Capital of Tuscany standing on the River Arno 230km north-west of Rome and one of the great artistic centres of the world.

Florence is called the capital of arts. According to statistics produced by UNESCO, 60% of the world's most important works of art are located in Italy and approximately half of these are in Florence. Indeed Italy has become the country with most sites on the United Nations' coveted World Heritage List after Etruscan tombs dating back to the 9th century BC.

Florence was founded as a colony of the Etruscan city of Fiesole in about 200 BC, and later became ""Florentia" under the Romans reaching the peak of civilisation by the 11th Century. However it was to be during the Italian Renaissance that Italy was to reach its richest cultural period, which began in Florence when the artist Brunelleschi finished the Duomo. The remarkable dome, with its pink, white and green marble façade and characteristic dome, dominates the city's skyline. From the 13th to the 16th century it was a seemingly endless source of creative masterpieces and Italian genius. Both Dante and Michelangelo were born here. Boccaccio wrote his 'Decameron' in Florence.

In the latter part of the 14th century the Medicis began consolidating power, eventually becoming bankers to the papacy. Cosimo Medici - patron of artists such as Donatello, Brunelleschi, Fra Angelico and Filippo Lippi - became ruler of Florence. Florence was to chieve the pinnacle of its economic predominance and extraordinary artistic creativity during the 15th and 16th centuries. Perhaps the most famous Medici was Lorenzo (known as Lorenzo the Magnificent ) , grandson of Cosimo, who took power in 1469.Lorenzi used his riches to patronise the development of art, music and poetry, and Lorenzo sponsored philosophers and artists such as Sandro Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo.

During this period, Florence acquired its fabulous baroque renaissance palaces and squares. Many squares, such as Piazza della Signoria exhibit famous statues and fountains. The most famous museum in Florence is the Uffizi which houses works by Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Titian and Rubens. Other great art museums include the Pitti Palace, Galleria dell'Accademia and Palazzo Vecchio. Florence is also home to some of the biggest churches in Italy, including the famous Duomo of Florence, San Lorenzo, Santa Maria Novella and Santa Croce.

In more recent times, Florence was badly damage during Woirld War ii by the retreating Germans, who blew up all its bridges except the Ponte Vecchio. Devastating floods ravaged the city in 1966, causing inestimable damage to its building and artworks.