Florence is deservedly considered one of the most beautiful cities in the whole world, and countless cathedrals and churches play an important role in this. In this article, BlogoItaliano presents its version of the 10 most notable churches and cathedrals in Florence, striking the imagination not only with the external decoration, but also with the masterpieces that adorn their interiors.
The period XIII-XVII is called the "golden period" of Florence: it was at this time that the most famous basilicas were built in the rich city, many of which to this day remain an unrivaled example of medieval and Renaissance architecture.
Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore
At one time, the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore became the largest in Europe. Today it occupies the fourth place in the world and is able to accommodate up to 30,000 people.
The construction of the cathedral, which is still often called simply Duomo, took almost a century and a half. The triad of the best architects of that time worked on its creation: Giotto di Bondone, Andrea Pisano and Arnolfo di Cambio.
Three architects also worked on the construction of the bell tower of Giotto: Giotto himself, Andrea Pisano and Francesco Talenti. Giotto and Donatello decorated the outer walls of the bell tower with bas-reliefs, and Filippo Brunelleschi set about creating a huge red dome of the cathedral, where today there is an observation deck.
Florence Duomo can accommodate up to 30,000 people
The Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore is known as the location of two priceless works of art at once: we are talking about the painting "Mary Magdalene" by Donatello and "Mourning Christ" by Michelangelo. Curious exhibit: "reverse hours" that have never stopped since the 15th century.
The Cathedral is one of the central points of our author's itinerary in Florence for 1 day. Be sure to read more about it if you are going to the city, and your time is limited. This will allow you to see much more than 95% of travelers without guides and overpayments.
- Opening hours: Mon-Sat: 9: 00-19: 30
- Day off - Sunday
- The cathedral is closed December 25, January 1, Easter and September 8
- Tickets: Free admission
Basilica of San Lorenzo
The old sacristy of the Basilica of San Lorenzo is decorated with frescoes by Donatello, preserved despite several reconstructions. In addition to Donatello, Verocchio and Michelangelo worked on the decoration of the temple.
The first mention of the Basilica of San Lorenzo dates back to the 4th century, however, the church owes its current appearance to the Medici family, by whose order the renewal of the shrine under the leadership of Filippo Brunneleschi began.
The architect was not destined to complete his project: Giovanni Medici died, and with it the financing of construction was interrupted. The reconstruction was completed 12 years later by another architect Mikelozzo de Barotolomeo commissioned by Cosimo Medici.
The basilica became the tomb for all members of the Medici family
It was Cosimo Medici who was the first representative of his family, who was buried in the underground part of the basilica, which later became the tomb for all members of the Medici family. Lorenzo the Magnificent is also buried here - his tomb is housed in a new sacristy.
- Opening hours: Mon-Sat: 10: 00-17: 00
- Sun: 13: 30-17: 30 (from March to October; closed to Sun from November to February)
- Tickets: Adult - € 5.
Baptistery of San Giovanni
Until the 19th century, all the inhabitants of Florence, including Dante and representatives of the Medici family, were baptized here - in the Florentine Baptistery.
The Baptistery is one of many buildings in Florence disputing the title of oldest in the city.
In ancient times there was a temple of the god of war Mars, converted into a Christian church in the IV century and rebuilt in the form in which we know it today, in the XI century. From the 9th to the 12th century, the baptistery played the role of the cathedral of Florence.
All residents of Florence were baptized here until the 19th century.
The octagonal shape of the building is designed to recall the seven days of creation and the day of baptism, when rebirth takes place. The ceiling of the Byzantine mosaic, in the central part of which a picture of the Last Judgment is presented, is striking.
The gilded panels of Pisano and Ghiberti decorating the gate are famous. The eastern gate of the work of Lorenzo Ghiberti was once praised by Michelangelo. A copy of this gate can be seen at the northern entrance to the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg. The premises of the baptistery are also decorated with sculptures by Donatello, Miquelozzo and other authors.
- Opening hours: Mon-Fri: 8: 15-10: 15, 11: 15-18: 30, Sat: 8: 15-18: 30, Sun: 8: 15-13: 30
- Tickets: Adult - € 5
Orsanmichele
The Orsanmichele church is unusual not only in its form, but also in its purpose: for two centuries, from the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries, Orsanmichele performed two functions simultaneously: a temple and a grain storage.
