Florence was founded as a colony of the Etruscan city of Fiesole in about 200 BC, later becoming the Roman Florentia, a garrison town controlling the Via Flaminia. In the early 12th century the city became a free comune (township) and by 1138 it was ruled by 12 consuls, assisted by the Council of One Hundred, a bunch of rich merchants. In 1207, due to intractable problems with faction fighting, the council was replaced by a foreign (and thus allegedly unbiased) governor, the podestà. In the 13th century the pro-papal Guelphs and pro-imperial Ghibellines started a century-long bout of bickering, which resulted in the Guelphs forming their own government in the 1250s. By 1292 Florentine nobles were excluded from government. The city became increasingly democratised, eventually becoming a commercial republic controlled by the Guelph-heavy merchant class. The great plague of 1348 had halved the city's population. 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. Perhaps the most famous Medici was Lorenzo, grandson of Cosimo, who took power in 1469. His court fostered a great development of art, music and poetry, and Lorenzo sponsored philosophers and artists such as Botticelli, da Vinci and Michelangelo. In 1494 the Medicis went broke and lost their hold on power. The city fell under the control of Girolamo Savonarola, a Dominican monk who led a puritanical republic until he fell from public favour and was hanged and burned as a heretic in 1498. The Medicis returned to Florence in the 16th century, having united themselves by marriage with Emperor Charles V, and ruled for the next 200 years. In 1737 the Grand Duchy of Tuscany passed to the House of Lorraine, which was incorporated into the Kingdom of Italy in 1860. Florence became capital of the Kingdom and remained so until Rome took over in 1875.

The 20th century was in many ways disastrous for Florence. WWI left it spent, shocked and vulnerable to Fascist rhetoric. The city was one of Mussolini's most faithful strongholds. Florence was badly damaged during WWII 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, some of which are still being restored. One good thing to come of the disaster, which left the city covered in a mantle of slimy mud and left countless families homeless, was the evolution of modern restoration techniques. The salvage operation led to the refining of methods which have since saved artworks throughout the world.

Florence has rarely hit the headlines in recent times. It leads the quiet dignified life of a regional capital under a constant influx of tourists. In 1993 a car bomb killed five people and damaged works in the Uffizi gallery - this attack was attributed to the Sicilian Mafia. Only in 2005 did relatives of the victims finally get civil proceedings against imprisoned Mafia boss Toto Riina under way. Otherwise Florence has been relatively untouched by sensation. Its streets could almost beguile you into thinking you've walked into a former age, untouched by the clamour of the wider world.

Considering the volume of tourist traffic, Florence feels remarkably safe and violent crime is rare. However, you need to be on guard against pickpockets in heavily touristed areas, especially the historic centre and Stazione di Santa Maria Novella. Keep only a limited amount of cash on you, and the bulk of your money in replaceable forms such as plastic or travellers cheques. Valuables should be kept in the hotel safe, women should wear their handbag with the strap across their chest, men should carry their swag in their front pockets only and nobody should make themselves a target by wearing an external money belt.Never leave valuables or anything visible in your car and don't get a hire car that has any markings to identify it as such.Locals feel completely relaxed about walking around on their own at night, but you should exercise the usual caution: don't go down dodgy-looking alleys or streets and remember there is safety in numbers.

Florence caters for addicts of caffeine, good food and wine, expensive shoes and cherubs. Walking and cycling is about as pumped-up as it gets.

Completed in 1385, this Gothic temple is as much the resting place of a Who's Who of Florentine greats as repository of stunning art. The magnificent facade is a neo-Gothic addition of the 19th century! Deceptive, huh? Michelangelo's tomb here was designed by Vasari. Galileo and the composer Rossini also rest in peace here.

Piazza di Santa Croce 16

Santa Croce

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open hours:09:00-17:30

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Built by Orcagna in the late 14th century as a platform for public ceremonies, this elegant arcade now serves as an open-air sculpture gallery, with highlights such as Cellini's magnificent bronze Perseo (Perseus). Also known as the Loggia dei Lanzi, the arcade was named after Cosimo I's Swiss mercenaries, the Lances, who were once stationed here.

