Sunset over Florence

Florence is an Italian city on the Arno River, in the past - the center of the Florentine Republic, the capital of the Medici Dukes and the Italian Kingdom. Despite its remoteness from the sea and constant political unrest, Florence of the XIII-XVII centuries made a tremendous contribution to the development of European and world civilization. The city gave the world such giants as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Dante and Galileo. The local dialect formed the basis of the literary Italian language, the Florentine coin became the standard for the whole of Europe, the Florentine artists developed the laws of perspective, the Florentine thinkers initiated the Renaissance, and the Florentine navigator Amerigo Vespucci gave his name to two continents.