Firenze is the head town of Toscana Region, with a high historical, artistic and cultural thickness. The plain metropolitan areas represent a strongly humanized environment with a presence of wide industrial and commercial areas.
For centuries the hilly areas have changed to agricultural and living ones, with the original woods strongly reduced especially in the southern and eastern areas of the town. In the plain area there are humid areas not urbanized in the western side of the town along the river Arno.

The known history of Firenze starts in 59 before Christ with the creation of a village ("FLorentia") for old Roman people. As a seat of a diocese by the 4th century the town passed through periods od Bizantine, Ostrogote, Longobardian and French domination. In the 13th century  it was shared in two by the inner struggle between Ghibellini, supporter of Sacred Roman Empire and the Guelphs, in favour of Roman Pope power.

The latter ones won (Campaldino, Arezzo, June 11th 1289) but soon they shared inside in "Whites and Blacks".
The inner politics struggles did not avoid the town to develop and become one of the most powerful and prosperous ones in Europe, leant by its own money rate in gold matter, the Fiorino (introduced in 1252), since the decadence of its contendent Pisa  and its own merchant power (year 1293).
In the past Firenze has been reigning over the whole Toscana except for the Republic of Lucca that remained independent and sovereign up to 18th century (by the arrival of Napoleon Bonaparte in Italy).
Before the black plague in 1348 the population amount was 80 thousand units and 25 thousand worked in the wool industry.

Uffizi Gallery
Cosimo I dei Medici (1519-1574) came to power in 1537, when he was only eighteen. As a result of his extraordinary political and military abilities, he very soon became lord of almost all of Tuscany . In 1540 he left the family residence to move to Palazzo Vecchio, the historic seat of the city government. As the Palazzo was renovated, Cosimo turned his attention to Piazza della Signoria and the surrounding area, planning to enhance the centre of the State through an imposing urban development. The site he chose was a popular residential district, stretching from the south of Piazza Signoria as far as the river Arno . Here he decided to build a magnificent edifice to house the principal government offices of the State, hence the name of Uffizi (or offices). The project was entrusted to Giorgio Vasari, a painter and architect favoured by Cosimo, who began work in 1560.

The building, in the form of a horseshoe, was made up of one long wing to the east, which also incorporated the ancient Florentine church of San Pier Scheraggio, a short portion along the bank of the river Arno, and another shorter wing to the west, where the Uffizi was designed to be connected with two existing buildings, the Zecca Vecchia, or Mint, and the Loggia dei Lanzi. Vasari conceived an architectural module to be repeated all along the building; this consisted of a portico flanked by two pillars, with niches on the ground floor and three windows on the upper story. The construction, built in the fine-grained limestone known as pietra forte, demanded an enormous financial commitment, much of which was sustained by the Magistrature, the government officials who were to be accommodated in the new building. By 1565, the so-called Uffizi Lunghi were already completed, as well as the part overlooking the river. In this section Vasari revised the architectural module, creating broad arcades which help to give greater amplitude to the narrow square of the Piazzale degli Uffizi.

Staircase leading to the Corridor running along the Arno and above Ponte Vecchio In the same year, on the occasion of the marriage of his son Francesco to Giovanna d'Austria, Cosimo I asked Vasari to design a raised passageway connecting Palazzo Vecchio with Palazzo Pitti, which the Grand Duke had just purchased and was destined to become the new residence of the family. In just six months, Giorgio Vasari built what is now known as the Vasarian Corridor. The passage starts from Palazzo Vecchio, crosses Via della Ninna in the form of a covered bridge, traverses part of the Uffizi, descends in long steps close to the Arno and then runs parallel to the river above a portico. Crossing above the shops of Ponte Vecchio, the Corridor continues in the Oltrarno district, passing in front of the facade of the church of Santa Felicita to reach the Boboli Gardens, and from there Palazzo Pitti. This extraordinary aerial passage was conceived so as to enable the Grand Dukes to move in safety, without the need for escorts, from their private residence to the seat of government; it represented an element of considerable prestige for the Medici.

Firenze Replaced Torino as the Capital of Italy in 1865 further to the request of Napoleon 3rd about the September Convention, until the role passed to Rome six years later as this was annexed to the Reign.
During the 2nd world war the twon was occupied for a year by German soldiers  (1943-1944), and then it was rescued by Partisans on august 11th 1944.
In november 4th 1066 the florentine people remember the day as the one of flood in Firenze.
A great part of the town centre was invaded by water of Arno river.
The fury of waters brought to a great devastation and many dead people, invaded the archives of Laurenziana Library by ruining many books and volumes.