Nestling between the Fiesole hills to the north and San Miniato to the south, the torrential Arno river flowing through its midst, Florence is unique for a multitude of reasons.

First and foremost, there's the importance it acquired as an economic and political powerhouse in the 14^th and 15^th centuries, combined with its artistic pre-eminence, both of which are still visible and indeed tangible today. The city's gift for conserving the "signs of the past" as "products" of a glorious history is largely the reason for its success and renown worldwide.

Having become the Wall Street of the late Middle Ages thirteen centuries after its foundation, probably by the Romans, little Fiorenza had the genius to transform power and money into works of art and architecture that were destined to endure across the ages as testimony to a sensibility and culture of patronage that are unique among their kind. Thanks to the Medicis - first Cosimo the Elder and Lorenzo the Magnifico's line, and then that of the Principate - Florence witnessed a marriage of humanist and artistic ideals that combined with the stylistic revolution of Giotto and Masaccio to give birth to what we still call the Renaissance - a marvel of city marketing. The totems that draw millions of visitors from across the world are the "children" of that period, from Michelangelo's David in the Academy Gallery to the myriad masterpieces in the Uffizi and multitude of church-museums, historic palaces, minor museums and gardens spread across the city.

Every corner of Florence breathes art, history and culture, making it not so much a city as an open-air museum, and as such you can admire it both in its smallest details and as a whole. As a result, every aspect is unique, as is every vantage point from which you can admire its panoramas and skyline. Here, too, you are spoilt for choice, from Piazzale Michelangelo to Pian de' Giullari, Fort Belvedere, Bellosguardo and even Fiesole, with its alternative but no less inspiring views.

Florence is also a city with many histories and many faces. Part of it even bears witness to the grandiose Parisian visions of the architects commissioned to create a modern metropolis when the Kingdom of Italy briefly moved its capital to Florence from Turin.

But the true magic of Florence is its power to make your spirit soar as you explore the old medieval city, the fine Tuscan sunshine filtering down through narrow streets where the line between art and craft is blurred and constantly redrawn. In Florence, both are part of a broader mosaic and vision of culture. A vision that encompasses Dante, Giotto, Verrocchio, Leonardo, Leon Battista Alberti, Brunelleschi, Botticelli, Michelangelo and Galileo, while equally including the eighteenth century scholars who guided gentleman travelers on their Grand Tours, their sights set firmly on Florence as a unique wonder of the world.

From Vieusseux to the Futurists, who found their muse in the city, Florence has continued to inspire and to nourish culture across the world. For that, too, it is unique. Indeed, it has nourished every sense, including through the art of food and wine, where once again Florence has no equal.