Palazzo Levi is a large civil building in the historic center of Florence, located in Piazza della Repubblica. It stands at the corner of Via de’ Brunelleschi, Via de’ Tosinghi, and Via Roma, one of the most central urban areas in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The palace is also known as Palazzo della Fondiaria Assicurazioni, because from 1893 it became connected with Fondiaria Assicurazioni. It was built between 1890 and 1893, during the major redevelopment of the old central district around today’s Piazza della Repubblica. Palazzo Levi is important because it occupies the site of the former Jewish Ghetto of Florence. Its history connects the medieval city, the nineteenth-century transformation of Florence, the rise of bourgeois architecture, and the modern commercial life of Piazza della Repubblica. The building is not a Renaissance palace in the historical sense. It is a Neo-Renaissance palace, designed in the late nineteenth century by the architect Giuseppe Boccini. Its monumental façade, large scale, and central position make it a visible landmark in the urban fabric of central Florence. Today, Palazzo Levi forms an entire block and includes important commercial and institutional spaces. On the ground floor are the historic cafés Gilli and Paszkowski, two well-known addresses Read more [...]