Palazzo Vecchio (literally means Old Palace) is the symbol of the city of Florence, together with Santa Maria del Fiore and Michelangelo’s David, and has always been the seat of the city government.

Palazzo Vecchio was built at the turn of the 14th century as the Palazzo de Popolo or the "Palace of the People" and throughout history has been called in several ways: Palazzo dei Priori, Palazzo della Signoria, Palazzo Vecchio. It received its present-day name when the duke’s residence moved to the Pitti Palace across the Arno River.

It was designed to accommodate the Priors and the Gonfaloniere of Justice (Gonfaloniere di Giustizia), the supreme governing body of Florence, later moved to the Palazzo del Bargello. It was built on the ruins of a palace that belonged to the Ghibelline Uberti family, expelled from the city in 1266 for its political position and remembered by Dante Alighieri in his Divine Comedy.

It's a huge fortress-like Romanesque palace with crenelated stone walls with Gothic windows that are adorned with the Florentine’s republic’s coats of arms, the façade is decorated with medallions and several sculptures can be seen around the building... this city hall is one of the most beautiful in all of Tuscany. The Palazzo Vecchio dominates Piazza della Signoria in the heart of the city, a square that is also home to a copy of the statue of David by Michelangelo and a gallery of sculptures. The square is nothing less than breathtaking and arguably one of the greatest in Italy.

The historical conflict between the Guelphs and Ghibellines, who inflamed the Florentine politics at the time of Dante, is also present in some architectural elements of the building: the gallery has a square battlement defined as “Guelph”, while the tower has a dovetail battlement, called “Ghibelline”...

• Some photos courtesy of Internet. Thanks!