The Palazzo Pitti is Florence's most important palace, and its combination of splendor, history, and the collections it houses make it one of the city's most popular attractions. Add to that the 111 acres of terraced and manicured gardens that rise up the hill behind it, and you'll see why so many tourists cross the river to the Oltrarno neighborhood to visit. From your first view of its 204-meter-long façade (longer than two American football fields), you're sure to be impressed. The art gallery (Galleria Palatina) inside is one of the most important in the world, its collections almost rivaling those of the Uffizi Gallery, with multiple works by Raphael, Titian, Tintoretto, and Rubens. Other collections are in its treasury, Galleria d'Arte Moderna (Gallery of Modern Art), and the Appartamenti ex Reali (Royal Apartments).Respected and wealthy Florentine merchants, the Pittis were equal to the Medici in terms of pride and ambition when they built their magnificent palace beginning in 1457. But the Pitti fortunes were not quite up to those ambitions, and a century later, the Medici acquired it from the bankrupt Pittis. They completely renovated and enlarged the palace, decorating its apartments with paintings that formed the basis of the Galleria Palatina. The Palazzo Pitti became the residence of the Italian kings (1864-1871) when Florence was the capital of a partially united Italy. In 1919, King Victor Emmanuel III finally gave it to the city, which enlarged the museums with its other collections.