Florence 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: a centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of the time, it is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance, and has been called "the Athens of the Middle Ages".
A turbulent political history includes periods of rule by the powerful Medici family, and numerous religious and republican revolutions.From 1865 to 1871 the city was the capital of the recently established Kingdom of Italy.
