These lions are called ‘Marzocco’ and are one of the main symbols of the city of Florence. The image of the lion was chosen by the Florentine Republic after the old one, the god Mars, was lost in the flood in 1333. The Marzocco was then adopted by the Medici family as symbol of power and has been represented at Palazzo Pitti and Boboli Garden during the extension works under Cosimo the First. Another little-known anecdote is that live lions were once kept in cages behind Palazzo Comunale, in the street still called Via dei Leoni (Street of the Lions)