Florence is the Italian city that serves as the main setting for much of Ezio Auditore’s story in Assassin’s Creed II.
Ezio begins the game in Florence in 1476, where he is introduced as a young nobleman from the Auditore family. The city’s Renaissance architecture, political factions, workshops, churches, and wealthy families form the backdrop for the opening chapters and several later missions.
Assassin’s Creed II also visits other Italian locations, including Monteriggioni, San Gimignano, Forlì, Venice, and the Vatican City area of Rome. This sometimes causes confusion, especially because Venice becomes a major setting later in the game. Florence is nevertheless the city most closely associated with Ezio’s origins and the beginning of his transformation into an Assassin.
The game uses historical figures such as Lorenzo de’ Medici and Leonardo da Vinci within its fictional plot. Its Florence is a dramatized recreation rather than a complete historical simulation, but recognizable landmarks and Renaissance political tensions are central to the experience.