It is one of the principal charges that is brought against Cosimo de' Medici that he broke the power of the guilds.
Returning to the Via Calzaioli, and turning to the right, we come very quickly to the Piazza della Signoria, and see before us, diagonally across it, the Loggia de' Lanzi and the Palazzo Vecchio, with the gleaming, gigantic figure of Michelangelo's David against the dark gateway.

This, more than the Piazza del Duomo, is the centre of Florence.
The Palazzo Vecchio was for centuries called the Signoria, being the home of the Gonfalonier of Florence and the Signoria who assisted his councils.

It was begun by Arnolfo, the architect of the Duomo and S.Croce, at the end of the thirteenth century, that being, as we have seen, a period of great prosperity and ambition in Florence, but many alterations and additions were made--by Michelozzo, Cronaca, Vasari, and others--to bring it to what it now is.

After being the scene of many riots, executions, and much political strife and dubiety, it became a ducal palace in 1532, and is now a civic building and show-place.

In the old days the Palazzo had a ringhiera, or platform, in front of it, from which proclamations were made.