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Florence Santa Croce Basilica (Basilica di Santa Croce) Tours
122 Tours & Activities
(9)
From $125.23
Price varies by group size
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Private Guided Tour of Florence Basilicas and Their Cloisters
Recommended for your Florence trip
Free Cancellation
up to 24 hours in advance
3 hours (Approx.)
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English and 4 more
Good for avoiding crowds
Keeping you safe during COVID-19
What you can expect during your visit
Face masks required for travelers in public areas
Face masks required for guides in public areas
Hand sanitizer available to travelers and staff
Social distancing enforced throughout experience
Gear/equipment sanitized between use
Transportation vehicles regularly sanitized
Guides required to regularly wash hands
Temperature checks for travelers upon arrival
Paid stay-at-home policy for staff with symptoms
Overview
Get an in-depth look at three beautiful churches as well as their ancient cloisters on this private tour in Florence. Visit the churches of San Lorenzo, Santa Croce, and Santa Maria Novella before sitting down to a simple Tuscan lunch (if upgrade selected).
- Private tour of three churches and cloisters in Florence
- See tombs of famous Florentines in the Basilica of Santa Croce
- Visit the Brunelleschi-designed cloister next to the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella
- Enjoy lunch at a typical Tuscan trattoria (if option selected)
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Meet your guide outside the Basilica of Santa Croce, the first stop on the tour.
Learn about the church's Gothic architectural details, including the multi-colored marble facade, and admire artwork by Giotto, Donatello, Agnolo Gaddi, and more. Tombs and monuments to many of Florence's most beloved sons line the walls of the church. Look for names such as Galileo, Michelangelo, and Machiavelli.
Walk past the stone columns in the adjoining Brunelleschi Cloister before reaching the 14th-century so-called "Ancient Cloister." On the other side of this second cloister is the Pazzi Chapel, also designed by Brunelleschi.
Walk from the Basilica to the Piazza della Signoria in the heart of historic Florence. The square is surrounded by important buildings and monuments, including the palace in which the powerful Medici family once lived. Continue on to the Piazza del Duomo, the city's religious center, to see the cathedral, baptistery, and the bell tower designed by Giotto.
Next, visit the Basilica of San Lorenzo, the oldest church in the city and once the church of the Medici family. Inside, admire stunning works of art by Michelangelo, as well as artwork by Filippo Lippi, Donatello, Rosso Fiorentino, Bronzino, and Pontormo.
Enter the church's Cloister of the Canons, also designed by Brunelleschi, with an orange tree at its center that was an important symbol to the Medici family.
Continue next to the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella, not far from the train station. Admire the green and white marble Renaissance facade designed by Leon Battista Alberti. See works of art inside the church that include frescoes by Filippino Lippi and Ghirlandaio, the 'Trinity' by Masaccio, and the 'Crucifix' by Giotto.
The tour ends at the next stop, the Green Cloister next to the church. The cloister takes its name from the murals by 15th-century artist Paolo Uccello, which are predominantly in a greenish color. After visiting these three churches and cloisters, sit down to a 2-course lunch in a typical Tuscan trattoria in the city center (if lunch option selected).
Please note: Lunch is not included for children under the age of 7.
Learn about the church's Gothic architectural details, including the multi-colored marble facade, and admire artwork by Giotto, Donatello, Agnolo Gaddi, and more. Tombs and monuments to many of Florence's most beloved sons line the walls of the church. Look for names such as Galileo, Michelangelo, and Machiavelli.
Walk past the stone columns in the adjoining Brunelleschi Cloister before reaching the 14th-century so-called "Ancient Cloister." On the other side of this second cloister is the Pazzi Chapel, also designed by Brunelleschi.
Walk from the Basilica to the Piazza della Signoria in the heart of historic Florence. The square is surrounded by important buildings and monuments, including the palace in which the powerful Medici family once lived. Continue on to the Piazza del Duomo, the city's religious center, to see the cathedral, baptistery, and the bell tower designed by Giotto.
