SW EB-331 Firenze / Florence

Florence (Italian: Firenze) is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area.

Florence is famous for its history.  It was a centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of the time. Florence is considered to be the birthplace of the Renaissance.

Two well-known sights of Florence are seen on this postcard.  The upper panel shows the domed cathedral of the city, Santa Maria del Fiore, known as The Duomo. The dome, 600 years after its completion, is still the largest dome built in brick and mortar in the world. The lower panel of the postcard shows the River Arno which cuts through the old part of the city. One of the bridges over the River Arno in particular stands out — the Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge), whose most striking feature is the multitude of shops built upon its edges, held up by stilts.

This postcard came from Margie (21 October 2014) Swap-bot.