One of the oldest and most renowned art collections in the world is housed in the Uffizi Gallery, a palace-turned-museum in Florence. It's one of the top things to do in Florence, and in 2015 it was the busiest museum in all of Italy, with about two million visitors.

In 1560, at Cosimo I de' Medici's direction, architect Giorgio Vasari began work on what would become the Uffizi Palace. It was built to replace the Palazzo Vecchio as the new home of the Florentine magistracies. The term "Gallery of Offices" comes from the fact that it serves this purpose. In 1581, the project was declared finished. The Medici family's extensive art collection was housed at the palace for many years.

After the fall of the Medici dynasty in the 18th century, the duchy of Florence became an Austrian property, and the artworks may have been sent to Vienna. However, the collection was left to the people of Florence by the late Duchess Anna Maria in her will, marking the beginning of what would become one of the world's first modern museums. Beginning in the 16th century, upon request, the gallery was open to the public; in 1765, it formally opened to the public as a museum.

The sheer volume of the collection necessitated the relocation of several pieces to other Florentine institutions, most notably the sculptures to the Bargello Museum. Since there was not enough room for exhibits, the building was expanded in 2006, and plans for yet another addition are currently being considered.

The castle was severely damaged and five persons were killed in a vehicle bombing in Via dei Georgofili in 1993. The most significant damage was done to the Sala de Niobe, which required the restoration of its neoclassical ornamentation and classical sculptures. No one knows what prompted the assault.

Due to space constraints, much of the Uffizi's large art collection is not currently on view to the public. The display spans the first and second levels of the palace and is organized chronologically.