Florence - Piazza della Santissima Annunziata

Adjudged the most beautiful square in Florence, the tone of the spacious Piazza della Santissima Annunziata is set by four buildings of artistic importance - the church of Santissima Annunziata at the top, the portico by Brunelleschi of the foundling hospital, the Spedale degli Innocenti on the right, the colonnades of the Confraternità dei Servi di Maria, the work of Antonio da Sangallo and Baccio d'Agnolo, on the left, and Ammanati's Palazzo Riccardi-Manelli.

The statues in the square are the equestrian figure of Grand Duke Ferdinand I, Giambologna's last work, and completed by his pupil Tacca in 1608, and two bronze fountains of sea-creatures, dating from 1629 and the work, with his assistants, of Pietro Tacca, the versatile Carraran sculptor, metalworker and architect.