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Even if Florence is known mostly for the Renaissance, visitors can also admire many important examples of of the Romanic period. Needless to say, the Romanic-style monuments inspired many Renaissance architects. The Basilica is part of the handful of Florence's Romanic architectural masterworks, built from 11th to the 13th centuries.
The splendid facade is made of white and green marble, with a mosaic at its centre that depicts San Miniato, the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ. Throughout the church there are also many images of eagles, the symbol of the Art of Calimala, the guild of the cloth finishers and merchants in foreign cloth, that financed the church's construction and dedicated it to the Christian martyr, Miniato. According to legend, Saint Miniato was beheaded on the banks of the Arno, and took his head in hands to the hilltop where the church lies to die there. On the place where he died, an oratory was erected and made in to a church in 1018.
Inside the church, the beautiful marble pavement depicts the zodiac; the ancient structure of the church has an elevated presbytery with an underlying crypt, which has bizarre Romanic capitals. The church conserved masterworks of great value, like the Chapel of the Crucifix by Michelozzo, with vaults with terracotta by Luca della Robbia, and the Chapel of the Cardinal of Portugal, also decorated by Luca della Robbia or perhaps Andrea, and Alessio Baldovinetti.
The splendid facade is made of white and green marble, with a mosaic at its centre that depicts San Miniato, the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ. Throughout the church there are also many images of eagles, the symbol of the Art of Calimala, the guild of the cloth finishers and merchants in foreign cloth, that financed the church's construction and dedicated it to the Christian martyr, Miniato. According to legend, Saint Miniato was beheaded on the banks of the Arno, and took his head in hands to the hilltop where the church lies to die there. On the place where he died, an oratory was erected and made in to a church in 1018.
Inside the church, the beautiful marble pavement depicts the zodiac; the ancient structure of the church has an elevated presbytery with an underlying crypt, which has bizarre Romanic capitals. The church conserved masterworks of great value, like the Chapel of the Crucifix by Michelozzo, with vaults with terracotta by Luca della Robbia, and the Chapel of the Cardinal of Portugal, also decorated by Luca della Robbia or perhaps Andrea, and Alessio Baldovinetti.
S. Miniato al Monte
Via Monte alle Croci - Tel. 055 2342731
Opening Hours:
Weekdays: 8-12.30/15-17.30; Sundays and holidays: 8-12.30/15-17.30; Closed: N/A.
Entrance: free
Disabled Access: yes.
Note: from Via delle Porte Sante you can arrive in the underlying piazza of the church by car (there is parking nearby). Here you can reach the sacristy via a short but steep ramp; at the entranceway of the church, there is a high step, which can be surpassed by way of a mobile platform. To use the mobile ramp, visitors must inform the monks in advance at tel. +39 055 2342731.
