Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

Home to the world’s greatest collection of Italian Renaissance art, Florence’s premier gallery occupies the vast U-shaped Palazzo degli Uffizi, built between 1560 and 1580 to house government offices. The collection, bequeathed to the city by the Medici family in 1743 on condition that it never leave Florence, contains some of Italy’s best-known paintings, including Piero della Francesca’s profile portraits of the Duke and Duchess of Urbino and rooms full of masterpieces by Sandro Botticelli.