Palazzo Vecchio

Palazzo Vecchio (the "Old Palace") is the town hall of Florence, Italy. Its projecting crenellated fortress-palace is among the most impressive town halls of Tuscany. It was supported with some arches where some of them can be used for dropping boiling oil or rocks to invaders.





The front part of the rectangular tower (height 94 m) was under restoration when we were there, sometime around Mar 2004.




The ceiling of "Salone dei Cinquecento" consists of 39 panels constructed and painted by Giorgio Vasari and his assistants, representing Great Episodes from the life of Cosimo I. A partial view of the large painting in the bottom right is one of the battle scene of victories by Florence over Pisa and Siena.




Most part of this palace is now a museum. Below is the picutre of the First courtyard. The Second Courtyard contains the massive pillars to sustain the Salone dei Cinquecento on second floor. And the Third Courtyard was used mainly for offices of the city.



A more detail view of the ceiling :




I missed the Victory by Michelangelo, only managed to take the photo of this sculpture, and not sure if it's the statue of "Charles V crowned by Clement VII", can anyone help ?




Palazzo Vecchio is also one of the most significant public places in Italy, next to Piazza della Signoria and Loggia dei Lanzi. (I will put out the photos we took from Piazza della Signoria in my future post)




There are many cafes where you can sit outside to admire the statues in Loggia dei Lanzi and the crowd. Oops, caught eating desert and drinking coffee, that's one of the most enjoyable thing to do in the trip ;o)