Standing here, Renaissance Florentines were surrounded by the places that aimed to unify a fractious city. The Baptistry, where every infant joined the Christian community. The cathedral, a 150-year civic project. Giotto’s tower, whose bells rang out to the walls and beyond. And, often overlooked, the column of St Zanobi, the city’s miracle-working first bishop. Let Niccolosa tell you her story in ‘Saints and Sinners’, set in 1492, a free audio trail on a Renaissance map. Tap find out more.

Public statues talked to Renaissance Florentines, often about politics. Michelangelo’s David was placed in the piazza in 1503 as a gesture of defiance by the Republic against the Medici 'Goliath'. Bandinelli’s nearby Hercules, put up 30 years later, warned that the Medici were back and ready to club the city into submission. Let Ercole, a city cop in 1566, be your guide in ‘Crime and Punishment’, a free audio trail on a Renaissance map. Tap find out more.

When Renaissance Florentines looked down river from the Ponte Vecchio, they’d see barges from Pisa, laden with wool, spice and metals, arriving in this industrious city. The bridge itself, the city’s oldest, was packed with hatmakers, glovemakers and butchers. As for the goldsmiths, still going strong, they were moved here in the 1590s to make the city more ‘beautiful’ for visitors. Get the wool worker Giovanni's take in the ‘Politics and People’ audio trail, set in 1490. Tap find out more.

A bloody rite of rivalry and catharsis: that’s Florentine football, the calcio storico. It was, and still is, played on Piazza Santa Croce - and on the south side you'll spot this 1565 plaque at the midpoint of the field. Renaissance matches featured squads of noble youths, but it was no less violent for that. A trumpet blasted three times, the ball was bounced off the plaque, and the mayhem began. Ercole has more in the ‘Crime and Punishment' audio trail, set in 1566. Tap find out more.

Only the façade remains today, but behind it once stood San Pier Maggiore, Florence’s most important nunnery and the scene of an extraordinary slice of civic theatre. Whenever a new bishop took charge in Florence he sealed his bond with the city by ‘marrying’ the convent’s abbess. Rings were exchanged and the bishop even slept overnight to symbolically consummate the union. San Pier Maggiore was demolished in 1784 but has been ‘rebuilt’ using AR in ‘Hidden Florence 3D’. Tap find out more.

As Andrea della Robbia’s swaddled infants reminded Florentines, babies taken in by the Innocenti – the pioneering orphanage opened in 1445 – became children of the city. Women, forced to abandon newborns due to poverty or illegitimacy, pushed them through a grate in the wall. For the children inside, growing up in care also meant textile work, helping to bring in cash to feed hundreds of hungry mouths. Hear Marietta's story in 'City of Women' a free audio trail set in 1561. Tap find out more.

The sick, the old, the poor, the traveller – all received hospitality at Santa Maria Nuova, and it’s still a hospital today. In the Renaissance daily care was administered by women, who used herbal remedies - the ingredients grown on site - along with the ancient Roman regimen of fresh air, moderate diet, exercise, and lots of sleep. They also kept a vat of chicken soup handy. Hear Marietta's story in 'City of Women' a free audio trail set in 1561. Tap find out more.

To hear street singers in 15th-century Florence, you'd come to Piazza San Martino. It was also home to a charity for the ‘shame-faced poor’, artisans who had fallen on hard times but refused to beg. The Good Men of San Martino used coins dropped in this slot, plus gifts from the Medici, to deliver food and perform other acts of mercy – depicted in frescoes around the walls inside. Hear Giovanni’s story in ‘Politics and People’, a free audio trail set in 1490. Tap find out more.

They’re easy to walk past now, but the stones wrapped around the corner of Sant’ Ambrogio once announced that you were in the turf of the Red City, one of 40 artisan ‘kingdoms’ in Renaissance Florence. At festive moments local men downed tools, hoisted flags, chose a king and ruled over the district. It was a powerful ritual in a city where workers had no official political voice. Get the wool beater Giovanni’s story in ‘Neighbourhood World’, a free audio trail set in 1490. Tap find more.

This piazza became a neoclassical showpiece in the 1800s, but in the Renaissance it was where you did your shopping. Donatello’s statue of Abundance, a copy of which is still in place, presided over the Mercato Vecchio’s butchers, fishmongers and wine sellers. She also watched over female fruit sellers who wove their way around the stalls, despite those who said honest women didn’t belong in public spaces. Get Giovanni’s take in the ‘Politics and People’, audio trail, set in 1490. Tap find more.

Florentines could barely turn a corner without encountering street art in the form of a Madonna, keeping an eye on the local community. Devotion at this shrine, which included adorning the Virgin with a cloak and crown, was led by one of the city’s lay brotherhoods, which met at the church of the Candeli across the road. But local women also gathered at these shrines, lighting candles and trading news. Hear Giovanni’s story in the ‘Neigbourhood World’ audio trail, set in 1490. Tap find out more.