Explorer Florence

Palazzo Strozzi is a Renaissance palace begun in 1489 for the banker Filippo Strozzi, with rusticated stone façades on three streets and an arcaded inner courtyard. Today the Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi uses its courtyard and piano nobile for temporary art exhibitions, ranging from Renaissance masters to contemporary artists.

Palazzo Vecchio is Florence's town hall on Piazza della Signoria, built from 1299 as the seat of the city's government and crowned by the 94-metre Arnolfo Tower. Its museum covers the Medici apartments and the Salone dei Cinquecento with frescoes by Giorgio Vasari; the tower and the battlement walkway can be climbed.

Palazzo Medici Riccardi is the palace Michelozzo designed for Cosimo de' Medici, built from 1444; the Riccardi family later bought and enlarged it, and it now houses the Metropolitan City of Florence and a museum. Visitors see the arcaded courtyard and garden, the Chapel of the Magi frescoed by Benozzo Gozzoli and Luca Giordano's Gallery of Mirrors.

Palazzo Pitti is a Renaissance palace south of the Arno, begun in 1458 for the banker Luca Pitti and later the main residence of the Medici grand dukes and then of the House of Savoy. It now houses the Palatine Gallery, the Royal Apartments, the Gallery of Modern Art and the Museum of Fashion and Costume, with the Boboli Gardens behind it.