Piazza della Signoria

Old Town

It seems odd that the Medici chapels, built to balance the Brunelleschi sacristy on the other side of the church, have for organisational purposes been hived off from the church itself. Visitors enter from another point behind the church rather than from inside and thus have difficulty picturing how the chapels fit in with the rest of the complex.

Piazza Madonna degli Aldobrandini

San Lorenzo

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open hours:08:15-17:00

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This is the holy centre of Florence and once the site of the town's Roman temple. As the city emerged to become the dominant power in medieval Tuscany, it lavished money and genius on this piazza, a place for Florence to beat its chest proudly and show the world its greatness.

Piazza del Duomo

Duomo

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Web: http://www.operaduomo.firenze.it

open hours:10:00-17:00

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When the Pitti, a wealthy merchant family, asked Brunelleschi to design their home, they did not have modesty in mind. Great rivals of the Medici, there is not a little irony in the fact that their grandiloquence would one day be sacrificed to the bank account.

S of the Arno on Via de' Guicciardini

Oltrarno

Piazza de' Pitti

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open hours:08:15-17:30

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A great bar on a quiet corner of San Niccolò, this place gets a chirpy, suave crowd and is a wonderful spot to mingle with the locals, refuel on an impressive spread of aperitivi and slip into delicious cocktails. Hunker down inside, sit down on the pavement terrace or opt for shady spot in the back.

Via di San Niccolò 55r

Oltrarno

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open hours:19:30-01:00

Cabiria, a popular cafe by day, converts into a busy nocturnal music bar that continues on way past your bedtime. In summer, the buzz extends onto Piazza Santo Spirito, which becomes a stage for an outdoor bar and regular free concerts.

Piazza Santo Spirito 4

Santo Spirito

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open hours:11:00-01:30

Zoe is popular with a sexy student crowd who come for the fruitylicous cocktails and the glowing red interior, bedecked with changing art exhibitions. The bar is so popular with young locals that they are known to spill out onto the street.

Via dei Renai 13/r

Oltrarno

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open hours:15:00-02:00

A must for visiting foodies, this elegant and discreet restaurant combines the best of contemporary Italian cooking with a monumental wine list featuring labels from throughout Italy and a few from France. Dine under the exquisite medieval frescoes, among them the earliest known portrait of Dante.

Via del Proconsolo 16/r

Duomo

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Web: http://www.artenotai.org

open hours:16:30-23:00

A young team have created this fresh dining idea, a modern enoteca-cum-restaurant, in which the menu covers all sorts of regional dishes, often with an unexpected twist. The tagliolini neri al riccio di mare con pesto (black pasta with sea anenome and pesto) is a good example. Metallic chairs and glass-topped tables lend a crisp air to the place.

Via della Condotta 37/r

Piazza della Signoria

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Web: http://www.gustavino.it

One of the few restaurants to seriously cater to vegetarians, this is an unassuming locale with a great selection of fresh food, salads and mains. The menu changes regularly, partly dictated by the availability of fresh produce. Try the gazpacho (a cool Spanish, tomato broth) or risotto integrale con radicchio rosso (whole rice risotto with red lettuce).

Via delle Ruote 30/r

San Marco

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open hours:12:30-14:30

Spare a thought for one of Florence's favourite sons: Machiavelli. Born poor, he rose in the service of princes, lost their favour, and wrote The Prince to try and get it back. He failed, and died as poor as when he started.

A city bus runs every half-hour from the main train station to Amerigo Vespucci airport. There's a train service between the main station and Galileo Galilei airport. Buses service the city centre and Fiesole in the hills northeast of town. Traffic is restricted in the city centre, so it's best to park a little out of town and walk around - parking in the more central areas is very expensive.

Florence is an important railway hub, and from the city's main train station, Stazione di Santa Maria Novella, you can get direct trains heading in most directions. The train is the most convenient option for reaching Florence from other Italian cities or abroad.Flying into Florence for most people actually means flying into Pisa's Galileo Galilei airport, 80 minutes away by direct train. Pisa is an important central Italian hub and flights arrive from most main European centres. Eurolines, in conjunction with local bus companies across Europe, is the main international carrier. Buses run several times a week from London, Paris, Barcelona and other European centres.