The next leg of our journey took us to Florence, Italy.

The sites we visited in and around Florence are listed in yellow at left.

Click on them for more information and pictures.

The building of Santa Croce began in 1294 and is the largest Franciscan church in the world.  Inside the Santa Croce are works of art by Cimabue, Giotto, Brunelleschi, Donatello, Ghiberti and many many others.  Also inside these walls are the tombs of famous people such as Machiavelli, Galileo, Michelangelo, Dante, and others.  Luckily, we could take pictures inside the Santa Croce.  First we will start with the exterior...and the interior...

And now on to the tombs.  The tombs are along the walls as you first enter the church.  If you go immediately right, the first tomb you come to is that of Michelangelo.  Further down on the right is Dante Alighieri, and  Machiavelli as well.  On the left is the tomb of Galileo Galilei.  Dante is not actually buried here.  He died in 1321 and is buried in Ravenna; this is just a memorial to him that was erected in 1829.  See the various tombs below...in the order mentioned.

From the tombs we move on to some of the art work.  The art work here is mostly Florentine work from the 14th century.  It's very hard to photograph because of glares you get from the lighting etc.  I got decent pictures of the St. Francis piece in the Peruzzi Chapel which features frescoes by Giotto and also the Madonna and Child image from the Rinuccini Chapel. 

This doesn't even scratch the surface as to the amount of things to see inside Santa Croce.  Plan to spend over an hour here.  There is a gorgeous courtyard area, a gift shop, a leather shop, the tombs, the art work and more.  They are constantly cleaning the artwork, so certain parts may be roped off.  When we were there the chapel with the Donatello crucifix was closed.  There is a  € 4 admission charge for the Santa Croce, and there is no student discount.

*** Information on this page comes from and is confirmed in Eyewitness Travel Guides: Florence and Tuscany, pages 72-73 and also from a brochure available at the Santa Croce. ***