The fortress town hall, still running the city after 700 years.
Open late most nights~€12-1760-90 min
The story
1 min readBuilt from 1299 as the seat of the Republic; the 94 m tower kept watch for enemies and fires. Inside: the Salone dei Cinquecento, where Leonardo and Michelangelo were once hired to paint dueling battle murals (neither finished; art history's greatest unplayed match), and Machiavelli's actual office from his civil-service years.
The David at the door is a copy standing exactly where the original stood from 1504 to 1873.