While preparing for my recent holiday to northern Italy, I read that we owe a lot to the city of Florence (Firenze) and the cultural awakening that began in this former city-state. Between the 14th and 17th centuries, Florence and much of Europe experienced a period of cultural enlightenment that we now know as the Renaissance.

It was a period that saw significant developments in art, music, architecture, education, and thinking, and Florence was the epicentre of it all. It was a period when powerful families, such as the Medici, supported artists, painters, and thinkers like Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci to come and work in the city.