The TRAVELER'S JOURNAL: May twenty-third, taking a high view of Florence, Italy.

Like many great cities, Florence is defined by the river along which it grew, the Arno. Roman Legions built a walled fort on the north bank to control the river's fertile valley, and as the medieval town grew, the ring of protection expanded across the Arno. The stone bridges built to link the town's halves became centers of commerce, communication and civic pride.

Great floods regularly ravaged Florence, but each time its citizens re-built with a growing commitment to an emerging sense of architectural elegance. By the mid-15th century, Florence had won supremacy among central Italy's fiercely competitive city/states. Then, through fortunate timing and human inspiration, it achieved greatness.

Over the next 250 years, Florence became a European center of both commerce and culture. Led by the Medicis, a dynasty of bankers and astute politicians, Florentines commissioned uncountable works of art and architecture. The creative forces they nurtured help hoist Western Civilization from 1000 years of stagnation. In the process, they transformed Florence into the first capital of the modern era.

The city's central core remains a masterpiece of early urban design, an inseme, a collection of individual structures that blend into a seamless whole. Though the power of Florence has been eclipsed, its treasures are still intact, from the Boboli Gardens across the Ponte Vecchio to the Uffizzi Galley and the Grand Duomo. Time's passage has burnished Florence's creative flare. In terms of culture at least, the city along the Arno still ranks among the world's great capitals.

FMI Italian Government Travel, 630 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10011 212-245-5618 or www.italiantourism.com