The square is located at the nodal point where the three main city streets branch off, backbones of the Terzi, distinguishing itself as a unitary one of sublime harmony, the highest fruit of the Sienese passion for beauty, manifested early by the people even before the famous statute of 1262 dedicated to urban planning and city aesthetics. This makes it one of the highest creations of medieval town planning.The square is also famous because it hosts the Palio delle Contrade twice a year, exactly on July 2 and August 16. It is a unique horse race in the world that sees the seventeen historic districts that make up the Tuscan city compete against each other.The race consists of three laps around the track that surrounds the square, paved with slabs of pietra serena, which is sprinkled with one layer of tuff dust of appropriate thickness, such as to allow the horses to run, not without dramatic slips in correspondence of the curves. Among these, one of the most critical is the "curve of San Martino". The race, which takes place in an unrestrained way and often without reserves of low blows, sometimes bloody, leads to victory only one contrada. Key ingredients for a "perfect Palio" are the couple formed by the horse and its jockey that each contrada manages to put together, always combined with an indispensable dose of luck and a crowd that is always enthusiastic and involved.

Florence is located in a scenographic position, in the center of a large amphitheater basin at the south-eastern end of the plain of Florence-Prato-Pistoia, surrounded on three sides by the enchanting clayey hills of Cercina, just above the Rifredi district and the hospital of Careggi (to the north), from the hills of Fiesole (to the north-east), of Settignano (to the east), and of Arcetri, Poggio Imperiale and Bellosguardo (to the south). 'Arno (the city itself divides its course between the upper Valdarno and the lower Valdarno) and minor waterways such as the Mugnone, the Terzolle and the Greve river. The metropolitan area Florence - Prato - Pistoia established by the Regional Council of Tuscany on 29 March 2000 it entirely includes the provinces of Florence, Prato and Pistoia, with a population of approximately 1 520 000 inhabitants. The flat areas of the metropolitan area constitute a highly anthropized environment with the presence of large industrial and commercial areas, where natural spaces are reduced. The hilly areas have had an agricultural and residential vocation for centuries, with the original woods greatly reduced, especially in the areas to the south and east of the city. In the plain there are non-urbanized wetlands in the area west of the city along the Arno river.