Santa Croce

Santa Croce is one of the biggest churches in the world, and is the largest Franciscan church in the world. It houses many famous Florentines inside and so is often called the Temple of Italian Glories.

Galileo and Daughter's Tomb 

During the era of Galileo it was considered helpful if a devout believer was buried with an unbeliever. That way when the final judgement came the believer could "shield" the unbeliever from God's wrath.  Since Galileo was excommunicated his illegitimate daughter who was a nun asked to be buried with her father. When hundreds of years later they dug Galileo up to be moved into the church they also found his daughter's remains. They were both buried together again in the church.  

This was the inspiration for the Statue of Liberty. The man who designed the Statue of Liberty was the mentee of the man who is buried in this tomb. 

It was a gorgeous day out and after the tour we were allowed to wander around for as long as we wanted. 

We got a little lost and ended up in a construction site that we were not supposed to be in. 

The church is designed so that the really famous people are buried in the Church walls, obvious for everyone to see. The rich were buried in the floor of the Church and the middle class were buried in this section of the church. It was off the courtyard and slightly underground. The poor were buried outside of the church in a field. 

The large sanctuary area contains 16 smaller chapels like the ones shown above. The Franciscans who owned the church gifted each of the noble families of that era with a chapel. Each family tried to out do the others and hired the most famous painters they could afford/find. So the church was decorated with no cost to the church itself. The richest family however with the biggest chapel was involved in a plot to kill off the Medici's, the then rulers of the city. The plot failed and as punishment the chapel they had decorated was striped. Very little remains of what once was described at the most beautiful thing in Florence. 

Today the frescos are so vibrant and beautiful because of the recent restoration that was done. The owner (or someone very high up) of Sony loved this church and wanted his son to be married here. The church refused saying that marriages hadn't been performed in this church in a very long time. However he offered them 4 million dollars to restore the church if they would agree to let the marriage happen there. The church couldn't refuse but did state that Sony would not be allowed to put any of their products in the church for advertising purposes, or any purpose. Thus, this man paid 4 million out of his own pocket so that his son could be married here. I guess the saying is true about how you can get anything if you are willing to pay for it...

Personally I was less impressed with the fact that famous people were buried in the church (they are dead...) and much more impressed with the beautiful stained glass windows. And honestly I have never liked stain glass windows. So that means they were very impressive! It's the original stained glass and it's so intricate and delicate. 

I could say much more about my trip to this beautiful gem in the city of Florence but I will leave it up to you to come visit and see for yourself!