Welcome to the heart of Florence, where three monumental buildings stand as enduring witnesses to the history of the medieval city. They tell of a time when the city, having gained its freedom in the early 13th century, became a thriving hub of commerce driven by merchants and bankers: in 1252, the Florentine mint struck the first gold florin, destined to become the most significant currency in the Western world.

During these transformative years, the Palazzo del Podestà was under construction. Serving as the city’s judicial administration headquarters, it was Florence’s first public building, predating the more famous Palazzo della Signoria, which began construction around 1300. Since 1865, it has housed the Bargello National Museum. Although the Podestàs took residence in the palace from 1260, construction continued uninterrupted for almost a century. The palace was expanded and adorned with a grand porticoed courtyard and the loggia above it. Each change of the Podestà saw a new stone emblem added to the courtyard, eventually covering its inner walls. Inside, the Chapel of Magdalene features frescoes created between 1333 and 1337 by Giotto and his workshop, depicting the earliest fresco representations of Hell and Paradise directly inspired by Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy. Notably, in Paradise, one finds the oldest known portrait of Dante, which was recorded in Vasari’s Lives of the Artists: thanks to this mention, in 1840 Antonio Marini was able to rediscover the paintings in what had long been a notorious prison.

Journey further into the 14th century, where the grand Orsanmichele unfolds its tale. Initially a marketplace for wheat (from the 13th century on), it was built as a ground-floor loggia for trading and two large upper chambers to serve as warehouses, adorned with magnificent marble bifores. An image of the Madonna, known as the “Virgin of Wheat,” was painted in the old market loggia and soon gained a miraculous reputation. After a big early-14th-century fire, a brand new altar was dedicated to the Virgin Mary: Andrea Orcagna sculpted and inlaid a magnificent marble tabernacle (dated 1359) in the ground-floor loggia, housing Bernardo Daddi’s beautiful painted Madonna (1347). Every evening, the Laudesi confraternity sang praises to the Virgin Mary before it. Not surprisingly, the wheat market relocated, and Orsanmichele’s loggia transformed into a veritable church.

Lastly, let’s step into the Palazzo Davanzati Museum, a splendid and rare example of a 14th-century private residence in Florence, representing the transition from the medieval tower-house to the Renaissance palace. The Davanzati family acquired the palace only in the 16th century, but it was constructed in the mid-14th century by the Davizzi family, influential merchants and bankers who financed the papal court’s coffers when it resided in Avignon. Welcoming visitors at the entrance are faces carved onto the corner pillar of the courtyard, believed to be portraits of the Davizzi. Venture through the 14th-century chambers adorned with wall decorations depicting drapes hanging on walls (a real practice for both adornment and insulation). The “Chamber of the Chatelaine de Vergy” has a unique feature: a frieze running on all four walls portraying episodes of a French chivalric tale, narrating the passionate yet tragic love story of Cavalier Guglielmo and the beautiful Castellan of Vergy. Another unique artifact at Palazzo Davanzati is the “Guicciardini Coverlet,” a 14th-century fabric embroidered with white thread on white cloth, depicting the adventurous episodes of the story of Tristan, one of the valiant knights of the Round Table.

So why not embark on this journey through time and history? Our three iconic landmarks will tell you their side of the story of Florence’s rich and vibrant past.