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© Walks in FLorence: Churches, streets and Palaces (2005) © Campaners de la Catedral de València (2026) campanerscatedralvalencia@gmail.com Updating: 17-06-2026 |
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The Gonfalonier and priors who constituted the government of the Florentine Republic, had their first residence in a building attached to the Monastery of the Badia, or Abbey of Florence; for a short time they inhabited the Palace of the Podestà, or Bargello, from whence they again removed to the private dwellings of the Cerchi family, on the northern side of the Piazza della Signoria, behind the suppressed church of San Romolo. But in times of turbulence it became necessary to provide a place of greater security for the chief magistracy of the city, and the Priors stipulated that the new palace should be enclosed by strong walls and bastions, to protect their persons from the violence of the citizens and nobles. Arnolfo di Cambio was the architect employed, and the first edifice was, in accordance with his design, a perfect parallelogram crowned by square-shaped battlements, the sign of the Guelphic party.131
Later additions have converted the building into its present irregular shape. The popular tradition that the unoccupied ground was once the site of the Uberti palaces which had been destroyed by the Guelphs, who decreed that no part of the new edifice should stand on ground so desecrated, is not historically true.
The southern front of the Palazzo Vecchio at first abutted on the old basilica of San Piero Scheraggio; and, in order to isolate the palace, the northern aisle of the church, which was on the site of the present Via della Ninna, was demolished in 1410. The name of this street was derived from a chapel within the aisle, dedicated to the Madonna della Compagnia della Ninna, one of the numerous confraternities of Florence. To the east of the Palazzo is still the Via de' Leoni, near which stood the Serragli, or Preserve for the Lions of the Republic. Leslie, the Scotch historian, relates that, among other benefits Charlemagne conferred on Florence, was the restoration of her liberty, which the Florentines owed to the intercession of William, a brother of the king of Scotland, who accompanied the Emperor to Italy; and he adds, that the Florentine Government, as a mark of their gratitude, ordered that a certain number of lions should be maintained at the cost of the Republic, in remembrance of the country of their benefactor, the lion being the badge of Scotland:132 this was probably the more acceptable to the Florentines, as the Marzocco, or seated lion, was already the emblem of their city.
Some idea of the Palazzo Vecchio, with its ante-port, may be obtained from a curious old fresco which still exists, though in a damaged condition, on the wall of the staircase of the old Debtor's Prison, the "Stinche." It is attributed to Giottino, a scholar of the celebrated Giotto, and the subject is the Expulsion of Walter, Duke of Athens, from Florence. Another fresco, by Domenico Ghirlandajo, in the Sassetti Chapel of the church of the SS. Trinità,133 exhibits the palazzo as it stood one hundred and fifty years later.
The houses of the Vacca family were among those incorporated into the new building, and Arnolfo adopted the tower of their private dwelling to form the substructure of his still loftier tower. This, however, obliged him to place the Campanile on one side of the building; it rises to the height of 160 braccie, upwards of 330 feet, over the city. The great bell within preserved the name of "La Vacca," and its sound was popularly compared to the lowing of the cow - "la vacca mugghia," "the cow lows." The Via Vaccareccia, which connects the piazza with the Via Por San Maria, derives its name from the same source.134
At one time there appear to have been several bells, though they were not all suspended within the tower, for some were hung on a level with the battlements of the main building. In 1344, one of these, which was always rung to summon the people to the Piazza, was transferred from the battlements to the tower that it might be heard by the inhabitants of Oltr' Arno (that part of Florence which lies south of the river). The principal bell, called "La Campana del Leone," "The Lion's Bell," was placed here in 1350. It weighed 17,000 lbs., and was cast in the best metal, producing a very harmonious sound. This bell was rung unceasingly on the announcement of a victory, as well as on the celebration of marriages. It was heard for the last time in August, 1530, when it summoned a parliament composed of the Palleschi, or Medicean faction, for which misdemeanour, or treasonable act against the Republic, it was hurled into the piazza, where it broke into a thousand fragments.
The visitor to Florence is well repaid for ascending to the summit of the lofty battlemented tower, surmounted by the standard bearing the favourite badge of the lion. Beneath the shadow of the rugged old palazzo the vines, olives, and cypresses form in spring-time an agreeable contrast to the brilliant green of the young corn. The prospect is bounded on the north by the heath-clad shoulder of Monte Morello and the more distant Apennines; to the east by the chestnut woods of Vallombrosa and the undulating hills in the direction of Arezzo; to the south by the lovely basilica of San Miniato al Monte and numberless villas and gardens; and to the west by the woods of the Cascine and the wide valley of the Arno flowing by Pisa to the Mediterranean.
A small marble tablet, inserted into the parapet of the tower has the following inscription: -
JesusChristus Rex Gloriæ Venit in Pace
Deus Homo Factus Est
Et Verbum Caro Factum est
Christus vincit, Christus Regnat
Christus Imperat
Christus ab omnium malo nos defendat
Barbara Virgo Dei, modo memento mei.
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© Walks in FLorence: Churches, streets and Palaces (2005) © Campaners de la Catedral de València (2026) campanerscatedralvalencia@gmail.com Updating: 17-06-2026 |
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