BIG CHURCHES OF FLORENCE
The Basilicas of Florence not only bear witness of a profound devotion, but they preserve priceless masterpieces.
Santa Croce. The church founded by the Franciscans in 1294 is considered a second Pantheon. It hosts the tombs of Italian famous men: among them Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli, Dante Alighieri’s cenotaph, and Vittorio Alfieri. The chapels of the transept are covered by frescoes from the 1300s. Here, among others, worked Giotto, who painted two chapels belonging to wealthy families of bankers. In the sacristy is kept the wooden Crucifix by Cimabue, a masterpiece dating back to the end of the 1200s that bears the marks of the flood from 1966. From the cloister you access to the Pazzi’s Chapel planned by the genius of the Renaissance Filippo Brunelleschi and to the refectory with a fresco of the Last Supper dating back to the 1300s.
Santa Maria Novella. The church founded by the Dominicans in 1246 is home to important works that give the opportunity to understand the profound innovations introduced in the arts in Florence between the 1300s and the 1400s. Here in fact we found works by Giotto, Masaccio and Brunelleschi. In the transept frescoes commissioned by Florentine bankers in the 1400s permit to understand the cultural environment in the Renaissance and the relationships that used to bound wealthy families. It will be like meeting those important people in person, as artists portrayed them accurately. From the church you access to the Green Cloister with the storied of the Genesis painted by Paolo Uccello. From the cloister you enter inside the Spaniards Chapel, the former chapter room. Here frescoes of the fourteenth century celebrate the Order of the Preachers. The old pharmacy of the convent still exists, although no longer part of the Dominican complex. By entering this space our sense of smell will be awaken by scents and essences that are still made according to old recipes.
Basilica of San Lorenzo. It’s the church of oldest foundation in Florence. Its renovation in the fifteenth century was sponsored by the Medici who commissioned Filippo Brunelleschi for the work.
The Church with the Old Sacristy represents one among the masterpieces of architecture during the Renaissance. Here are buried some members of the primary branch of the Medici’s family. Among the remarkable works, the tombs by Verrocchio, Donatello’s “pulpits”, the Annunciation by Filippo Lippi and the dome frescoed in the 1700s by Vincenzo Meucci.
San Miniato al Monte. The building is located on top of a hill which offers a splendid view over the city. The church is a jewel of Romanesque architecture in Florence. The church is rich in treasures: the beautiful carpet of stone, the mosaic of the apse, the frescoes with stories of St. Benedict and the Chapel of the Cardinal of Portugal, a true jewel of the Renaissance.
DURATION: 3-6 HOURS
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