Piazzale Michelangiolo, Florence

Piazzale Michelangiolo is a broad terrace built for a sweeping view across Florence. Giuseppe Poggi designed it in 1869 during the city’s redevelopment, placing this square on a hill in Oltrarno. The loggia that presides over the terrace was also Poggi’s work; its intended museum for Michelangelo’s art never came into being.

Look at the sculptures spread across the terrace: they are bronze versions of Michelangelo’s David and the four allegories of the times of day from the Medici Chapel at San Lorenzo, whose originals are marble. The piazza’s panorama takes in the Ponte Vecchio, the Duomo, Palazzo Vecchio, the Bargello and the octagonal bell tower of Badia Fiorentina. An especially vivid detail belongs to its construction: the monument was hauled here by nine pairs of oxen on 25 June 1873.