Florence

Sister cities

• Cannes
• Turku
• Kyoto
• Kraków
• Edinburgh
• Tirana
• Nanjing
• Valladolid
• Bethlehem
• Sydney
• Kassel
• Kyiv

History

Florence originated as a Roman city, and later, after a long period as a flourishing trading and banking medieval commune, it was the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance. It was politically, economically, and culturally one of the most important cities in Europe and the world from the 14th to 16th centuries. the Florentine dialect, above all the local dialects, was adopted as the basis for a national literary language. Starting from the late Middle Ages, Florentine money in the form of the gold florin financed the development of industry all over Europe, from Britain to Bruges, to Lyon and Hungary. Florentine bankers financed the English kings during the Hundred Years' War. They similarly financed the papacy, including the construction of their provisional capital of Avignon and, after their return to Rome, the reconstruction and Renaissance embellishment of Rome. Florence was home to the Medici, one of European history's most important noble families. Lorenzo de' Medici was considered a political and cultural mastermind of Italy in the late 15th century. Two members of the family were popes in the early 16th century: Leo X and Clement VII. Catherine de' Medici married King Henry II of France and, after his death in 1559, reigned as regent in France. Marie de' Medici married Henry IV of France and gave birth to the future King Louis XIII. The Medici reigned as Grand Dukes of Tuscany, starting with Cosimo I de' Medici in 1569 and ending with the death of Gian Gastone de' Medici in 1737. The Kingdom of Italy, which was established in 1861, moved its capital from Turin to Florence in 1865, although the capital was moved to Rome in 1871. Florence was established by the Romans in 59 BC as a colony for veteran soldiers and was built in the style of an army camp.…

Geography

Florence lies in a basin formed by the hills of Careggi, Fiesole, Settignano, Arcetri, Poggio Imperiale and Bellosguardo (Florence). The Arno river, three other minor rivers (Mugnone, Ema and Greve) and some streams flow through it. Florence has a Mediterranean climate (Csa). It has hot summers with moderate or light rainfall and cool, damp winters. As Florence lacks a prevailing wind, summer temperatures are higher than along the coast, with an average of 71 days with maximum temperature above . and there are approximately 28.5 days with minimum temperature below the freezing point. {|style="width:100%;text-align:center;line-height:1.2em;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto" class="wikitable mw-collapsible" |- !Colspan=14|Climate data for Florence |- !Month !Jan !Feb !Mar !Apr !May !Jun !Jul !Aug !Sep !Oct !Nov !Dec !style="border-left-width:medium"|Year |- !Mean daily daylight hours |style="background:#E9E900;color:#000000;"|9.0 |style="background:#F0F011;color:#000000;"|10.0 |style="background:#FFFF33;color:#000000;"|12.0 |style="background:#FFFF44;color:#000000;"|13.0 |style="background:#FFFF66;color:#000000;"|15.0 |style="background:#FFFF66;color:#000000;"|15.0 |style="background:#FFFF66;color:#000000;"|15.0 |style="background:#FFFF55;color:#000000;"|14.0 |style="background:#FFFF33;color:#000000;"|12.0 |style="background:#F7F722;color:#000000;"|11.0 |style="background:#F0F011;color:#000000;"|10.0 |style="background:#E9E900;color:#000000;"|9.0 |style="background:#FFFF34;color:#000000;border-left-width:medium"|12.1 |- !Average Ultraviolet index |style="background:#289500;color:#000000;"|1 |style="background:#289500;color:#000000;"|2 |style="background:#f7e400;color:#000000;"|4 |style="background:#f7e400;color:#000000;"|5 |style="background:#f85900;color:#000000;"|7…

Most-observed species

• Hooded Crow

  Corvus cornix Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  3,454
• Rock Pigeon

  Columba livia J.F.Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  3,187
• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,957
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,711
• Italian Sparrow

  Passer italiae (Vieillot, 1817) · Aves
  2,632
• Little Egret/Western Reef-Heron

  Egretta garzetta (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  2,311
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,946
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,906

Most recent

• M 4.2 — 2026-03-26
  6 km NNW of Montale, Italy
• M 3.7 — 2024-02-17
  5 km SSE of Modigliana, Italy
• M 5.1 — 2023-09-18
  7 km SE of Marradi, Italy
• M 4.2 — 2023-09-18
  4 km ESE of Marradi, Italy
• M 4.5 — 2022-09-22
  1 km SSW of Abetone, Italy
• M 3.5 — 2022-05-12
  1 km S of Impruneta, Italy