Piazza della Signoria, Medieval square in Florence, Italy

Piazza della Signoria is a W-shaped square in front of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. The 14th-century Palazzo Vecchio, with its crenellated tower, dominates one side, while the Loggia dei Lanzi, a three-bay open hall with Corinthian columns, stands on the other. The square is paved with large stone slabs and includes a circular metal disc set into the paving.

The square emerged in the 14th century as the political center of Florence and served the republic as a gathering place. In 1498, the preacher Savonarola was executed here, an event still marked today by an inscription in the paving.

The Loggia dei Lanzi, built in the 14th century for public ceremonies, is an open-air sculpture gallery. Its three wide arches rest on clustered Corinthian columns, and Michelangelo proposed continuing them around the whole square. Inside stand Cellini's Perseus with the Head of Medusa (1554), Giambologna's Abduction of the Sabine Women (1583) and the Medici lions, one a reworked 2nd-century Roman relief.

The open space is accessible at any time and serves as a starting point for walks through the old town. Visitors find here several entrances to nearby museums and can walk among the sculptures without paying admission.

On the building of the Tribunale della Mercanzia, twenty-one coats of arms of the Florentine guilds are visible, recalling the power of merchants and craftsmen in the Middle Ages. These colored emblems display symbols such as wool, silk, or goldsmithing and give insight into the economic structure of the city.