Santa Croce is one of the most ancient churches in Florence: it was built by Franciscan monks starting from 1294 and completed in the second half of XIV century, while the current facade and belltower were built in neogothic style during the XIX century.

In the wide interior there are the tombs of some among the most famous personalities of Italian art and culture: of Michelangelo by Vasari; of Lorenzo Ghiberti; of Leonardo Bruni; of Galileo Galilei; of Alfieri; of Canova; of Rossini; and also the funeral monuments dedicated to Dante and Machiavelli. Moreover there are works by Rossellino, sculptures by Donatello, frescoes by Taddeo Gaddi and other Giotto's followers, sculpures by Benedetto da Maiano and Desiderio di Settignano.

Inside the elegant Medici Chapel built by Michelozzo there is a magnificient altar frontal by Andrea della Robbia. In the Chorus, covered by frescos by Agnolo Gaddi on the Legend of Holy Crossm the first chapel on the right of main altar hosts some important frescos by Giotto on St.Francis' life. In the left arm of transept there is the famous crucifix by Donatello, which provoked the emulation by Brunelleschi for his crucifix in Santa Maria Novella.

In the cloister of the church of Santa Croce there is one of the masterpieces by Brunelleschi, the Cappella de' Pazzi (Pazzi Chapel), a rival family of Medici, whose construction was completed after his death by his follower Michelozzo. At the entrance there is a classical porch with an elegant combination of straight lines and round arch: the exterior is decorated with sculptures by Benedetto da Maiano, Desiderio di Settignano, Luca della Robbia and some followers of Donatello. The interior maybe represents the highest and most consistent of Florentine Renaissance architecture, where the sober perfection of lines is interrupted only by coloured medallions by Luca della Robbia, which give vivacity to the severe environment.

Inside the Museum of Opera di Santa Croce (Works in Holy Cross) we find the precious and famous crucifix by Cimabue, restored after the inundation which hit Florence in 1966.