The Great Basilicas / San Lorenzo

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Guided tour of San Lorenzo Basilica, the first cathedral of Florence

Founded in 393 AD by St. Ambrose, bishop of Milan, the Basilica of San Lorenzo (Basilica of St Lawrence) has been the first cathedral of Florence. Today there is nothing left of the original ancient church: today's basilica is the result of the last major reconstruction work carried out in the fifteenth century under the impulse of the Medici family and the direction of the great architect Filippo Brunelleschi. The bare stone facade was to receive a rich marble decoration designed by Michelangelo that unfortunately was never executed.

The interior of the basilica is divided into three naves with slender stone columns that support round arches.

The rhythmic succession of the arches and the harmonious proportions of the chapels will show you one of the most important examples of Brunelleschi's Renaissance architecture. In the church of San Lorenzo we will admire the Marriage of the Virgin by Rosso Fiorentino, the two magnificent Pulpits by Donatello, the Annunciation by Filippo Lippi up to the Old Sacristy, at the head of the left transept.

A true masterpiece of the early Renaissance architecture, the Old Sacristy is the only work that the architect Brunelleschi supervised until the end of the work. Commissioned by Giovanni di Bicci de'Medici and conceived as a family mausoleum, the Old Sacristy has been the first part of the church of San Lorenzo to be completed. Brunelleschi's architecture is embellished by Donatello's intense sculptural decoration.