Santa Trinità, Florence

The fondness of the Florentines for the church of Santa Trínita - on the square of the same name near the Arno - is due mainly to its great age. There was a church here as early as the 11th century, and this was rebuilt in the 13th century (probably by Niccolò Pisano) as Florence's first Gothic church. It was rebuilt yet again in the late 14th century, this time by Neri di Fioravante. The facade, designed by Buontalenti, is from the late 16th century.

Santa Trinita Map

Important Information:

Address: Piazza di Santa Trìnita, I-50100 Florence, Italy

Useful tips: Photography is allowed.

Disability Access: Full facilities for persons with disabilities.

Transit: Bus: 6, 11, 15, 16, 31, 32, 36, 37.

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Santa Trinita Highlight

Interior

The interior has the look of 14th century Florentine Gothic, and has a nave, lined with side-chapels, and two aisles with a transept.

A walk round the church will reveal many notable works of art (some of the chapels can be lit if money is put into the boxes provided for the purpose).

Aisle

Left aisle

In the third chapel there is an "Annunciation" on a gold ground by Neri di Bicci and the tomb of Giuliano Davanzati (d. 1444), an early Christian sarcophagus with high reliefs, and the fifth chapel holds the wooden Mary Magdelene by Desiderio da Settignano and Benedetto da Maiano (1464/1465).

Right aisle

There is a cycle of frescoes by Lorenzo Monaco in the Cappella Salimbeni and a 14th century panel of the Crucifixion in the chapel nearest the entrance.

Transept

Left arm of the transept

In the left arm of the transept is the marble tomb of Bishop Benozzi Federighi (1455-1456), one of Luca della Robbia's finest works.

Right arm of the transept

The Cappella Sassetti, in the right arm of the transept, has celebrated frescoes by Domenico Ghirlandaio (1483-1486) of the life of St Francis, including the famous "Confirmation of the Rule of the Order", into which the artist incorporated contemporary personalities and buildings such as Lorenzo the Magnificent, Ghirlandaio himself, hand on hip, and the Piazza della Signoria and Piazza della Trinità. The altarpiece "Adoration of the Shepherds" is also by Ghirlandaio (1485).