Today, the Uffizi Gallery ranks amongst the most visited museums in the world. But this spot was once the darkest, seediest and largest red-light district in Europe. Nicknamed the “Baldracca”, basically a colourful way of saying “whore” in Florentine dialect. Things radically changed when Cosimo I de' Medici transformed the neighbourhood to make way for the “Uffizi”. In 1560, architect in charge (Giorgio Vasari), began to build the iconic u-shaped building that was to become the headquarters of the town's guilds. "Uffizi" means “offices”, so clearly the building was never intended to be a world famous museum - it was to be the city's administrative centre. But was the dispersal of brothels and the bringing together of corporations simply a clear message of Cosimo's new totalitarian style of government? That would be my guess.