Franciscan basilica from 1294 with 16 chapels frescoed by Giotto and his school. The tombs of Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli, Rossini, and 270 other notable Florentines line the nave. Italy's Pantheon in a Gothic church.
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Insider Intel
The Giotto frescoes in the Bardi and Peruzzi chapels (right transept) are the artistic highlight — early Renaissance narrative painting at its best. The cloisters and Pazzi Chapel (Brunelleschi) behind the church are included in the ticket. Walk the nave to pay respects to Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli — Italy's genius in one building.
Morning for better light in the chapels. Less crowded than the Uffizi or Accademia. The piazza outside is lively in the evening with bars and restaurants.
Built starting in 1294 on the site of an earlier Franciscan church. Giotto's frescoes (1320s) in the Bardi and Peruzzi chapels influenced Renaissance painting for centuries. The church was damaged in the 1966 Arno flood (high water marks visible on pillars). The neo-Gothic facade dates to 1863. The tombs are a who's who of Italian culture — Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli, Dante (cenotaph, he is buried in Ravenna), Rossini. Essential for Giotto alone.