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Santa Croce: the tombs of Michelangelo and Galileo, and Giotto's chapels

Santa Croce is where Florence buries its great. The Franciscans began the church in 1294 on the marshy edge of the city, and it grew into the largest church of their order anywhere, paid for by the bankers whose chapels line the east end.

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Tickets
From €48
Open
Mon to Sat, 9:30 to 17:30
Closed
Sunday mornings
Allow
1 to 1½ hours

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    What to see at Santa Croce

    1. Michelangelo's tomb

      First on the right as you face the altar. Three mourning figures sit below his bust: Painting, Sculpture and Architecture.

    2. Galileo, Machiavelli and Rossini

      Galileo is on the left wall facing Michelangelo, with a globe and a telescope. Machiavelli and Rossini are on the right, beyond Dante's empty monument.

    3. Giotto's chapels

      The Bardi Chapel, with the death of St Francis and the friars bent over his body, and the Peruzzi Chapel beside it. They were whitewashed for a century and uncovered in the 1850s.

    4. The Pazzi Chapel

      In the cloister: a square under a dome, with roundels of the apostles in glazed terracotta by Luca della Robbia. Sit on the stone bench that runs round the wall.

    5. Cimabue's Crucifix

      The great painted cross of about 1280 hangs in the sacristy. The flood of 1966 tore away much of its paint, and it became the symbol of what the city lost that night.

    6. The leather school

      The Franciscans opened a school of leatherwork in the old dormitory after the Second World War. You reach it through the church and can watch the bags being made.

    Tickets and tours for Santa Croce

    • Sold by GetYourGuide

      Florence: Santa Croce Church Tour with Entry Ticket

      A guided visit to the basilica with the entry ticket included: the tombs of Michelangelo, Galileo and Machiavelli, and the story of each.

      Included

      • Entry to the basilica of Santa Croce
      • A guided visit to the church and its tombs

      From

      €48

      Book Tickets

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    Visiting Santa Croce: hours and admission

    Opening hours

    Monday to Saturday
    9:30 to 17:30, last entry 17:00
    Sundays, 6 January, 1 November and 8 December
    14:00 to 17:30, last entry 17:00
    • The basilica begins to clear at 17:20.
    • The church closes on some holidays and its hours change for services: its own site lists the changes.

    Who gets in free

    • Everyone, on 1 January, the second Sunday of February, Easter, 13 June, 15 August, 14 September, the European Heritage Days, 4 October, the second Sunday of November, the Sunday before Christmas and 26 December.
    • Children under 18 who come with a parent who pays.

    Getting there

    On foot
    About twenty minutes from Santa Maria Novella station. Ten minutes from Piazza della Signoria, along Borgo dei Greci.
    Tram
    Lines T1 and T2 stop at Santa Maria Novella station. T2 comes from the airport.
    By car
    The old centre is a restricted traffic zone, watched by cameras. Leave the car outside it.

    Address

    Basilica di Santa Croce
    Piazza Santa Croce 16
    50122 Florence, Italy

    Entrances

    The visitors' entrance and the ticket office are on the north side of the basilica, in Largo Bargellini, where a ramp serves wheelchairs. The way out is through the cloister onto Piazza Santa Croce.

    On the map

    Before you go

    • The visitors' entrance and the ticket office are on the left side of the church, in Largo Bargellini, not at the front.
    • On Sundays and holy days the church opens to visitors only in the afternoon.
    • Shoulders and knees must be covered.
    • Allow an hour for the church and half an hour more for the cloisters and the Pazzi Chapel.
    • Keep the ticket: it gives a reduced price at Casa Buonarroti, Michelangelo's family house, five minutes away.

    The church where Florence buries its great

    The Italians call it the temple of the Italian glories. Michelangelo lies just inside the door, in a tomb designed by Vasari. Galileo is opposite him, across the nave, buried here nearly a century after his death, when the Church at last allowed it. Machiavelli and the composer Rossini are further on. Dante has a monument too, but it is empty: he died in exile and Ravenna has never given him back.

    The art is older than the tombs. In two chapels to the right of the altar Giotto painted the lives of St Francis and of the two St Johns in the 1320s. They are damaged, and still the place to see where Italian painting begins. Donatello carved an Annunciation for the south wall, in grey stone picked out in gold.

    Through a door in the right aisle is the first cloister and, at the end of it, the Pazzi Chapel, a small domed room in grey and white by Brunelleschi that is among the purest pieces of Renaissance architecture. The marble front of the church is far younger than it looks: it was finished in 1863.

    Basilica of Santa Croce: common questions

    What are the opening hours of Santa Croce?
    Monday to Saturday: 9:30 to 17:30, last entry 17:00. Sundays, 6 January, 1 November and 8 December: 14:00 to 17:30, last entry 17:00. The basilica begins to clear at 17:20. The church closes on some holidays and its hours change for services: its own site lists the changes.
    Is Santa Croce ever free?
    Everyone, on 1 January, the second Sunday of February, Easter, 13 June, 15 August, 14 September, the European Heritage Days, 4 October, the second Sunday of November, the Sunday before Christmas and 26 December. Children under 18 who come with a parent who pays.
    What does the ticket include?
    Entry to the basilica of Santa Croce. A guided visit to the church and its tombs. It is sold by GetYourGuide.
    Who is buried in Santa Croce?
    Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli, the composer Rossini, the sculptor Ghiberti and the poet Foscolo, among nearly three hundred others. Dante has a monument but is buried in Ravenna.
    Do you have to pay to enter Santa Croce?
    Yes. Visitors need a ticket, which also covers the cloisters, the Pazzi Chapel and the museum. Entry for prayer is free, by a separate door.
    How long does Santa Croce take?
    An hour for the church, and an hour and a half with the cloisters, the Pazzi Chapel and the sacristy.

    What visitors say about Santa Croce

    Rating from Google

    4.8

    42,715 ratings on Google

    Google's figures as read on 11 October 2026.

    Read every review on Google

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