Pitti Palace is an impressive Renaissance palace in Florence, Italy. The palace was the primary residence of the kings of Italy from 1865 to 1871. Today it houses one of the world’s great collections of paintings, including works by Raphael, Caravaggio, Anthony van Dyck, Titian, and Peter Paul Rubens. The museum also contains important works of Roman sculpture.
The palace was built for the Renaissance merchant Luca Pitti. Construction began in 1458. The original architect is not known, but a major addition was built between 1560 and 1570 by Italian architect and sculptor Bartolommeo Ammannati. Later expansions took place between 1620 and 1640 and between 1764 and 1783, when large wings were added to the main facade (front).
The most striking feature of the palace is the impressive street facade, which is 600 feet (200 meters) long. The facade is built of enormous blocks of masonry that have been roughly carved to look as though they had come directly from the quarry. The Boboli Gardens, on the stepped terraces immediately behind the palace, are among the most beautiful in Italy. In 2013, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) added the Boboli Gardens to its World Heritage list of culturally significant sites.
