Palazzo Vecchio: cosa c’è intorno, come arrivare e quando andare · 2026

The off-center Torre d'Arnolfo rises from an older defensive tower known as La Vacca and holds an ancient single-handed clock. High within the masonry, small prison cells once held Cosimo the Elder and Girolamo Savonarola before their respective exile and execution. The upper structure continues to hold ancient bells that rang during municipal alarms, while the main chambers still host the mayor and active city council debates.

Cosimo de' Medici established ducal rule here before moving across the river to Palazzo Pitti, leaving an elevated corridor designed by Giorgio Vasari that connects the municipal halls across the Uffizi and the ancient bridge. The building later accommodated the provisional national parliament when the city served as the kingdom's temporary capital, ensuring that administrative authority never left the historic halls.