Loggia del Mercato Nuovo

This guide to the Loggia del Mercato Nuovo in Florence starts with the dark marble circle underfoot, the stone of shame where bankrupt merchants were once chained and whipped in front of the market. It then turns to the bronze wild boar at the loggia's edge, cast by Pietro Tacca before 1634 and rubbed to a shine by generations of travelers hoping to return to the city. Slip a coin between its jaws and see if it slides through the grate below.