Firenze (Fiorenza in old Italian) is a metropolitan city of 368,901 inhabitants of central Italy, the heart of a metropolitan area of over 1,500,000 inhabitants, capital of the province and the region of Tuscany, of which it is the largest city by population and the historic heart for the art and the economy. Capital of Italy (1865-1871) after the unification of Italy, Florence was in the Middle Ages an important cultural, commercial and economic centre, covering the role of capital of Grand Duchy of Tuscany in the modern era under the rule of the families of Medici and of Lorena.
Important university center, Florence is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance and is universally recognized as one of the cradles of art and architecture, and renowned as one of the most beautiful cities in the world. In fact, thanks to its numerous monuments and museums - including the Duomo, Santa Croce, the Uffizi Gallery, Ponte Vecchio, Piazza della Signoria and Palazzo Pitti - Florence is one of the most beautiful and important tourist destinations of Italy and the world.
