Church hopping (Sights & Attractions in Florence)

Member Name: vhart

Product:	Sights & Attractions in Florence
Date:	07/05/01 (66 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Really very impressive, Free

Disadvantages: Paying to light up the frescoes if you don't have small change!

Everyone has a favourite church in Florence. It is easy to be a little overwhelmed by the endless onset and overload of the renaissance wonders which have made this city so famous and given her the reputation of being the most beautiful city in the world.

I'd come out unashamedly for Santa Croce as a favourite. I know it's not an especially inspired decision, but we are talking personal preference! It isn't likely that many visitors to Florence will miss her, but after the vast depths of Santa Maria Novella, the grandeur and space of the Duomo itself, Santa Croce sits a little further back, just as large, just as impressive, closer to the Arno and the equal of any.

The Piazza Santa Croce is a larger open space than the Piazza del Duomo, making it a little easier to sit in and drink in the atmosphere and enjoy the churchs' facade (which I learned was a 19th Century addition - if you look at old pictures of Santa Croce, her facade is as bare as the San Lorenzo). The Piazza is bordered by touristy shops, but it doesn't detract from the sheer mass of church as you enter.

Inside, lie the tombs of Michelangelo, as you first enter - as my guidebook said, this was because on 'Judgement Day' he wanted his first sight to be Brunelleschi's Dome! Also there is a memorial to Dante (he was actually buried in Ravenna) and on the opposite side, one of the more impressive, is the tomb of Galileo.

Towards the end of the church are a series of frescoes in different chapels. These were quite spectacular. You have to pay 200 lire a minute to light up some of them (about 5p) and it is definitely worth the investment but if you are feeling particularly aggrieved, there will always be someone coming along soon enough who will be willing to pay!

The frescoes were, in my somewhat uneducated, but 'likes a picture that looks pretty' opinion, some of the more impressive in Florentine churches, which is q
uite a high standard, unsurprisingly.

There is a small museum attached to Santa Croce, but I didn't go into it, and didn't honestly know what it's like. It contains some of the treasures taken from the church through time, mainly because of the great Florentine flood of 1966.

It is easy to say everything is unmissable in Florence. Personally, I'd advise, for church buffs and anyone who finds themselves in Florence, on the Duomo and Santa Croce first, then perhaps, San Lorenzo and Santa Maria Novella, after than Orsanmichele and Santo Spirito (if it's open!), and that's just the churches! But the wonder about it is to discover your own list of preferences and enjoy!

Summary: