Piazza della Signoria has been Florence's political arena since the 1300s, and it shows. The square is an open-air gallery of Renaissance sculpture, each piece a statement of power. Michelangelo's David replica stands outside Palazzo Vecchio as a symbol of the Florentine Republic's defiance of Medici tyranny, while Bandinelli's Hercules and Cacus was placed there by the Medici themselves, a muscular retort in stone. Benvenuto Cellini's Perseus, cast by a man who allegedly conducted satanic ceremonies and knifed his girlfriend's lovers, holds Medusa's severed head nearby.

The square was also the site of Savonarola's "Bonfire of the Vanities" in 1497, and the fiery preacher's own execution a year later. A small plaque marks the spot.

VoiceMap's audio tours trace the square's competing power struggles, connecting each sculpture and building to the Medici, the Republic and the men who shaped Florence's turbulent history.