Piazza della Signoria and the Loggia dei Lanzi

Piazza della Signoria has been the political stage of Florence since the thirteenth century and still looks the part: the crenellated bulk of Palazzo Vecchio on one side with its tower cutting the sky, the Neptune fountain, the copy of the David standing where the original stood until 1873, and the Loggia dei Lanzi — three tall stone arches sheltering a row of Renaissance sculpture, open to the square and free to walk into.

The loggia is the reason to come with a camera. It is a covered, north-facing room with soft even light all day, a stone floor and Giambologna and Cellini bronzes as backdrop — usable at noon in July, when the open piazza is not. Portraits work close in, with a single sculpture behind the subject rather than the whole row.

Outside, the square is wide and the light is direct. Early morning is the moment: the sun comes in low over the Uffizi and rakes the west side of the piazza, the cafés have not put their tables out, and the tower still has warm colour on it. From ten onwards the square is a thoroughfare and the loggia steps are full of people sitting.