Next, visit the Basilica of San Lorenzo, the oldest church in the city and once the church of the Medici family. Inside, admire stunning works of art by Michelangelo, as well as artwork by Filippo Lippi, Donatello, Rosso Fiorentino, Bronzino, and Pontormo.
Enter the church's Cloister of the Canons, also designed by Brunelleschi, with an orange tree at its center that was an important symbol to the Medici family.
Continue next to the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella, not far from the train station. Admire the green and white marble Renaissance facade designed by Leon Battista Alberti. See works of art inside the church that include frescoes by Filippino Lippi and Ghirlandaio, the 'Trinity' by Masaccio, and the 'Crucifix' by Giotto.
The tour ends at the next stop, the Green Cloister next to the church. The cloister takes its name from the murals by 15th-century artist Paolo Uccello, which are predominantly in a greenish color. After visiting these three churches and cloisters, sit down to a 2-course lunch in a typical Tuscan trattoria in the city center (if lunch option selected).
Please note: Lunch is not included for children under the age of 7.
Itinerary
Your tour begins at the Basilica di Santa Croce, a masterpiece of Gothic architecture with a facade clad in polychrome marble. This is the ancient church in which the Franciscan friars chose to set up and begin treating pelts and leather and meditate in peace in a place that was, at that time, located outside the city walls. We will admire, from close up, the beautiful frescoes by Giotto and Agnolo Gaddi, the “Crucifix” and “Annunciation” by Donatello and the world-famous funerary monuments and tombs of illustrious figures from the past such as Michelangelo, Galileo and Machiavelli. Next, we will enter the elegant “Brunelleschi Cloister” bordered by columns carved from pure stone, and then pass into the fourteenth-century “Ancient Cloister” at the end of which lies the beautiful “Pazzi Chapel”, a sublime example of Renaissance harmony, also the work of Brunelleschi.
Duration: 50 minutes
Admission Ticket Not Included
Leaving the Franciscan Basilica, we will make our way through the picturesque medieval streets, passing along Via Torta (Curved Street), whose unusual curvature traces the outline of the Ancient Roman amphitheatre, built here in the second century AD. Soon we will arrive at the famous Piazza della Signoria, a concentration of architectural and sculptural masterpieces which has no equal in the world. Here begins the fascinating story of the powerful Medici family whose history was tied to that of the city for more than three centuries.
Duration: 10 minutes
Admission Ticket Free
In the heart of the lively Medici quarter, bordering the Piazza del Duomo, you will find yourselves in front of the Basilica di San Lorenzo, Florence's the oldest church, consecrated in 393 by Sant'Ambrogio, rebuilt in the year 1000 and enlarged in 1400 by Brunelleschi at the behest of the Medici family who chose it as their parish church. Inside the Basilica is the “Old Sacristy”by Brunelleschi with the tombs of the founders of the Medici family and works by Donatello, Bronzino, Filippo Lippi, Rosso Fiorentino and Pontormo, to name but a few. Leaving the church, you will enter in the impressive “Cloister of the Canons” at the centre of which stands an imposing 16th-century orange tree which was dear to the Medici family and became a kind of symbol of their dynasty.
Duration: 50 minutes
Admission Ticket Not Included
Finally, you will head towards the striking square where the Basilica di Santa Maria Novella stands with its splendid Renaissance façade by Leon Battista Alberti covered with white and green marble. Inside the Basilica, founded by the Dominican Fathers at the beginning of 1200, you will have the chance to see masterpieces such as the "Crucifix" by Giotto the "Trinity" by Masaccio and the spectacular frescoes by Filippino Lippi and Ghirlandaio and also hear the story of the "mendicant order" of friars who have always been present in this church. Your tour ends inside the elegant "Green Cloister" so named for its beautiful murals in green earth by Paolo Uccello.
Duration: 1 hour
Admission Ticket Not Included
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Product code: 2428P94
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