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Description
(Local Name: Santa Maria Novella) One of Florence's most important churches, the Dominican church of Santa Maria Novella was built in 1246 on the site of a 10th century oratory (Santa Maria delle Vigne) and was basically completed around 1360, although it was slightly altered by various architects in the 14th/15th centuries.

Like the Franciscan church of Santa Croce, the approach to the main building is across a large square. Here too the facade is articulated by colored marble. It was added between 1456 and 1470 by Leon Battista Alberti commissioned by Giovanni Rucellai, whose family crest, the billowing sails, form the architrave halfway up. The architect gave it its distinctive shape by combining Romanesque-Gothic and Renaissance styles (portal, pillars on either side, design of the upper section with volutes).

There is an old cemetery to the right of the church.
Hobbies & Activities category: Architecture - Romanesque;  Cemetery;  Architecture - Gothic;  Christian sites;  Architecture - Renaissance;  Tombs, burial site
Attractions within Dominican church of Santa Maria Novella

Apse

The apse was completely covered in frescoes by Domenico Ghirlandaio and his assistants between 1486 and 1490 and these were commissioned by Giovanni Tornabuoni, They show scenes from the life of
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Interior

The church interior displays a harmonious balance between soaring Gothic forms and the broad unified nave which appears even longer than it is (99.2m/325.5ft) because the bays decrease in width
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Internal Facade

In the lunette above the portal is a fresco of the "Nativity" (possibly an early Boticelli); the rose-window, the oldest in Florence, has the "Coronation of the Virgin".

Left Aisle

Against the second pillar in the left aisle of the Dominican church of Santa Maria Novella is a marble pulpit designed by Brunelleschi in 1443 but the work of Buggiano. The fresco of the Trinity on
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Left Arm of the Transept

Nardo di Cione painted the frescoes (themes from Dante's Divine Comedy, 1357) in the raised Cappella Strozzi, which also contains Andrea Orcagna's altarpiece "Redeemer and Saints".

A striking
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Right Aisle

Here a door leads into the Cappella della Pura with the miraculous picture of "Madonna and Child and St Catherine". Concerning this picture is a legend that in 1472 the Virgin, speaking from the
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Right Arm of the Transept

This also has two chapels on the left-hand side. The Cappella di Filippo Strozzi is decorated with frescoes by Filippino Lippi (1497-1502). The tomb of Filippo Strozzi is behind the altar, and is
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Sacristy

A door leads into the sacristy where there is a marble lavabo by Giovanni della Robbia, and, above the door, a "Crucifixion" by Giotto, an early work from about 1290.

Museo di Santa Maria Novella

A visit to Santa Maria Novella should include the cloisters and the chapels of the former convent of Santa Maria Novella, now the Museo di Santa Maria Novella. The entrance is on the left of the church façade.

Cappellone degli Spagnoli

The "Spanish Chapel" - its frescoes are among 14th century Italy's greatest works of art - was built after 1340 by Jacopo Talenti as the chapterhouse of the Dominican monastery and assigned in 1540
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Chiostrino de Morti

The tour ends with a visit to the "Small Cloister of the Dead" with the Strozzi funerary chapel (Cappella funeraria degli Strozzi).

Refectory

The liturgical vessels, the vestments embroidered with silver thread, and the golden reliquaries date from the 14th and 17th centuries.

Green Cloister

The name "Green Cloister" refers to the green tones of frescoes by Paolo Uccello of scenes from the Old Testament, beginning with the creation of the animals and the Fall of Man (ca. 1430); the
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Do-It-Yourself Tours
Address
Dominican Church of Santa Maria Novella
Piazza di Santa Maria Novella
I-50100 Florence
Italy
Hours
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun
Open9:309:309:309:3013:009:3013:00
Closed17:0017:0017:0017:0017:0017:0017:00
Always closed on:
New Year's Day (January 1)
Easter - Christian
May Day / Labor Day (May 1)
Assumption Day - Christian (August 15)
Christmas - Christian (December 25)
Cost
Adult2.50 Euros
Child1.50 Euros
Tips
Photography is allowed.
Disabled
Full facilities for persons with disabilities.
Transit
Bus: 1, 4, 7, 9, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 22, 23, 28, 31, 32, 36, 37.
Attractions Near Dominican church of Santa Maria Novella, Florence
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