Palazzo Bastogi, palazzo on Via Cavour, Florence, Italy

Palazzo Bastogi stands at Via Cavour 18 in Florence, built around 1740 by Ferdinando Ruggieri for the Capponi. Its ground floor is clad in rusticated stone with twelve arches, four beneath a central terrace, now occupied by shops and a bank. The first floor has a row of pedimented windows, and the second is marked by a string course at parapet height.

Palazzo Bastogi was built around 1740 by architect Ferdinando Ruggieri for the Capponi family. Between 1825 and 1854 it belonged to the Polish Poniatowski family, who sold it to the Giuntini in 1855; they commissioned Giuseppe Poggi, who created a new facade, a rear wing toward the garden and a monumental staircase. In 1878 it was bought by financier Pietro Bastogi, and since 1995 it has housed the Tuscan regional government.

The palace's name comes from Pietro Bastogi, who bought it in 1878. Inside, the Sala delle Collezioni, now the president's office, is named after the Poniatowski gem collection and has a ceiling frescoed with an allegory of the Arts. The Salotto della Contessa Bastogi-Rondinelli-Vitelli has a ceiling painted as a false sky with dozens of birds of many kinds.

The palace is at Via Cavour 18, in the historic centre of Florence. Since 1995 it has housed the seat of the Tuscan Regional Government, so the building is a working institutional office rather than a museum. The regional flag flies from the central balcony beside the European and Italian flags. The ground-floor arcades are occupied by shops and a bank.

The palace's name comes from Pietro Bastogi, who bought it in 1878 after making his fortune building railways in southern Italy and working the iron mines of Elba; he also took part in founding the Banca d'Italia. In 1892 a private weather station, the Osservatorio Bastogi, began operating in the building and was later abandoned.