The Palazzo Pitti is a vast, mainly Renaissance palace in Florence,
Italy. It is situated on the south side of the River Arno, a short
distance from the Ponte Vecchio. The core of the present palazzo dates
from 1458 and was originally the town residence of Luca Pitti, an
ambitious Florentine banker. It was later bought by the Medici family
in 1549: as the official residence of the ruling families of the Grand
Duchy of Tuscany, it was enlarged and enriched almost continually over
the following three centuries. In the 19th century, the palazzo, by
then a great treasure house, was used as a power base by Napoleon I,
and later served for a brief period as the principal royal palace of
the newly united Italy. In the early 20th century, the palazzo
together with its contents was given to the Italian people by the King
Victor Emmanuel III, subsequently its doors were opened to the public
to serve as one of Florence's largest art galleries. Today housing
several major collections, in addition to those of the Medici family,
it is fully open to the public.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palazzo_Pitti
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1877:
Cricketers representing England and Australia played the first Test
match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_cricket)
1906:
Charles Rolls and Henry Royce founded the automobile manufacturing
company Rolls-Royce.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolls-Royce)
1917:
Tsar Nicholas II of Russia was forced to abdicate in the
February Revolution, ending three centuries of Romanov rule.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_II_of_Russia)
1939:
German troops began the occupation of Czechoslovakia; the Protectorate
of Bohemia and Moravia was proclaimed the following day.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/occupation_of_Czechoslovakia)
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Wikiquote of the day:
"Fortune, which has a great deal of power in other matters but
especially in war, can bring about great changes in a situation
through very slight forces." -- Julius Caesar
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Julius_Caesar)