Piazza della Repubblica has been one of the main squares of Florence since the Roman Empire. The square retained its medieval appearance until the 18th century, when the city council decided to expand the area and modernize the center. Medieval towers, churches, shops, houses and traditional places for some arts were destroyed. Today's rectangular view with large nineteenth-century buildings is the result of the urban modernization that Florence underwent when it was the capital of Italy (1865-1871, at the same time the ancient thirteenth-century walls surrounding the city were unfortunately demolished to liberate place for wide modern avenues).→