Overview
The Largest Franciscan Church in the World
Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA
Santa Croce is Florence's great pantheon — the "Temple of Italian Glories" as it was called in the 19th century, when Italian nationalism turned it into a shrine for the nation's greatest figures. Michelangelo is buried here. So is Galileo (finally, after being denied a Christian burial for nearly a century due to his heresy conviction). Machiavelli. Rossini. Ghiberti. The monument to Dante is here, though he himself is buried in Ravenna — Florence exiled him and never managed to get his body back.
The church was designed by Arnolfo di Cambio, the same architect who began the Florence Cathedral, and begun in 1294. The stark white facade with its green and pink marble trim (added in the 19th century, funded by a wealthy English merchant) is distinctive but controversial — many architects considered it stylistically inappropriate.
What to Look For
Frescoes, Tombs & Hidden Gems
The life of St Francis in fresco — figures with psychological depth, spatial coherence, and emotional weight that had not existed in European painting before Giotto. These frescoes are why Michelangelo used to come to Santa Croce as a young artist to draw. Look for the scene of St Francis renouncing worldly goods: the way the father lunges toward his son, restrained by another figure, is pure theatrical drama centuries before theatre in the modern sense existed.
Giotto's Chapel Frescoes
The Bardi and Peruzzi chapels (far right of the nave) contain Giotto's frescoes depicting the lives of St Francis and St John the Baptist. Painted in the 1320s, they represent a revolution in Western art — Giotto's figures have psychological depth, spatial coherence, and emotional weight that had not existed in European painting before him. Michelangelo studied them carefully as a young artist. They're dimly lit; bring your eyes time to adjust.
Michelangelo died in Rome in 1564 aged 88. His body was smuggled out of the city secretly — the Pope had intended him buried in St Peter's — wrapped in merchant's cloth and transported to Florence. The tomb was designed by Vasari: three allegorical female figures representing Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture, all weeping. The Florentines considered him their greatest citizen and gave him the funeral of a prince.
Michelangelo's Tomb
Just inside the main entrance on the right. Designed by Vasari. Three allegorical female figures represent Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture — all weeping. Michelangelo died in Rome in 1564; his body was smuggled out of Rome secretly (the Pope had planned to bury him in St Peter's) and brought to Florence in a merchant's bale.
Galileo's Monument
Across the nave from Michelangelo. Galileo was denied a Christian burial when he died in 1642 — the Church considered him a heretic for supporting the Copernican model of the solar system. This monument was finally erected in 1737, 95 years after his death, when the Inquisition's grip had loosened.
- Peruzzi Chapel: Giotto's Life of St John the Evangelist — look for the scene of the Raising of Drusiana, an astonishing composition
- Pazzi Chapel: In the cloister — designed by Brunelleschi, one of the most beautiful small rooms in Florence
- Leather School: The Santa Croce Leather School operates from within the monastery — workshop quality goods at reasonable prices
Practical Details