Palazzo Vecchio

The Palazzo Vecchio (Italian: [paˈlattso ˈvɛkkjo]; Italian for 'Old Palace') is the town hall of Florence, Italy. It overlooks the Piazza della Signoria, which holds a copy of Michelangelo's David statue, and the gallery of statues in the adjacent Loggia dei Lanzi.

Originally called the Palazzo della Signoria, after the Signoria of Florence, the ruling body of the Republic of Florence, this building was also known by several other names: Palazzo del Popolo, Palazzo dei Priori, and Palazzo Ducale, in accordance with the varying use of the palace during its long history. The building acquired its current name when the Medici duke's residence was moved across the Arno River to the Palazzo Pitti.

Text adapted from “Palazzo Vecchio” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Palazzo Vecchio ranks #63 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #6 of the 452 mapped in Italy. Founded 1299, it is older than 66% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 825 atlas entries founded in the 13th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 42,396 times in the last 60 days, more than 99% of the atlas. 15 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Florence, 1 km away. It is one of the 32 landmarks on the atlas's regional map of Tuscany. See how Italy compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