The tour of Santa Croce Church is a fascinating journey through the history, art and culture of the Florentine Renaissance.
The Basilica was founded in 1294 by the Franciscans and designed by the architect Arnolfo di Cambio, it is one of the greatest examples of Italian Gothic architecture.
It was first a funerary temple of the only Franciscans, then of the rich Florentine families.
The tradition of honouring in the church the memory of the great was taken up in 1564 by Cosimo de’ Medici for Michelangelo, for this is also known as the Temple of Italian Glories, because it houses the tombs of some of the most illustrious figures of Italian history, including the mentioned Michelangelo, Galileo Galilei , Niccolò Machiavelli and Gioacchino Rossini.
After the visit we can continue discovering the district of Santa Croce, continue to Piazza Signoria and Ponte Vecchio, or a visit to some ancient workshops of Florentine artisans.
Located in the Santa Croce complex, the Scuola del Cuoio of Firenze was founded in 1950 to teach a trade to young war orphans and preserve the ancient art of leather working. Here the craftsmen hand make bags, belts, wallets, and leather notebooks, using traditional techniques such as hot stamping in gold, visitors can observe the stages of processing live, discovering manual work.
Not far from the leather school we find the Florentine Mosaic by Lastrucci, which preserves the art of the Florentine Mosaic, born in the Renaissance thanks to the Medici.
The Lastrucci family has handed down this technique for generations, making works entirely by hand with hard stones such as lapis lazuli, malachite, jasper and agate. Visiting the workshop means discovering an artisan tradition still alive where the past continues to live in the present.