In July of 2014 I traveled to the cities and locations of the Ezio games.
This series is a chronicle of that journey.
[Ezio's Family from AC2]
In the Assassin's Creed series, few locations are as beloved as Florence.
And as Ezio's birthplace and home, what better way to begin our tour
than on the very bridge that gives us our first real introduction to Ezio?
Ezio: Insieme per la vittoria! (together for victory)
Various NPCs: Sì! Insieme! Insieme!
The Ponte Vecchio is home to a few events in the series,
but is most noticeable for the opening brawl of AC2 against Vieri de Pazzi.
In modern times, the bridge is crowded with tourists and lined with jewelry shops.
The river that runs underneath the bridge here is actually the River Arno,
which is the same name as the AC: Unity protagonist, spelled the same way: A-r-n-o.
It's one of those fun bits of trivia that's really cool to an AC fan,
and it's similar to how there's a constellation called the Aquila
and Altair is the brightest star in that constellation; very similar type of thing.
The River Arno is also where Ezio brings the bodies of his family,
as seen in a repressed memory from Brotherhood.
Across the bridge lies the Palazzo Pitti. This palace was purchased by the Medici family in 1549,
but in-game it's more notable for its ties to
Girolamo Savonarola.
In the Bonfire of the Vanities DLC, Savonarola can be seen occupying the palace until the mob drags him away.
Girolamo: You will submit!
Girolamo: Aghh!
Girolamo: No!!!
He is taken to the Piazza della Signoria, where he is executed and burned.
Ezio's subsequent speech is quite powerful,
and shows us how much he has matured over the course of the game.
In the feedback from my recent
Top 5 Ezio Moments video,
this speech came in as the most popular
missing moment.
Ezio: Choose your own way.
Ezio: Do not follow me...
Ezio: ...or anyone else.
Of course, the Piazza della Signoria and the overlooking Palazzo Vecchio are collectively
one of the most eventful locations in Florence for Ezio
It is the site where Ezio kills Francesco de Pazzi, and of course is where Ezio's father and brothers are hanged.
[crowd cheering]
Ezio: Father!
In real life, the square is much bigger and extends in an L shape around the left.
The square was also the original site of Michelangelo's David once it was completed in 1504.
Of course, by then Ezio is in Rome for the events of Brotherhood,
and we never see it in-game. In modern times it is replaced by a replica.
We headed into the palazzo Vecchio and
climbed to the top.
Partway up the tower we found the prison cell that was used to hold Giovanni Auditore before his execution.
Giovanni: Ezio!
Ezio: Father!
Ezio: What's happened?
While I was in Florence, I found that
the streets themselves
didn't necessarily leap out and remind me of AC2 that much.
But once I got to a high vantage point and caught a glimpse of those rooftops,
everything came flooding back.
Just a few steps west of the Palazzo Vecchio lies the Loggia del Mercato Nuovo.
Fans of the multiplayer will immediately recognize this as the central marketplace in the Florence map.
There's even wire stretched across to
the surrounding buildings.
Technically the in-game market is supposed to be the Mercato Vecchio, which was demolished in the 1800s.
The Loggia del Mercato Nuovo was built in the mid-1500s, which is a few decades after Ezio's death,
but it seems safe to assume that it was used as the primary visual reference for the in-game market.
Heading back east we found the Basilica di Santa Croce.
This beautiful church is the burial site of
Niccolo Machiavelli,
but AC fans know it for the adjoining cloister, where Ezio assassinates Uberto Alberti.
Ezio: The Auditori are not dead! I'm still here!
Me! Ezio! Ezio Auditore!
Later we headed to the Palazzo Medici, home of the Medici family.
Ezio would meet Lorenzo here occasionally, and a DLC side mission let you explore the interior.
Also of note is the Basilica de Santa Maria Novella.
The first great basilica in Florence is notable for being home to the first Assassin tomb location
that Ezio would find, but not before eavesdropping on a meeting of the Templars.
We end today's episode with quite possibly the most iconic landmark in Florence:
the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, or il Duomo.
This location is home to many events in the game, including our introduction to Duccio,
and the attempted assassination of Lorenzo Medici.
in real life the attempted assassination happened inside the cathedral, not outside,
but this was changed due to technical constraints.
The interior IS accessible, however, as part of an Assassin tomb.
Due to time constraints we did not go inside the cathedral, which is my biggest regret in Florence.
Of course, this area is also the site of Ezio's death.
So if you can imagine a bench, maybe somewhere around this area's about where Ezio died when he
was in Firenze, right in front of the cathedral and bell tower here.
Something worth noting is the structure on my left.
This is the Battistero di San Giovanni, which was covered on the outside for renovations when we visited.
This baptistry is actually the oldest monument in Florence, and it's notable for being missing from AC2
due to the technical limitations of rendering everything else in the area.
We ended our visit here with a climb to the top of Giotto's Campanile, the adjacent bell tower.
We climbed... and climbed...
...and climbed, until we were finally rewarded with a stunning view of Firenze
from the highest viewpoint in Assassin's Creed 2.
[AC2 viewpoint synchronization music]
