Introduction to the Uffizi Palace: The Uffizi Palace was originally the office of the once-prominent Medici family. The word "Uffizi" means "office" in Italian. The Medici family were the great bankers of Florence. This family produced three Roman popes and two French queens from the 15th to the 18th century. They actually ruled Florence for nearly three centuries and were known as the "Uncrowned Kings" of Florence.
The building is divided into three floors. The ground floor is a colonnade. The two main buildings stand side by side. There is a horizontal building at one end near the Arno River to connect the two main buildings; there are solid pilasters on both sides of the central courtyard. There are niches containing statues of outstanding Tuscan figures carved in the 19th century; there are windows in the wall on the second floor; and there is a long corridor on the third floor.
In addition to the art gallery on the third floor, there is also a National Archives in the palace, which contains many rare documents about the history of Florence; on the ground floor of the building there is a relic of the ancient Roman church of St. Peter of Scillaccio. Monument (excavated and restored in 1971), which contains the frescoes of Andrea del Castau; the Drawings and Prints Gallery on the second floor was founded by Cardinal Liberdo de Medici in the 17th century, including Collection of many drawings and prints.