After the marble tabernacle was ordered with funds donated by survivors of the plague epidemic, the market was transferred to another place and the whole ground floor was transferred to the church.
From the XIV to the XVI centuries. Orsanmichele was both a temple and a granary at the same time.
After some time, the Orsanmichele Church became a pilgrimage site for artisans. The guild guilds hired the most famous artists of their time (Donatello, Ghiberti, Verrocchio) to establish the figures of their patron saints in the niches of the external walls.
- Opening hours: Tue-Fri: 10: 00-17: 00, Sat-Sun: 10: 00: 17: 00, Mon - day off.
- Tickets: Free admission
Santa Maria Novella
Santa Maria Novella is the first church seen by tourists arriving in Florence by train. It is in this church that the heroes of the novel “Decameron” Giovanni Boccaccio meet and decide to leave the city, plagued by an epidemic of plague.
From the station square, the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella makes a rather severe impression. All the more striking is the contrast between the Romanesque-Gothic style of this side of the basilica and the openwork main facade.
The basilica was laid in the middle of the XIII century
The facade of white and dark green marble was finished by Leon-Battista Alberti by order of the Ruchelai family in 1478: the architect immortalized the memory of the benefactors of the church, placing a symbol of their kind - ships with inflated sails - above the portal.
Another reconstruction of the basilica, founded in the middle of the XIII century, was conducted by Giorgio Vasari in the middle of the XVI century.
From an artistic point of view, almost all the chapels of the church are worthy of attention: the Madonna with the Rosary by the same Giorgio Vasari, the Trinity by Masaccio, the Crucifixion by Brunneleschi are just a small fraction of the treasures that are stored in its bowels.
There are many works of art from the 14th to 16th centuries.
Unfortunately, ordinary visitors are denied access to the "cloister of the dead", where the most influential families of medieval Florence are buried. But you can always look into the "perfumery and pharmacology workshop" located next to the temple - a pharmacy that was opened in the 17th century on the basis of the perfumery workshop of the 14th century.
- Opening hours: Mon-Thu: 09: 00-17: 30; Fri: 11: 00-17: 30 Sat: 09: 00-17: 00
- Sun and days of religious holidays: 13: 00-17: 00 (from July to September 12: 00-17: 00)
- Tickets: Adult - € 5
Santa trinita
The Basilica of Santa Trinita has one of the most extensive collections of early Renaissance painting in Florence.
The basilica survived several periods of reconstruction at the end of the XVI-XIX centuries, as a result of which the strict Romanesque church of the XIII century gradually acquired the features of mannerism and baroque.
The Church of the Holy Trinity is known primarily for the frescoes of Domenico Ghirlandaio decorating the chapel of Sassetti, and the murals of Lorenzo Monaco in the chapel of Bartolini Salimbeni. It is worth paying attention to the black and white mosaic floor of the presbytery with bizarre images of fantastic animals.
The basilica is decorated with frescoes of Ghirlandaio and murals of Lorenzo Monaco
Bartolini Salimbeni is the name of a noble Florentine family that owned a chapel. Hidden under a thick layer of plaster, the frescoes on the walls of the chapel were not discovered until the end of the 19th century. The author of the frescoes - the artist Lorenzo Monaco - also owns the altar painting "The Annunciation".
The banker Francesco Sasetti erected a chapel in honor of his St. Francis of Assisi, and invited Domenico Ghirlandaio as an artist. In Ghirlandaio's works, religious subjects are closely intertwined with urban views and portraits of the artist's contemporaries - ordinary residents of Florence of the 15th century.
- Opening hours: Mon-Fri: 08: 00-12: 00 and 16: 00-18: 00, Sat-Sun: 16: 00-18: 00
- Tickets: Free admission
Basilica of Santo Spirito
The Basilica of Santo Spirito has become one of the latest projects of the famous Florentine architect Filippo Brunelleschi. It contains several important works of artists and sculptors of the XV-XVI centuries - the young Michelangelo, Donatello, Bronzino, Perugino, as well as the almost lost fresco of Andrea Orkany "The Last Supper".
