Florence, the capital of Tuscany, is a veritable treasure trove of art, history, and architectural splendour. A journey through Florence is a journey through time itself: seat of the Florentine Republic in 1115 to 1434, the Ponte Vecchio and Piazza della Signoria witnessed intense turbulence during the 1378 uprising of the Ciompi and the brief revolution by the colourful friar Savanorola in 1494, and the ascent of the legendary Medici family.
‘Tuscany’ remained a geographic and cultural term until the expansion of Florence in the 15th
century made it a political reality, and the region was unified under the Medici family as the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. The staunchly independent republics of Siena and Pisa were conquered by Florentine arms, as were the port of Livorno and the city of Arezzo. The Grand Duchy was itself in turn taken over by the Austrian Habsburg-Lorraine rulers in 1737. The progressive reformer Leopold I, whose statue dots Tuscan cities, encouraged trade, abolished serfdom, and made Tuscany the first sovereign State in the world to abolish the death penalty in 1786. In 1801, Leopold and his scions were deposed by Napoleon Bonaparte before his ultimate defeat in 1814. In 1861, Tuscany fell under the control of the modern nation of Italy and Florence became the capital of Italy until 1871.