Neptune's Needle

City (1991 pop. 403,294), (cap.) Tuscany and of Firenze prov., central Italy, on the Arno R., at the foot of the Apennines; 43º46'N 11º15'E. Florence, the jewel of the Ital. Renaissance, is one of the world’s great historic cities, and a world landmark city. It is a commercial, industrial, and tourist center, and a RR junction. Florence was the site of an Etruscan settlement. It later became a Roman town on the Cassian Way (the modern Piazza della Republica is on the site of the Roman Forum). In the 5th and 6th cents. A.D. the city was controlled, in turn, by the Goths, Byzantines, and Lombards. Florence grew as a result of war, absorbing Arezzo, Pistoia, Volterra, and Pisa. Growth was temporarily halted in 1348, when the Black Death killed approximately 60% of the city’s pop. Florence was the capital of the newly founded kingdom of Italy from 1865 to 1871. Relatively few of the art treasures of Florence were harmed in World War II.

Sources

Compiler

Peter Richards