The construction of the basilica was conceived even at the time when the monastery of the Augustinian Order was located here - an important cultural center of the city, on the territory of which there is a school, a canteen for the poor and a library, partially inherited from Giovanni Bocaccio.
The interior of the church is decorated with the work of the great masters of the XV-XVI centuries.
But in 1471 the monastery burned down, and the completion of the church Brunelleschi started and the church completed by his followers lasted another couple of decades.
The facade remained unformed until the XVIII century, when it was decided to plaster the walls without introducing decorative elements. One of the old windows of the internal facade is decorated with the work of Pietro Perugino "Trinity Day".
The crucifix, made of wood by the 17-year-old Michelangelo, contains the crucifix in the sacristy of the Basilica of the Holy Spirit, as well as the altar painting "Saint Fiacre, healing the sick" by Bronzino.
The layout of the basilica resembles early Byzantine temples.
In the former refectory of the monastery, where the Salvatore Romano Foundation’s Museum of Medieval Art is located today, one can see the remains of a rare religious piece for the late Gothic period - the upper part of the fresco "The Last Supper" by Andrea Orkany.
- Opening hours: Mon-Sun: 10: 00-12: 30 and 16: 00-18: 00
- Day off - Wednesday
- Tickets: Free admission
Church of Santa Maria del Carmine
The plain-looking church of Santa Maria del Carmine is one of two Florentine churches where the frescoes of Masaccio have been preserved.
The construction of the church dedicated to the Madonna of the Carmelite Order took two centuries - from 1268 to 1476. The fire of 1771 destroyed a significant part of the church, without affecting only the Corsini Chapel, which Giordano worked on painting the dome, and the Brancacci Chapel, decorated with frescoes of the early Renaissance.
The chapel was named after Filippe Brancacci, the politician who invited Masolino and Masaccio to paint the family tomb. Artists were forced to interrupt work on the frescoes, completed the painting of the chapel Filippino Lippi.
Here you can see the frescoes of Masaccio and the work of Giorgio Vasari and Honor
Among other valuable works of art that are stored here, it is worth mentioning the work of Giorgio Vasari and Bernardino Pochetti.
- Opening hours: Mon, Wed-Sat: 10: 00-17: 00, Sun and holidays: 13: 00-17: 00
- Tue - day off
- The church is closed on January 1, 7 and December 25
- Tickets: Adult - € 6 (for visitors 18-25 years old - € 4.50)
Church of Dante (Basilica di Santa Margherita dei Cerchi)
A small church is located next to the museum of the great poet. Here Dante lived before he was expelled from Florence, married his wife Gemma Donati here and, according to legend, met Beatrice here.
The Church of St. Margarita was built almost a millennium ago - in 1032. Surprisingly, under her roof, the beloved Dante Beatrice Portinari, who died at the age of 24, and the wife of Dante, with whom the poet was engaged to the poet from 12 years old and whom she married some time after the death of Beatrice, found repose.
Dante lived here before his exile from Florence.
The tombstone of Beatrice, who was also married in this church, has survived to this day: in front of him is always a basket filled with notes addressed to the patroness of unrequited love. Gemma’s grave has been lost.
- Tickets: Free admission
Basilica of Santa Croce
One of the most popular churches among tourists, the Santa Croce Basilica received the unofficial name "Pantheon of Florence": so many famous Florentines are buried here.
In the Basilica of the Holy Cross, Galileo, Michelangelo, Gioacchino Rossini and other prominent figures of Florence rest - only about 300 people.
Dante was also to be buried here, but Ravenna, who received the exiled poet on her land, refused to return his body to the repentant Florence - the grave remained empty.
Here lie the most famous Florentines - only about 300 people
In addition to the many tombs, the church of Santa Croce deserves attention for the reason that some of Giotto’s frescoes have been preserved here (many died under a layer of whitewash caused during the plague when the hospital was in the infirmary).
- Opening hours: Mon-Sat: 9: 30-17: 30, Sun and some holidays: 14: 00-17: 30
- Closed: January 1, Easter, June 13, October 4, December 25 and 26
- Tickets: Adult - 8 Euro, for children under 11 years old - free of charge
Useful articles about Florence
- How to get from Rome to Florence and from Florence to Rome
- Guided Tours in Florence: Guide Review
- 5 hotels in the center of Florence that speak Russian
