Church of Santa Maria Novella

The church of Santa Maria Novella is located in Florence, Italy. It's situated just across from the main railway station, which shares its name. Chronologically, it is the first great basilica in Florence and principal Dominican church. Furthermore, Basilica di Santa Maria Novella is among the largest Franciscan churches in the world.  

The church is famous for its history, art and architecture

The basilica was constructed on the site of an earlier chapel dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, which had been located within a cloister built by the Dominican order at Santa Maria Novella between 1221 and 1263. The church was designed by two Dominican friars – Fra Sisto Fiorentino and Fra Ristoro da Campi. It was built to serve the parish and soon became known for its bells. The church's bells are considered some of the most gorgeous in Italy, and today they continue to ring throughout Florence.

Renaissance architectural masterpiece

Its fame rests, in particular, upon its sculpture, frescos and paintings: all works of art that took 300 years to complete. The church contains some notable features that would later become recurrent in Florentine Renaissance architecture: geometric designs on marble floors, arches, walls made to look like pilasters, niches.

The church, the adjoining cloister, and the chapter house contain a multiplicity of art treasures and funerary monuments. Especially famous are frescoes by masters of Gothic and early Renaissance. They were financed through the generosity of the most influential Florentine families, who ensured themselves funerary chapels on consecrated ground.

There is also a museum that houses works by the great masters of Italian art. Some of these pieces include Filippo Lippi's Crucifixion, Paolo Uccello's Saint George, and Andrea del Castagno's Madonna with Child.