vecchio itself, whose richly decorated halls trace the ambitions of the Medici and the institutions of Florentine government across the centuries. Skip-the-line tickets allow visitors to move directly into the palace's state rooms, including the vast Salone dei Cinquecento, without queuing in the square outside.