Explorer Florence

Orsanmichele is a 14th-century building that began as a grain market and was converted into a church, with Andrea Orcagna's marble tabernacle inside. Niches on its outer walls hold statues of the guilds' patron saints by Ghiberti, Donatello and Nanni di Banco, now copies; the originals are displayed in the museum on the upper floors.

Florence Baptistery is the octagonal Romanesque church of St John the Baptist on Piazza del Duomo, built in the 11th and 12th centuries and clad in white and green marble. Inside, a 13th-century mosaic ceiling shows the Last Judgement; its bronze doors are by Andrea Pisano and Lorenzo Ghiberti, whose originals are now in the cathedral museum.

Florence Cathedral, Santa Maria del Fiore, stands on Piazza del Duomo beside the Baptistery and Giotto's Campanile. Begun in 1296 to a design by Arnolfo di Cambio, it was crowned in 1436 with Filippo Brunelleschi's brick dome; its walls are faced with white, green and pink marble, and the façade was added in the 19th century.

The Basilica of San Lorenzo is the parish church of the Medici, rebuilt from 1419 to designs by Filippo Brunelleschi; its rough stone façade was never finished. A visit includes the church with Donatello's bronze pulpits, Brunelleschi's Old Sacristy decorated by Donatello, the cloisters, the treasury and the crypt. The Medici Chapels behind it are a separate museum.

Santa Maria Novella is the Dominican basilica near Florence's main railway station, begun in the late 13th century and consecrated in 1420; Leon Battista Alberti completed its marble façade in 1470. Inside are Masaccio's Holy Trinity, Giotto's crucifix and Ghirlandaio's frescoes in the Tornabuoni Chapel, and the visit includes the cloisters and the Spanish Chapel.

Santo Spirito is an Augustinian basilica in the Oltrarno, begun in 1444 to designs by Filippo Brunelleschi and finished after his death; its plain façade faces Piazza Santo Spirito. The interior has grey pietra serena columns and a ring of side chapels, and the sacristy by Giuliano da Sangallo holds a wooden crucifix carved by the young Michelangelo.

The Basilica of Santa Croce is the principal Franciscan church of Florence, begun in 1294 on Piazza Santa Croce. It holds the tombs of Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli and Rossini, chapels frescoed by Giotto, and the Pazzi Chapel by Brunelleschi in the cloister; the marble façade was added in the 19th century.

The Brancacci Chapel is a side chapel of the church of Santa Maria del Carmine, painted with scenes from the life of Saint Peter. Masolino and Masaccio worked on the frescoes from 1425 to 1427, including Masaccio's Tribute Money and Expulsion from Eden, and Filippino Lippi completed the cycle around 1481–1485. Visitors enter through the convent.

The Great Synagogue of Florence, on Via Luigi Carlo Farini, was completed in 1882 in Italian and Moorish Revival styles, with a green dome and a painted interior. The Jewish Museum of Florence, inside the building, shows ceremonial objects and the history of the city's Jewish community from its first settlement to the post-war years.

San Miniato al Monte is a Romanesque basilica on one of the highest points of Florence, above Piazzale Michelangelo, begun in 1013 over the tomb of the martyr St Minias. Its white and green marble façade carries a 13th-century mosaic of Christ, and Olivetan Benedictine monks in the adjoining abbey sing their services in Gregorian chant.