Basilica of Santa Croce

Tickets & Visitor Guide to the Temple of the Italian Glories

⏱ 1-1.5 hours👤 All ages$

Begun in the late 13th century, Santa Croce is the principal Franciscan church of Florence and the largest of its kind anywhere, its soaring Gothic interior and 19th-century marble façade dominating the broad Piazza Santa Croce. For centuries it has served as a kind of national pantheon, and walking its nave is to pass the monumental tombs and memorials of an astonishing roster of Italian greats: Michelangelo, the astronomer Galileo Galilei, the political thinker Niccolò Machiavelli, the composer Gioachino Rossini, and others (with a memorial to Dante, who is buried elsewhere).

The basilica is also a major repository of art. Its chapels hold important frescoes by Giotto and his followers, foundational works of early Italian painting, along with art and monuments spanning the centuries. The complex extends beyond the church into peaceful cloisters, a museum (with works including a famous Cimabue crucifix, damaged in the 1966 flood and restored), and the Pazzi Chapel — a small, harmonious chapter house designed by Filippo Brunelleschi that's a landmark of Renaissance architecture. There's also a historic leather school, a reminder of the neighborhood's artisan traditions.

It's a substantial visit that combines art, architecture, and the moving experience of standing before the tombs of figures who shaped Western culture. Modest dress is required (it's a working church), and a ticket covers the church, cloisters, museum, and Pazzi Chapel. It anchors the Santa Croce neighborhood, a lively, less-touristy area east of the center with good restaurants and leather shops. Allow about an hour to ninety minutes.