Facts about Florence

Florence has a legacy that spans more than 2000 years.

Florence came under the sway, from 1382 to 1434, of the Albizzi family, who were bitter rivals of the Medici.

The historic center of Florence attracts millions of tourists each year.

In all Tuscany, only the Republic of Lucca (later a duchy) and the Principality of Piombino were independent from Florence.

Despite problems associated with largely unplanned growth over centuries, and a high level of air pollution and traffic congestion, Florence has a huge legacy.

Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael, Dante, political theorist Machiavelli, astronomer Galileo, the Medici family, which ruled the city for generations, navigator Amerigo Vespucci, and humanitarian Florence Nightingale all called Florence home.

Florence is regarded as the birthplace of Italian fashion, since the 1951-1953 soirйes held by Giovanni Battista Giorgini are considered the beginning of the Italian school.

Goldsmiths, silversmiths, and jewelers have manufacturing stores on the Ponte Vecchio bridge, a symbol of Florence.

Conquered by Charlemagne in 774, Florence became part of the duchy of Tuscany, with Lucca as capital.

Many others, most of them now located in Milan, were founded in Florence.

The Bolgheri region (about 100 miles/200 kilometers southwest of Florence) has become celebrated for its "Super Tuscan" reds such as Sassicaia and Ornellaia.

Today Florence depends on tourism, although an information technology sector has developed, and the region around the city has a modern economy based on small industrial production.

Florence (Italian: Firenze, Old Italian: Fiorenza, Latin: Florentia) is the capital and most populous city of the Italian region of Tuscany, and capital of the province of Florence.

Florentine (Fiorentino), spoken by inhabitants of Florence and its environs, is a Tuscan dialect and an immediate parent language to modern Italian.

Lorenzo was also an accomplished musician and brought some of the most famous composers and singers of the day to Florence, including Alexander Agricola, Johannes Ghiselin, and Heinrich Isaac.

Florence had a high level of air pollution and traffic congestion in 2008.

In 2006, there were 366,488 people residing within Florence's city limits, while the Metropolitan Area of Florence, Prato, and Pistoia, was home to about 1.5 million people.

Margrave Hugo (950-1001), who was the Margrave of Tuscany from 961 until his death, chose Florence as his residence around 1000.

Florence is sometimes classified as having a Humid subtropical climate, with hot, humid summers with little rainfall and cool, damp winters.

Florence was originally established by Julius Caesar in 59 B.C.E.

Modern Florence is a testimony to its past.

The celebrated Chianti Rufina district, geographically and historically separated from the main Chianti region, is also few miles west of Florence.

Gucci, Prada, Roberto Cavalli, and Chanel have large offices and stores in Florence or its outskirts.

Initially a small city of moneylenders and textile merchants, with little political or military power, Florence became a bustling center of European trade and finance.

The University of Florence (Universitа degli Studi di Firenze, UNIFI), which evolved from the Studium Generale, established by the Florentine Republic in 1321, is one of the largest and oldest universities in Italy.

Florence replaced Turin as Italy's capital in 1865, hosting the country's first parliament, but was superseded by Rome six years later, after the withdrawal of the French troops.

The Medici in 1537 became hereditary dukes of Florence, and in 1569 Grand Dukes of Tuscany, ruling for two centuries.

Fiesole, in the hills north of Florence, was an ancient stronghold of the Etruscans, whose presence in the region provides the name Tuscany.

The city, or comune, of Florence is the capital of the Tuscany region, which is one of Italy's 20 regions, and of the province of Florence.

After doubling in size during the nineteenth century, Florence's population tripled in the twentieth century with the growth of tourism, trade, financial services and industry.

Florence’s location at the connecting point of transport lines connecting northern and southern Italy has reinforced its role as a market center.

In 1345, Florence was the scene of an attempted strike by wool combers (ciompi), who in 1378 rose up in a brief revolt against oligarchic rule.

Modern Florence is a testimony to its past.

Saint Minias was Florence’s first martyr, who was beheaded around 250, during the anti-Christian persecutions of the Emperor Decius.

The "freebase" and "crack" forms of cocaine are usually administered by vaporization of the powdered substance into smoke, which is then inhaled.