Piazza della Republica, site of the city’s first forum in Roman times, then of the city’s old ghetto,
which was swept away during the brief period when Florence was the capital of a united Italy 1865-71).
The Column of Abundance, on the right, is the sole survivor of the old piazza del Mercato, the old
market place. Large parts of the city centre were demolished in the late 19th century. The inscription
above the triumphal arch reads “The ancient centre of the city restored from age-old squalor to new life”.