Palazzo della Signoria

The Palazzo della Signoria (English: Palace of your lordship), also known as the Palazzo Vecchio (English: Old Palace) was a building in central Florence, and the center of governmental power during the Italian Renaissance. Atop the building stood a noticeably off-center clocktower, which also served as a holding cell. The square in front of the building served as a marketplace and a site for executions.
==History==
===Renaissance===
The building was designed by the Tuscan architect Arnolfo di Cambio for the Lords of Florence in 1299.Assassin's Creed II – Database: Palazzo Della Signoria The Signoria was made up of nine members (or Priori) selected by the city's guilds, two from each district, and a Gonfalonier of Justice. Members were supposed to be chosen by lot, but once the Medici family took power, it was only their friends who were favored.Assassin's Creed: Identity – Database: Palazzo Della Signoria
In 1476, the execution of the Italian Assassin Giovanni Auditore and his sons Federico and Petruccio was held at the Palazzo della SignoriaAssassin's Creed II – Last Man Standing after they had been imprisoned in the tower the night before.Assassin's Creed II – Jailbird Although Giovanni's third son Ezio tried to attack  Uberto Alberti, the man who had betrayed his family and ordered their execution, he was disarmed by a brute and forced to flee.
Two years later, Ezio pursued Francesco de' Pazzi on the palazzo's roof and assassinated him for his role in the Pazzi conspiracy against Lorenzo de' Medici, before allowing those loyal to the ruling Medici family to hang the corpse from the battlements. Jacopo de' Pazzi attempted to rally the Florentine citizens in the square below but fled the city after seeing Francesco's body.Assassin's Creed II – Farewell Francesco
In 1498, the palazzo served as the execution site of the infamous priest Girolamo Savonarola by an angry mob of Florentines. However, to spare the monk the feeling of being burned at the stake, Ezio intervened and killed the monk with his Hidden Blade.Assassin's Creed II – Bonfire of the Vanities – Mob Justice
Around 1506, a weapon-smith who served Cesare Borgia failed to murder his former master and was sentenced to death by hanging. Niccolò Machiavelli sent Lo Sparviero to rescue Demetrio il Silente.Assassin's Creed: Identity – Niccolò Machiavelli's journal #5: "Broken Chains" The Assassin bribed some corrupt Medici soldiers to leave the area, then killed the soldier who held Demetrio and took him to safety.Assassin's Creed: Identity – Broken Chains
Later, in 1524, Ezio took the Chinese Assassin Shao Jun to see the palazzo during a trip into the city. By then, the gallows had been removed and the square was now a place of lively celebration and dancing.Assassin's Creed: Embers
===Modern times===
In 2016, the Palazzo was used to as a simulated location by Abstergo Entertainment for their Identity Project. Like most of the simulated locations in the Project, the Palazzo had two aesthetic variations, and as such, could be utilized during daytime and nighttime.Assassin's Creed: Identity – Contracts
==Behind the Scenes==
*Historically, many of the people involved in the Pazzi Conspiracy were hanged from the Palazzo. In-game, only Francesco was shown to be hanged.
*Benvenuto Cellini's is anachronistically depicted on display in the palazzo despite it historically being unveiled in 1554.
==Gallery==
ACIExecution.jpg|Concept art of the House of Auditore's execution
Database Palazzo Della Signoria.png|Database image in Assassin's Creed: Identity
ACID Palazzo della Signoria Night Concept.jpg|Concept art in Identity
Burning Pages.png|Concept art in Identity
Jailbird 2 v.png|Giovanni in prison
Mob justice 2.png|A crowd watching Savonarola's execution
==Appearances==
*Assassin's Creed II 
**Bonfire of the Vanities
*Assassin's Creed: Embers
*Assassin's Creed: Identity
==References==
Category:City halls
Category:Landmarks in Florence
Category:Viewpoints